The vault clicked open with a sigh, as if it, too, was exhausted from resisting. Inside millions in jewels, but one stood out. A diamond, massive and clear as frozen lightning.

We stared, breathless. Three of us.

Rick reached first. “She’s a beauty,” he whispered.
Mara laughed. “Not just beauty, man. That thing could buy beauty.”

I nodded slowly. “You know…” I said, gently lifting the gem from its silk bed, “Diamonds are beautiful…”

They turned to me, eyes gleaming.

“…but they are also strong.”

The first strike cracked Rick’s skull like a dropped vase. Mara screamed, but didn’t get far she slipped in the blood, and the second swing silenced her.

I stood there, heaving, hands wet and glittering. The diamond caught the overhead lights and sparkled like nothing had just happened.

No gun. No noise. Just elegance.

Who would suspect a flawless gem?

As sirens wailed faintly in the distance, I slipped it into my pocket, whispering:

“Hardest thing on Earth. Sharpest, too. Beauty with bite.”

And just like that, I walked out alone rich, ruthless, and still sparkling.