10
I gave Eric an annulment agreement.
He gave me a share transfer agreement.
Along with it came a necklace, every diamond on it sparkling with a brilliant light.
….It was a little too bright for my eyes.
I checked a few recent auction houses. The price was ten times what the necklace I had wanted before had cost.
I flipped through the share transfer agreement. Eric had given me all his shares as the heir to the Stuart Group, leaving nothing for
himself.
I unblocked Eric and called him. “Have you ever thought that after I accept this, I could just sell off all the shares? Your Stuart Gro-
up’s stock price, control, and cash flow would all be in trouble.”
00:33
Chapter 2
“Sarah,” he said, his voice low.
Eric hadn’t called me that since high school.
00:33
“If you want to keep them, all the profits are yours. If you don’t, selling them off to vent your anger is another option,” he seemed to laugh on the other end of the line. “It’s all up to you.”
“If I were your parents, your relatives, I would have killed you,” I scoffed.
He paused, then after a long moment, just said, “I’m sorry, Sarah.”
I said nothing.
He was silent for a moment, then continued, “You once said you liked shiny diamonds. I found the most expensive one on the mar-
ket.
“That other necklace, I wanted to give it to you. But you always had so many things that seemed more important than me. I gave it to someone else to get your attention, to make you jealous.
“I really… regret it.”
2
After I recorded the call, I said slowly, “The shares are valuable, I can accept them. I won’t sell them off unless something major happens. The necklace is beautiful, I can accept that too. But you, Eric, I don’t want.
“Are you sure you still want to give these to me? A voluntary gift?”
“This is my compensation to you,” Eric’s voice was sour. “You think I don’t love you enough, but I really do love you. I just… used the
wrong methods before.”
I shrugged. “Since you’re giving them to me voluntarily, I have no reason to refuse. This can be my compensation for emotional
distress. Thank you.”
I said the last two words with genuine sincerity,
Then I hung up.
With the dial tone, my thoughts began to drift.
