Avery locks eyes with Jackson. He runs his hand through his curly hair, and his blue diamond earrings winked in the sunlight. He smiles knowingly at her, and Avery's palms itch with the desire to slap him. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Avery says. She turns and looks at Fiona, "Why did you ask him to come? He's not part of the Meyer family."

Fiona presses her dark red lips together and shakes her head. She and Jackson shake hands warmly, and Jackson leans down and kisses her on the cheek.

"Come with me, Jackson," Fiona says. "Unfortunately, I have some ugly business to deal with, but it shouldn't take long. Would you be kind enough to wait for me in the conference room?"

Fiona leads Jackson out of the room, shooting a nasty look at Avery over her shoulder. Avery sighs cross her legs and sinks back into the plush sofa. If Fiona is going to make her wait, she might as well be comfortable. In a few minutes, Fiona returns. She checks her watch and paces up and down the room.

There's a knock at the door and an elegant woman in white bursts in. She's wearing a large floppy hat and a dark pair of sunglasses. She pulls the sunglasses off and glances between Avery and Fiona. Avery almost gasps—she and Charles have the same eyes, though she looks a bit young to be his mother.

"Where's the ring?" Mrs. Meyer asks.

Fiona passes her the ring and says, "I found it on that woman. She had quite a story to tell about it too."

Mrs. Meyer barely even glances at it before turning to Avery with a questioning look. Avery stands and offers her hand to Mrs. Meyer, but Charles' mother refuses to take it.

"Hi, Mrs. Meyer," Avery says. "My name is Avery, and I'm friends with Charles."

"Why do you have a family ring?" Mrs. Meyer asks calmly.

"Charles asked me to keep it for him," Avery says. "But I accidentally chipped the stone. I didn't want to return a damaged ring, so I was trying to have it repaired. I know it's a priceless family heirloom, and believe me when I say I'm incredibly sorry about the damage. Mrs. Summers refused to repair it for me, but perhaps she'll be willing to do it for you. I promise to cover any costs."

"Can you believe her?" Fiona asks. "She thinks that money can buy anything—she has no respect for your family or your ring. She broke a priceless family heirloom and is offering money in return. I'd be furious if I were you."

Mrs. Meyer runs her fingers over the chip in the ring, and her expression looks pained. She lifts it up to the light and looks at the damage from different angles. Avery's palms start to sweat. If Mrs. Meyer is upset about the broken ring, it'll be even easier for Fiona to blow the situation out of control.

Fiona sneers at Avery and continues talking, "Who knows why she even has the ring. She claimed Charles gave it to her, but why should we believe her? Why would a married woman have something that should belong to the future Mrs. Meyer, hmm?"

Avery twists her fingers. I knew I should never have accepted the ring, she thinks. I should have returned it to the Meyer family the second I found out how important it is. I was so stupid to let Charles give it to me.

"Her silence is suspicious, don't you think?" Fiona asks. "Mrs. Meyer, I'm telling you, she stole the ring. You need to go to the police at once and report her. She needs to be punished for what she's done."

"Hmm, yes, of course," Mrs. Meyer says distractedly, still holding the ring to the light and touching the chipped gemstone.

"I'll call the police right away," Fiona says, smiling a huge toothy smile.

"Wait; what?" Mrs. Meyer asks. "One minute, I have some questions for Avery."

Fiona scowls at Avery, but she puts the phone down and walks back toward Mrs. Meyer. Mrs. Meyer touches Avery's arm and looks up into her eyes. It's eerie to see Charles' eyes in someone else's face, Avery thinks.

"So you're Charles' friend?" Mrs. Meyer asks.

Avery nods.

"And he gave you this ring?" Mrs. Meyer asks, tightening her grip on Avery's arm.

"Yes, he did," Avery says.

"Why?" Mrs. Meyer asks.

Avery chews the side of her cheek as she thinks about how to answer the question. He gave her a ring so she could monitor the toxin in her blood and check to see if her food had been poisoned, but it seems like a bad idea to explain that to Fiona and Mrs. Meyer. How can she tell them something Evan doesn't even know?

"Don't trust her, Mrs. Meyer—that's my advice," Fiona says. "She's clearly trying to think of some lie to tell us right now. Besides, even if she didn't steal it, she could have gotten it from him in other ways. She's married to Evan Howel, but everyone's saying that she made Andrew Cliffords fall head over heels in love with her. She could have used some sort of sick seduction on your poor son, too."

"So, you're Mrs. Howel?" Mrs. Meyer asks. She looks at Avery as if seeing her for the first time.

"I am," Avery replies.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, dear," Mrs. Meyer says.

Mrs. Meyer's eyes look terribly sad all of a sudden. She passes the ring to Avery and folds Avery's hand closed around it. Avery holds the ring nervously. Before she can ask Mrs. Meyer what she's doing, the woman squeezes her arm urgently.

"If you want to return this to our family, you need to give it back to Charles," Mrs. Meyer says. "It's the only way."

"Mrs. Meyer, what are you doing?" Fiona screeches. "She tricked Charles into giving her a ring, and then she broke it! She needs to be punished."

"I'm grateful that you called me, Fiona," Mrs. Meyer says cooly. "But surely you have something better to do that mind another family's private business."

Avery can't believe her ears. It would be so easy for Mrs. Meyer to believe Fiona's story. Charles is the only one who can confirm the truth, and he's missing. Avery was sure that the women would drag her down to the police station.

Mrs. Meyer slips her sunglasses on and walks out without another word. Avery hesitates and then chases after her, calling her name.

Mrs. Meyer turns slowly and asks, "You want to know why, don't you?"

Avery nods.

"It's because Charles was in love with you," Mrs. Meyer says.

"No, no, that's impossible," Avery says, feeling her blood go cold. "Charles and I were just friends."

"Oh no, dear," Mrs. Meyer says. She smiles sadly and shakes her head. "He loved you—a mother always knows. Of course, I should have put a stop to it, but well, Charles and I weren't really on speaking terms. He's a stubborn man, and he refused to forgive me for an old misunderstanding.

"One day, he came to me—I thought he was finally going to forgive me, but all he wanted was the ring. I should have warned him. I should have refused to give it to him, but he seemed so happy, and I just couldn't bring myself to hurt him like that."

Avery feels as if she's been punched in the stomach. She squeezes the ring so hard the sharp edges dig into her palms, and she shakes her head back and forth.

"I swear, I had no idea," she says. "If I'd known I would never have"

"I don't blame you," Mrs. Meyer says slowly. "But my son gave you this ring as a symbol of his love. If you want to return it, you need to do it properly. He won't give up unless you reject him yourself."