“Those are my earrings! How could they end up on eBay?”
Emily noticed things going missing from her apartment. At first, she thought she was just being forgetful. Maybe she had moved them and couldn’t remember. But now, she couldn’t find them anywhere.
It became clear something was wrong. The strangest part was that they hardly ever had visitors, apart from her childhood friend Jessica and her mother-in-law.
She was certain Jessica wouldn’t take anything. They’d been friends since childhood. Her mother-in-law? Who would suspect their husband’s mother? She was such a respectable and cultured woman.
“Mark, have you seen my earrings?” Emily asked her husband one morning as he was getting ready for work.
“Do I look like I wear them?” he replied, surprised.
“No, but I haven’t been able to find them for days.”
“You’ve probably just misplaced them. Like a needle in a haystack,” Mark grumbled.
“No, I truly can’t find them anywhere, and they mean a lot to me. They have sapphires, after all.”
Mark just shrugged and advised Emily to be more careful next time.
She started thinking about who had been to their house lately. Again, it all pointed to her friend and her mother-in-law. The postman had come by, too, but he hadn’t entered the apartment.
A few days later, Emily received a call from her friend Jessica with an odd question.
“Em, are you selling your earrings?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, the sapphire ones you had custom-made.”
“I remember. Why would you think I’m selling them?” Emily asked, bewildered.
“I just saw them on eBay.”
“That can’t be! Maybe they just look similar?”
“No, they’re definitely yours. I can send you the link.”
“Yes, please do.” Emily suddenly felt anxious, not understanding how this could happen.
She would never sell them, but she couldn’t find hers anywhere.
“No way! Those are definitely mine!”
“See what I mean? Why would I lie?” Jessica sounded a bit hurt.
“No, it’s not that. I just can’t figure out how they ended up there.”
Emily shared the whole situation with Jessica.
“Wow. Then there’s only one option.”
“Are you suggesting it’s my mother-in-law? But the seller’s username isn’t listed.”
“We can find out easily enough.”
The girls agreed to meet at a café, where Jessica decided to call the number on the listing. Surprisingly, it didn’t belong to Emily’s mother-in-law, otherwise, Emily would have recognized it immediately.
“That’s not her number.”
“Wait, we’ll find out who it is,” Jessica said, dialing the number.
A young woman answered. The voice sounded familiar, but Emily couldn’t place it right away.
“Give me the address, I’ll be there soon,” Jessica insisted.
This wasn’t surprising. Jessica was always persistent and determined.
“Does the voice sound familiar?”
“It does, but I can’t pinpoint who it is.”
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
They called a cab and headed to the address provided.
“Wait, I think I know this place. It’s near where Mark’s sister lives. Yes, in this building.”
When they reached the floor, Emily immediately recognized Nicola’s apartment.
“I’m telling you now, no bargains,” Nicola said, opening the door.
Emily hid around the corner to see what would happen next.
“I’m not here to bargain. Can I at least see the earrings?”
When Nicola handed them over, Emily stepped out from the corner.
“Emily, what are you doing here?” Nicola gasped, her voice trembling.
“I came to see how you and your mother are selling my things.”
Nicola clearly hadn’t expected this.
“They’re not yours. I was given these as a gift!”
“Really? And who’s giving you such pricey gifts?”
Nicola wasn’t married, just had two kids.
“That’s none of your business.”
“The police will sort out whose business it is. I’ve got voice recordings and screenshots of conversations. Plus, I have old photos of these earrings.”
With that, Emily and Jessica left, leaving Nicola pale.
“Mum, can you believe it? She said she’d call the police. What do we do?” Nicola cried over the phone.
The mother-in-law realized she needed to take control.
“Oh, you silly girl! Who puts such things straight on eBay?”
“I needed the money. How was I supposed to know her friend would show up?”
“You should’ve used your head! Now what do I tell them?”
Pauline Smith was an intriguing character. She was only concerned about Emily not pressing charges. Taking someone else’s belongings didn’t seem to bother her at all.
“Are you seriously going to press charges against my sister?” Mark was shocked when he heard everything.
“Believe it or not, I’ll press charges against your mom too.”
“Emily, come on! It must be some sort of mistake. This can’t be real!”
At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Pauline Smith stood at the threshold. Once inside, she handed the earrings to Emily.
“Here, take your earrings. No need for any formal complaints.”
“Mum, what’s going on?”
Pauline explained that she had long had her eye on the earrings and felt they were too extravagant a gift for someone like Emily.
After all, how could they live in luxury when there were family members in need? Nicola was raising two children on her own after her husband left and refused to help. Pauline decided to “help” her daughter at Emily’s expense.
“Do you think it’s acceptable to take someone else’s belongings? Especially something precious to me?”
Pauline pressed her lips together before responding.
“I just wanted to help my daughter, but I realized it was wrong and chose to return them.”
But Emily wasn’t as naive as they assumed. Had Jessica not stumbled upon the listing, the earrings would have been sold without a second thought. Who knows if the mother-in-law wasn’t involved in it too?
“Mum, I didn’t expect this from you. Sorry, but I no longer want you here,” Mark said firmly and asked his mother to leave.
Emily was beside herself, unable to believe her husband’s family could do something like this. She considered them her own family, but they had behaved worse than enemies. At least this taught her a valuable lesson.
Mark requested only one thing — not to file a complaint against them. He believed everyone eventually gets what they deserve. Emily decided to listen to him, wanting to maintain her marriage and keep the peace.
