The air inside Grace Harbor Chapel smelled of damp pine, old hymnals, and beeswax.

Sunlight cut through the stained-glass window behind the altar, casting red and blue pools across the wooden pews.

I stood in the center aisle, my wool coat buttoned tight against the autumn chill.

My leather gloves felt cold against my skin.

Two pews ahead sat my husband, Graham.

Next to him was Sloane Mercer.

She wore a pale, expensive wool coat, her blonde hair pinned back, looking every bit the respectable churchgoer.

Then I saw her left hand resting on the back of the polished oak pew.

On her ring finger sat the square-cut emerald.

My grandmother’s ring.

The gold filigree was unmistakable, catching the morning light with a cold, green glint.

I walked down the aisle, my heels clicking loudly against the stone floor.

Graham turned his head first.

His face went rigid when his eyes met mine.

“Evelyn,” he whispered, his voice tight with sudden panic. “What are you doing here?”

Sloane slowly pulled her hand back, tucking it into her coat pocket.

“I came to collect what belongs to me,” I said, my voice echoing in the quiet sanctuary.

Several people in the neighboring pews turned to look.

Among them was Marjorie, Graham’s mother, who sat upright with her gloved hands folded over her leather purse.

“This is a house of God, Evelyn,” Marjorie said, her voice a low, warning hiss. “Do not make a scene.”

“Tell your mistress to take off my grandmother’s ring, Marjorie, and there won’t be a scene,” I said.

Sloane looked at Graham, her eyes wide with manufactured innocence.

“Graham, please,” Sloane murmured, leaning closer to him. “She’s unstable.”

“Take it off, Sloane,” I repeated, stepping closer to the pew. “Or we can let the police handle the theft charges right here in the sanctuary.”

Graham stood up, his tall frame towering over me, his jaw clenched.

“You gave me that ring, Evelyn,” he said, keeping his voice down. “It was a gift to our marriage.”

“It was an heirloom entrusted to my husband,” I said. “Not a prop for your mistress.”