The Ringfollows a young New York lawyer who receives two rings -- one
from her fiancé and one that will lead her on an
unforgettable adventure.
On her twenty-seventh birthday, New York lawyer Cristina Wilson receives a diamond engagement ring from her fiancé, Mike, a wealthy stockbroker. Later that day, a messenger from Barcelona delivers a beautiful antique jewel, a ruby set in bone, from a mysterious sender. Cristina wears them both, unaware that they are incompatible. The ruby soon works its mysterious effects, giving her strange and unsettling dreams.
Cristina is swept away to Spain to attend the reading of her godfather's will, where she reunites with her first love, Oriol, and soon the powerful attraction that once overwhelmed them in their adolescent years is rekindled. Together Cristina and Oriol embark on an odyssey in search of a Templar treasure that has remained hidden for centuries in a place that only they can uncover. From New York lawyer to intrepid adventurer, Cristina experiences a profound journey of love, life, and death as she learns an unforgettable lesson that could redirect the course of her destiny.
Chapter 1
It's not often that a woman receives two engagement rings in one day. That's what made my twenty-seventh birthday so special.
The first ring was a stunning diamond solitaire from Mike, the man I'd been going out with for over a year. A real coup.
Mike's the perfect guy, the kind every girl dreams of. Or at least should be dreaming of, and if she's not, her mom definitely is. Any mother would be thrilled to marry her daughter off to someone like Mike. He's not just a stockbroker, but also the son of the company's owner, with a future beyond promising. You could say that he was born with a silver bond in his mouth.
The other ring was a surprise. It also demanded a commitment from me, but it had nothing to do with wedding vows. Or did it? That second ring would engage me not to a man, but to an adventure, an unusual adventure.
Of course, when it arrived I didn't know that. I didn't even have a clue as to who could have sent it to me. And if someone had told me who it was, I wouldn't have believed it. The second engagement ring was a gift from a dead man.
* * *
Neither did I know at the time that the two rings, or I should say, the two commitments, were incompatible. But I kept them both and started getting used to the idea of a wedding and changing my last name to Harding, although I was very intrigued by the other strange ring. I'm a very curious person, so mysteries really get to me. But I suppose I should just tell you how it all happened...
The party was in full swing when there was a knock on the door. My friend Jennifer, in her long dress with its plunging neckline, and Susan, in tight, low-slung pants, had started to dance, flirting with the men. The guys, some of whom already had a few drinks under their belts, followed them with their eyes. Those girls really loved to tease! Then a couple of clowns joined them, drinks in hand, and that got the dancing started all around.
I didn't mind that those two booty-shaking women were making the guys drool. I was an engaged woman and Mike, my gorgeous fiancé, held me by the waist. We kissed. We laughed. We sipped our drinks. I was flashing on my hand an awesome engagement ring with a hefty multicarat diamond. Mike had given it to me a few hours earlier, in the elegant French restaurant, near my apartment on the east side of Manhattan, where he had taken me out to lunch for my birthday.
"Let me choose the dessert today," he'd said.
The waiter brought me a magnificent chocolate soufflé. I'm crazy about chocolate, so I dove in, but after the third or fourth mouthful, my spoon hit something hard.
"Life is like a chocolate soufflé," Mike said in his best Tom Hanks-as-Forrest Gump
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