The jewelry store was quiet under the bright lights.
Glass displays stretched in neat rows, filled with rings that caught every reflection.
Soft classical music played in the background, low enough to keep the space feeling private.
A staff member approached them the moment they stepped inside, her smile practiced and warm.
“Welcome.
Are you looking for something special today?”
Wilder rested a hand on Nyxia’s back.
“A wedding ring.”
The woman’s smile widened at once.
“Congratulations on your marriage.
This way, please.
We have several new collections perfect for couples who just got married.”
Nyxia kept her expression polite, though the words scraped against her nerves.
The staff spoke as if everything was already settled, as if the ring on the tray would only confirm something that had long existed.
Wilder answered without pause.
“Thank you.”
They were led to a private counter near the far side of the store.
The staff unlocked a glass case and placed several trays in front of them.
Diamonds of different cuts.
Platinum bands.
Designs that ranged from simple to elaborate.
Light bounced off every surface.
Wilder picked up one ring and turned it between his fingers, examining it with quiet focus.
“You chose something like this before.”
Nyxia looked at him.
“I don’t remember choosing any ring with you.”
“You did.” His voice remained even.
“You said you didn’t like anything too flashy.
You wanted something simple that you could wear every day.
No large stones.
Nothing that would get in the way.”
He spoke as if the memory sat clearly in his mind.
There was no search for details, no hesitation.
Nyxia watched his face, looking for any sign that he was improvising.
She found none.
The certainty in his tone made the air feel heavier.
“I don’t remember that,” she said.
“You will.”
The staff member returned with another tray and began explaining the materials.
Wilder listened only half for a moment before taking Nyxia’s hand.
His fingers closed around hers without asking for permission.
He picked a platinum band and tested it against her finger, sliding it halfway on, then adjusting the angle.
The metal felt cool.
His hand did not.
Nyxia felt her pulse jump under his hold.
The reaction came too fast.
She tried to pull back, but Wilder simply shifted his grip and continued checking the fit as if he had not noticed.
When the ring finally slid into place, it sat neatly against her skin.
Nyxia looked down at the band.
The weight of it was light, yet it pressed against her thoughts far more than it pressed against her finger.
A wedding ring.
On her hand.
In a quiet store where the staff had already congratulated them.
They were still standing at the counter when a voice called out from the side.
“Wilder?”
A man in a dark suit approached with a smile of recognition.
His steps were relaxed, the manner of someone used to meeting familiar faces in expensive places.
His eyes moved from Wilder to Nyxia, and his expression shifted into something more certain.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.
And this is…” He looked at Nyxia again, then gave a small nod, as if confirming the image in his head.
“Clara, right?
We met briefly at the event last month.”
The name landed hard.
Clara.
The woman who had once been linked to Wilder in quiet rumors.
Nyxia had heard the gossip years ago in passing and ignored it.
It had meant nothing then.
Now the same name was being attached to her while a wedding ring sat on her finger, under the lights of a jewelry store, with a staff member still standing close enough to hear everything.
Something sharp twisted in her chest.
“You’re mistaken,” Wilder said.
“This is my wife, Nyxia.”
The man blinked, then let out an embarrassed laugh.
“Ah.
My apologies.
You two look similar from a distance.
Congratulations on the marriage.”
“Thank you,” Wilder replied.
The man offered a few more polite words, glanced once more at Nyxia, and finally left.
The space he had occupied felt colder after he walked away.
Nyxia’s eyes returned to the ring on her finger.
The staff’s congratulations.
The wrong name.
The metal resting against her skin.
All of it stacked together too quickly.
Heat climbed up her neck before she could stop it.
“Clara?” The name left her mouth with a bitter edge.
“So that was the woman people used to talk about?
The one who was always around you?”
Wilder turned to her at once.
Nyxia’s heart slammed hard against her ribs.
The moment the words left her, panic followed.
She had slipped.
She had spoken like someone who knew, and worse, like someone who was affected by it.
She forced a breath into her lungs and quickly reshaped her expression into confusion.
Her hand rose to her temple, fingers pressing lightly as if a headache had just surfaced.
“It just came out.
I suddenly saw a face.
A woman.
Standing near you.
Was that… a memory?”
She looked at him as if searching for an answer, playing the part of someone whose past had cracked open without warning.
Wilder did not look relieved.
He stepped closer.
Both hands rose and cupped her face, palms firm against her cheeks, holding her still so she could not look away.
His eyes searched hers with an intensity that felt too tight for comfort.
“No,” he said.
“That wasn’t a memory.”
Nyxia blinked.
“But I saw…”
“It didn’t happen.” His voice stayed controlled, yet every word came out sharper than usual.
“Your mind is confused.
The doctor said this could happen.
Fragments.
Images that feel real but don’t belong anywhere.”
“It felt clear.”
“It’s not real.” His thumbs pressed once against her skin, as if trying to anchor her.
“Listen to me.
There was no Clara in front of you.
There was no event like that.
Your head is mixing things because you’re still recovering.
That is all.”
Nyxia stared at him.
The pressure of his hands said more than the words themselves.
“You need to stop forcing it,” he continued.
“If something appears again, ignore it.
Don’t follow it.
Don’t dig.
It will only make everything worse.”
His gaze remained locked on hers.
“You’re my wife.
That’s the only thing you need to hold on to right now.
Everything else is noise.
Do you understand?”
Nyxia’s mouth felt dry.
Inside his hold, she gave a small nod.
Wilder kept his hands on her face a second longer before finally letting go.
Even then, one hand lingered near her jaw before falling away.
He turned back to the staff as if the crack in the conversation had never opened.
“We’ll take this ring.”
The staff member moved quickly, relieved to return to a familiar process.
Papers were prepared.
Payment was handled.
The platinum band remained on Nyxia’s finger the entire time.
Nyxia looked down at it while the transaction finished around her.