The moment my eyes fell on the delicate gold bracelet around Estefanía’s wrist, my breath caught in my throat. I knew that bracelet. I’d spent weeks searching for it and was convinced it was lost forever. But now it was on the wrist of the nurse who was caring for me.
Life had been going well for me before I ended up in the hospital.
I had been married to Toby for three years and we were living a happy life.
A couple looking out a window | Source: Midjourney
I worked as an advisor in a clothing store, and he had a stable job in finance. It’s not like we were rich. We had enough to live comfortably.
Most nights, Toby came home exhausted. He didn’t even have time to ask me how my day had gone. But honestly, I never complained.
I knew he was working hard for us.
One night, as we sat on the couch, I gently took her hand.
“I can’t wait for us to have our own house,” I murmured.
A woman talking to her husband | Source: Midjourney
“Yes,” he sighed. “I just need a little more time to save up. You know how expensive houses are these days.”
“I know.” I smiled. “But when we finally have it, I want a big kitchen. And a backyard.”
“For a dog?” he joked.
“For a baby,” I corrected with a smile.
His expression softened, and he kissed me on the forehead. “We’ll make it.”
I believed him.
A man looking at his wife | Source: Midjourney
When he went on a business trip that Friday, I didn’t think much of it. His job required travel, and I’d gotten used to it.
I thought I’d take advantage of the weekend to do a thorough cleaning of the apartment.
Little did I know it wasn’t the right decision.
I was dusting the top shelf of the hall closet when the ladder wobbled beneath me.
A woman’s foot on a ladder | Source: Pexels
For a split second, I felt weightless. And then I was falling.
The impact was instantaneous. A sharp, stabbing pain shot through my right leg, unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I gasped, my vision blurring as I struggled to move.
Gritting my teeth, I grabbed my phone and barely managed to slide my finger across the screen. My fingers trembled as I dialed 911.
Minutes later, the paramedics arrived. The pain was unbearable when they loaded me onto the stretcher. I could barely keep my eyes open as they loaded me into the ambulance.
An ambulance | Source: Pexels
At the hospital, the X-ray confirmed what I already suspected: I had broken my leg.
“You’ll have to stay here for a few days,” the doctor told me after putting a cast on my leg. “We need to get the swelling under control before sending you home.”
As soon as he left the room, I picked up the phone and called Toby.
He picked it up immediately. “Kate? Hello, how is my beautiful wife?”
“Toby,” I whispered. “I… I broke my leg.”
A woman talking on the phone with her husband | Source: Midjourney
“What?” Her tone changed from playful to panicked. “What? What happened?”
I exhaled shakily. “I fell off a ladder while cleaning.”
“Jesus, Kate.” I heard creaking on the other side, as if she were moving. “I’m going home. I’ll cut the trip short.”
“No, you don’t have to…”
“Don’t even argue. I should be there with you.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Okay.”
I was still talking to him on the phone when the door opened. A nurse walked in.
I quickly told Toby I’d call him back later and hung up.
Close-up of a phone | Source: Pexels
“You must be Kate,” the nurse said. “I’m Stephanie. I’ll take care of you while you’re here.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, forcing a smile despite my discomfort.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Stephanie assured me. “We’ll take good care of you.”
I sighed and nodded. He seemed friendly.
I had no idea that, in just a few days, that woman would shatter everything I thought I knew about my life.
A nurse in a hospital room | Source: Midjourney
At first, Stephanie was wonderful.
From the moment she started caring for me, she made sure I was comfortable. She checked on me regularly, adjusted my pillows when I couldn’t move properly, and even brought me an extra blanket when I said I was cold.
“You must be tired of hospital food,” she joked one afternoon as she handed me a tray. “I wouldn’t blame you if you refused to eat this.”
I laughed. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but yeah… this isn’t exactly gourmet food.”
A woman talking to a nurse | Source: Midjourney
He smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you something better if I can.”
Over time, we started talking about our lives.
“One night, as he was fluffing my pillows, he asked me, ‘Do you have any children?'”
“Not yet,” I admitted. “My husband and I want to buy a house first, and then start thinking about having children.”
She nodded. “That’s smart. Kids are expensive.”
I smiled. “And you? Are you married?”
She shook her head. “No, but there’s someone in my life. We’re dating. Nothing serious yet.”
A couple holding hands | Source: Pexels
“Do you think it’s him?” I joked.
“Maybe,” she shrugged. “He’s great. You know, the nice kind. He’s been spoiling me lately.”
“How sweet,” I said. “It’s nice when someone makes you feel special.”
The next day, when Stephanie walked into my room, something caught my eye.
A bracelet.
It wasn’t just any bracelet. It was a delicate gold chain with a small heart pendant, and it looked very similar to the one my grandmother had given me.
The same bracelet I had lost a month ago.
A heart bracelet | Source: Midjourney
At first, I thought it was a coincidence. But then, as Stephanie rested her arm on the side table while adjusting my IV, I saw it up close.
The tiny engraving on the back of the heart charm had a smiley face.
My grandmother had asked the jeweler for it. She told me it was especially for me.
Suddenly, I felt dizzy.
How is this possible? I thought.
I’d looked everywhere for it and was convinced I’d lost it. But now it was there. On my nurse’s wrist.
“That’s a beautiful bracelet,” I said, forcing a smile. “Where did you get it?”
A woman smiling | Source: Midjourney
Stephanie looked down and smiled. “My boyfriend gave it to me.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“How thoughtful,” I said. “When did he give it to you?”
“A month ago.”
My fingers gripped the hospital blanket.
Suddenly, memories flooded back.
I was getting ready for a party. I’d put on my makeup and grabbed my jewelry box when I realized my bracelet was missing.
Jewelry pieces | Source: Pexels
“Toby, have you seen my bracelet?” I asked, rummaging through the drawers.
“You probably left it somewhere,” he said.
“But it’s always in my jewelry box.”
He sighed and looked at his watch. “Kate, we’re running late. Put something else on.”
His reaction had seemed strange to me at the time, but I let it go, thinking I had lost him.
Now, as I looked at the bracelet on Stephanie’s wrist, the pieces began to fall into place.
Toby had taken it.
And he had given it to Stephanie.
A man with a bracelet | Source: Midjourney
Before saying anything else, I needed to be sure.
My heart was pounding as I grabbed my phone. I quickly scrolled through my photos until I found one of Toby and me from our anniversary dinner.
Then I turned the screen to Stephanie.
“Is he your boyfriend?” I asked.
He glanced at the photo and his smile lasted a brief second before fading.
“How do you know him?” she asked, confused.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Because he’s my husband.”
Silence.
A nurse in a hospital room | Source: Midjourney
He looked back at the bracelet on his wrist and then back at me.
“What do you mean? Your husband?” she asked. “No… I don’t understand.”
“I’m saying Toby isn’t just your boyfriend,” I explained. “He’s my husband. And that bracelet? It was mine before he stole it and gave it to you.”
Stephanie took a shaky step back, crossing her arms. “That… that can’t be true. He wouldn’t do that to me.”
“He’s been doing it to me for months,” I said bitterly. “You just didn’t know.”
Close-up of a woman’s eyes | Source: Midjourney
“No…” she said. “He told me he was single. He never mentioned a wife.”
I almost laughed. “Of course not.”
Stephanie’s breathing became ragged as she processed it all. Then her expression hardened.
“I can’t believe it,” she exhaled heavily. “I can’t believe I trusted him.”
I stared at her as a plan formed in my mind.
“If you’re willing to help me, we can get him to confess when he comes here tonight,” I suggested. “He said he’d be back from his trip today.”
A man walking along the road with his luggage | Source: Pexels
“What do you have in mind?” he asked.
“We call the police,” I said. “And when they come, we make him admit what he did.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “I’ll do it.”
Then he took the bracelet off his wrist and gave it to me.
“It’s yours,” he whispered. “Keep it.”
***
That afternoon, Toby arrived at the hospital. He looked frantic and exhausted as he ran to my bed.
“Kate, darling, I came as soon as I could,” he said, brushing his hand with mine. “How are you feeling?”
I studied it carefully.
He was the same man who had been my husband for three years. The man I had trusted. The man who had stolen from me and lied to my face.
A man standing in a hospital room | Source: Midjourney
Before he could answer, the door opened.
Two police officers entered, followed by Stephanie.
“What’s going on?” Toby asked, his face full of confusion.
Stephanie stepped forward and pointed at my bracelet. “She says you stole it from her and gave it to me.”
Toby’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
The officer looked at me. “Ma’am, is that true?”
Before she could answer, Stephanie’s voice sounded. “No. That’s not true. I don’t have a bracelet. I don’t know why you think your husband is interested in me.”
I couldn’t believe it. Was this the same woman who had just agreed to expose Toby? The same woman who had seemed as betrayed as I had been?
A woman looking ahead | Source: Midjourney
“See?” Toby let out a nervous chuckle. “This is ridiculous. I don’t even know what this is about.”
I was still reeling from the betrayal when I heard it.
A sigh.
Then, a quiet, trembling voice.
“Okay… I did it.”
I turned my head to Toby, watching as he ran a hand over his face, his expression defeated.
“I stole the bracelet,” she admitted, her voice thick with guilt. “I took it from Kate’s jewelry box and gave it to Stephanie.”
A bracelet with a heart pendant | Source: Midjourney
“Toby!” Stephanie cried. “No!”
But he ignored her.
“I met her at a bar one night after an argument with Kate,” he confessed. “It wasn’t supposed to be anything serious, but… things happened. I took the bracelet with me because I thought Kate wouldn’t notice. But she did.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
The officers exchanged glances before one of them spoke. “Ma’am, do you want to press charges?”
I looked at Toby. He didn’t even meet my eyes.
A side shot of a man | Source: Midjourney
“No, officer,” I said. “I don’t want to press charges.”
Toby raised his head slightly, surprised.
“I’m not going to ruin your life,” I said. “But I’m not going to stay in it either.”
When the officers left, I turned to Stephanie.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled at him. “What were you trying to do?”
“I… I…”
“Get out!” I yelled. “Get out of this room. Now.”
He hesitated, but then nodded and left without saying anything else.
A nurse walking away | Source: Midjourney
Toby came over and tried to apologize. “Kate, I…”
“Don’t do it.” My voice was calm. “Go away.”
His eyes filled with regret, but I didn’t care anymore.
He left, and that was the last time I saw him. Our divorce was finalized shortly after.
Leaving him wasn’t easy. Leaving the life I’d built wasn’t easy. But I had no choice. I couldn’t stay with someone who had betrayed me so deeply.
A woman sitting on a bench | Source: Pexels
This work is inspired by real events and people, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to real events is purely coincidental and not the author’s intention.
The author and publisher do not guarantee the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters, and are not responsible for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and the opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
Leave a Reply