The crystal bowl stood on top of the display cabinet, heavy, impractical, and always dusty. Dunja's former boyfriend had given it to her as a wedding gift, remarking that some things looked beautiful until you tried to hold them. Her husband, Mladen, found the gift amusing. Dunja never used it, but never put it away either.
When a pipe burst, the bowl was in the room the water missed. When Mladen lost his job, she noticed a small scratch on its rim that same day. Over time, they began saying the gift brought bad luck. It was a convenient joke: misfortune acquired a shape they could point to, reducing the need to discuss what people actually did.
After twelve years of marriage, a loan reminder arrived for a debt Dunja knew nothing about. Mladen had invested in an apartment with a colleague. He claimed the business opportunity had failed and he had been ashamed to tell her. In the envelope of documents, Dunja also found an agreement for shared use of the apartment, with dates matching their supposed business trips. The colleague believed Mladen was already divorced.
He stood beside the cabinet when Dunja confronted him. Looking at the bowl, he muttered that the same bad luck had followed them from the start. For the first time, Dunja heard how absurd the excuse was. The crystal had not taken out a loan. It had not booked a weekend. It had not sat across from her every Sunday saying how glad it was that they had a peaceful life.
She took the bowl from the shelf. Mladen stepped back, expecting her to throw it. Instead, she carried it to the sink and washed it carefully. Under the water, she saw that the supposed scratch was a hardened drop of wax. The object she had considered damaged for years was entirely intact. The marriage, however, required a more serious examination than household superstition.
Dunja separated their finances and sought legal advice. Mladen moved out temporarily. She answered his colleague's questions about dates without insults or a contest over who had been deceived more. Later, at a flea market, she found a woman who collected old crystal. The woman examined the bowl in daylight and offered a fair price. Dunja accepted. She returned home with two ordinary cups and enough money for a new lock. A pale circle remained on the empty shelf. She did not cover it with an ornament. She needed time to get used to a space where nothing had to be blamed in place of people anymore.