Chapter 3 - The Broken Bracelet
Bonnie bent down and picked up a string of blue glass beads.
Gracie’s bracelet.
Sawyer had bought it for her before leaving for his business trip.
It had been strong enough that Gracie could not remove it without help.
Now the cord had been snapped.
Bonnie held it beneath the porch light.
“Carolina, why was this inside your shoe?”
Carolina looked down.
“I stepped on it.”
“Where?”
“In the hallway.”
Sawyer stared at the beads.
One remained pressed into the wet stone beside the door.
He remembered Gracie proudly showing him the bracelet during their last video call.
She had promised not to take it off until he came home.
“Who broke it?” he asked.
Carolina folded her arms.
“I already told you. She fell.”
Gracie watched through the car window.
Her frightened eyes moved between the adults.
Sawyer opened the door slightly.
“Gracie, can you tell me how the bracelet broke?”
Carolina stepped forward.
“She needs rest.”
Sawyer raised one hand.
“Don’t come closer.”
For the first time, Carolina’s theatrical anger slipped.
Her nostrils flared.
Her fingers curled against her dress.
Gracie squeezed the stuffed rabbit.
“I dropped the glass.”
“What glass?”
“The one Mom gave me.”
Carolina’s face turned white.
Bonnie stared at her daughter.
“What glass?”
Gracie’s voice trembled.
“She said I had to carry it outside. But it was too heavy.”
Sawyer looked toward the wet patio.
Near one white column, he saw a small fragment of thick crystal hidden beside the railing.
It belonged to Bonnie’s antique punch bowl.
May you like
A bowl large enough to require two adult hands.
👉 Carolina had forced Gracie to carry it—but the reason she gave made Bonnie question everything she thought she knew about her daughter.
