“I Smashed the Jade Bracelet and My Fake Fiancé”

I SMASHED THE JADE BRACELET AND MY FAKE FIANCÉ

The whole city bet that I would beg on my knees for Rafael to take me back after I called off our engagement. They thought I loved him to death. But they didn’t know I had been holding the dirty secrets of three generations of his family — just waiting for him to say the word “break up.”

On the day I called off my engagement, the entire city was betting that I would kneel and beg Rafael Vargas to come back to me.

Everyone believed I loved him more than life itself.

But they didn’t know that I was holding the biggest weaknesses of the entire Vargas family in my hands — just waiting for him to say the word “cancel.”

When he finally said it — “Give the jade bracelet to Tessa. If not, we’re breaking up” — I burst out laughing.

I had endured and swallowed my anger for three long years. This was exactly the moment I had been waiting for.

I wanted to destroy the entire Vargas family from the roots.

1.

Dusk had fallen. Only a single desk lamp was lit in the study of the old Reyes ancestral home.

The imperial green jade bracelet, carved from the rarest Longshi jade, rested quietly on black velvet.

I was gently wiping it with a soft cloth when the door opened silently.

Rafael Vargas stepped in. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit, and the cold light reflected off the expensive Patek Philippe watch on his wrist.

His eyes immediately landed on the bracelet.

“Tessa saw the photo you posted,” he said suddenly, breaking the silence. “She really likes it.”

I didn’t look up and continued wiping the jade.

This raw stone was something my mother had won at an auction three years ago. It had only recently been crafted into a bracelet by a master artisan.

It had just arrived today.

“So?” I asked softly.

“Give it to her,” Rafael said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Go find something else.”

The cloth in my hand stopped moving.

I lifted my eyes and looked at him.

The heir of the powerful Vargas family, my fiancé for three years, was now standing there with the attitude of someone granting charity, waiting for me to agree.

“This piece is one of a kind in the whole world,” I said. “The master who made it passed away last month. This is his final work.”

Rafael frowned, as if annoyed that I was talking too much.

“I know. That’s exactly why Tessa wants it.”

His logic was so perfect it was suffocating.

I gently placed the bracelet back on the velvet and leaned back in my chair.

“Rafael, I remember your birthday is next month. I spent half a year preparing your gift — a custom Bugatti.”

His expression softened a little.

“You’re thoughtful.”

“But if Tessa says she likes something,” I continued, “would you also want me to give that to her?”

His face darkened.

“Elena, stop being unreasonable.”

“Unreasonable?”

My fingers traced the cold surface of the jade bracelet.

“In the past three years, how many things has Tessa taken from me? Do you want me to list them all for you?”

Rafael walked around the desk, placed both hands on the edge, and leaned down, towering over me with heavy pressure.

“Break up,” he said, staring straight into my eyes. “Or give the bracelet to Tessa. Your choice.”

The study became deathly silent.

I picked up the jade bracelet.

The corner of Rafael’s mouth curved up slightly. He thought I was going to compromise again — just like the previous eleven times.

I lifted the bracelet to his eye level… and let it go.

2.

CRACK!

The sound of imperial jade shattering on the marble floor was crisp and piercing.

The bracelet broke into three pieces. The deep green surface gleamed coldly under the lamp.

Rafael’s face froze in shock.

“Break up,” I said clearly in the silence. “Right now.”

He was stunned for a full five seconds before he could speak.

“Are you crazy? That’s…”

“I know exactly what it is,” I cut him off, standing up. “Imperial green Longshi jade — the last masterpiece of Master Bui. Something money can’t buy.”

“So I smashed it. Now no one can have it.”

I stepped over the broken pieces and stood directly in front of him, looking him in the eyes.

“Rafael Vargas, there’s one thing you still don’t seem to understand.”

I smiled.

“I stayed as your fiancée for three years not because the Reyes family is beneath the Vargas family… but because I once truly loved you.”

His pupils shrank.

“But I don’t love you anymore.”

I took off the engagement ring from my left ring finger.

“So our engagement ends here. Mr. Vargas, please see yourself out.”

Rafael’s face turned deathly pale, then green, then red with rage.

He suddenly grabbed my wrist so tightly it felt like he would crush the bones.

“Elena Reyes, don’t you dare regret this! Without the Vargas family, you’re nothing in this circle!”

“Let her go.”

A cold voice came from the doorway.

We both turned our heads.

My mother, Victoria Reyes, was standing there.

She wore an elegant dark green silk dress, her long hair neatly pinned up with a white jade hairpin. Two assistants stood behind her.

Rafael quickly released my wrist but still tried to block me.

“Auntie Victoria, there’s just a small misunderstanding between me and Elena.”

“Misunderstanding?”

Mother walked in slowly, stopped in front of him, and pointed toward the door.

“Get out.”

Her voice left no room for argument.

Rafael stood frozen.

“Auntie, this is between me and Elena—”

“Elena is my daughter. Her matters are my matters. Now get out of my house.”

One of the assistants stepped forward. “Mr. Vargas, would you like me to call security?”

Rafael’s face turned completely dark. He gave me one last complicated look — a flash of panic I had never seen before.

“Elena, you will regret this.”

“The only thing I regret,” I said calmly, “is wasting three years of my life on you.”

“Please leave. I won’t see you out.”

Full of fury, he turned and stormed out.

3.

The study became quiet again.

Mother finally looked at me. Her gaze landed on my reddened wrist, and her eyes turned colder.

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

I shook my head.

She walked to the desk, picked up one piece of the broken bracelet, and examined it under the light.

“It’s a shame… but it was worth smashing. Some things are better destroyed than given away.”

She took a velvet box from her assistant and opened it in front of me.

Inside was an identical imperial green jade bracelet.

I was stunned.

“The real one is here,” Mother said softly. She slipped it onto my left wrist. It fit perfectly.

“The one you smashed was a high-quality replica. I had it prepared last week.”

The jade felt cool and soothing against my skin.

“You already knew…” I whispered.

“I knew Rafael would come. I knew what he would say.”

Mother gently tucked my hair behind my ear.

“But I needed you to make the choice yourself — whether to keep enduring or to cut ties completely.”

She looked into my eyes.

“Elena, remember this: A daughter of the Reyes family can lose. She can fall. But she must never live on her knees.”

I clenched the jade bracelet on my wrist.

“Mom, I want everyone to know… that I don’t need him anymore.”

Mother smiled.

In that smile was the sharp, proud look I knew so well.