Secret Santa gifts aren’t supposed to change how you see someone. But the elegant silver ring from my coworker Sarah did exactly that – just not in the way you’d expect. When I unwrapped it last Christmas, I was touched by how perfectly it suited me. Sarah and I weren’t best friends, but we’d developed an easy camaraderie after working together for years.
The ring became my favorite accessory, its emerald center stone catching the light with every gesture. Then one evening, while nervously twisting it during a phone call, I discovered the stone wasn’t fixed – it turned, revealing a tiny hidden space. My initial childlike delight at this discovery vanished when I saw what was inside.
A minuscule scrap of paper, carefully folded. The two words written there in precise script made my hands shake: “Hate you.” Suddenly, every kind thing Sarah had ever done took on a sinister quality. That time she stayed late to help me meet a deadline? The homemade muffins she brought for my birthday? Were they all part of some twisted game?
I still have the ring, though I can’t bring myself to wear it anymore. Sometimes I take it out just to stare at it, marveling at how something so beautiful could contain something so cruel. And I still smile at Sarah in the hallways, but now I wonder which one of us is better at pretending.
