Jewelry Set

An amiable smile curved on the elderly man's lips when he heard Kyla's offer. He bobbed his head in response to her suggestion. With Isaac's assistance, he sat on one of the chairs by the bed and started introducing himself. "You must be Isaac's fiancee, Kyla. Isaac has spoken a lot about you. My name is Zhou Lun, you can call me Grandpa Lun. I am here to return something that belongs to Isaac and hopefully, my explanation would resolve any misunderstandings between the two of you."

Kyla maintained her composure, smiling at the elderly. "Grandpa Lun, please continue."

While Grandpa Lun explained the situation to Kyla, Isaac poured two glasses of water and kept his eyes on Kyla's expression. Grandpa Lun said, "I am here to return the jewelry set Isaac lent me. Frankly speaking, I owe Isaac a huge favor because I no longer have any regrets left. Around two months ago, I attended the same auction as him. We were both targeting Wirlin Saquin's jewelry. I believe you should be familiar with this designer's works. I heard you were a big fan of him."

Kyla nodded patiently as Grandpa Lun continued. "For some idiotic reason, the jewelry set we were both aiming for was auctioned separately. I mean, it's jewelry set for a reason, yet it was auctioned separately. How ridiculous does this sound? The way this auction worked was through hidden bids, which means the highest bid would win the particular product. I was fortunate enough to win the bid for the earrings. However, there were four more auctions on different dates and I wasn't as lucky to get any of them."

He sighed, slowly shaking his head. "Anyway, after the other bids were over, Isaac found me by chance before I left the country. He showed me the four pieces of jewelry from the same set I wanted to obtain and told me he desperately wanted the earrings in my hands. When I asked him why he wanted to buy these earrings ten times the bid amount, he told me it was because his fiancee loved this designer's works. But the designer already retired from the industry and his pieces are considered a rarity."

"According to the auctions I've attended, Isaac only won one of the four pieces of jewelry he had with him. Apparently, he found information about the other bidders and managed to persuade them to sell the other parts of the jewelry set to him. The earrings I had were the last pieces he needed to complete the set. It is difficult to find such a sophisticated young man who loves his fiancee so much to go around like that."

Kyla smiled when she heard about Isaac's efforts in purchasing the jewelry collection for her. Grandpa Lun opened the red jewelry set in his hands and showed her the delicate pieces. He handed the box to her and continued speaking. "He said it was a surprise for your anniversary, so he spent countless days and nights in finding the bidders. You must be wondering how the entire set ended up in my hands and why I was the one bringing it back."

Grandpa Lun leaned back on his chair and sighed sadly. "This set was particularly important to my wife and me because this was her dowry when she married me. Unfortunately, my business did not go well during my young days, and she sold this set to help me bring my business back up. It was her favorite jewelry and she reluctantly parted from it. Days were rough, but she stuck through the worst times with me. And now that I am successful, I thought we could live more peacefully and spend more time together."

He left a short pause between his words. "But my wife was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago along with other health issues. I've been wanting to find the original jewelry set for her but failed to find any traces of it. I've searched everywhere and finally found out that it was being auctioned months ago. You see, my wife's memory had already reached the point where she recognizes me but forgot my name before the auction. I watched her eat, laugh, and walk around without knowing who I was every day. There were times when I asked her who I was and she tells me she doesn't remember."

His eyes watered when he remembered his wife's words and the beautiful smile she had when she saw flowers blossoming in their garden.

"Even though she forgot who I was, she always remembered her dowry. She searched for her set and would frown when she realized it wasn't there anymore. The only thing she remembered was the dowry she had on her wedding day. So when I heard about the auction, I immediately flew overseas hopingly to obtain it. Again, my luck failed me. But then Isaac showed up with the rest of the set. After hearing his story, I told him about my wife. I asked him to lend me this set because my wife was on her deathbed. When I listened to Isaac talk about you, his eyes smiled just like my young days when I spoke about my wife."

Perhaps pregnancy made Kyla more sensitive. Tears filled her eyes as she listened to Grandpa Lun talk about his wife. "When I was young, I wanted to earn more money and provide the best for my wife. Even though she never complained about what we had for our meals, I knew she could've had better. But she continued to stick by my side believing that I would succeed. And when I did reach today's success, she isn't here anymore to share everything I've built.

Everything became meaningless when I gained the world, but lost the woman I've loved my entire life. This morning, I brought the jewelry set to her bed where she smiled looking at it. She touched the pieces in the box and said my name. I was by her side, holding her hand until she passed away in peace."