Chapter 1

"Ms. Sanders, here's the proposal for your fake death. According to this, you've chosen to fake your death via 'falling off a cliff' on the day of your wedding, on live stream, is that correct?" "That's right." The staff looked serious. "If you 'die' on live stream, that means you'll never be able to return to society under your current identity." Penelope Sanders gripped the document in her hand a little harder and nodded decisively. "I understand. And I'm sure of this.." As she walked out of the building, she immediately caught sight of the huge billboard on the tall buildings across the busy street. There was a video playing on loop—the one where Eric Fulmer was announcing his engagement to her to the world. Eric was handsome and looked like he was made of money, while she was very pretty and attractive in the video too. Even the cars driving by were attracted to the video and slowed down as they passed. In the video, Eric had an arm around her waist. He had always been a curt, straightforward person who rarely dealt with emotions. But this time, his eyes were red and teary, and his voice was also very shaky as he spoke. "Today marks the most important day in my life, because Ms. Penelope Sanders has agreed to marry me, Eric Fulmer. Therefore, I would like to cordially invite everyone to witness our wedding next month through our global live stream. I'd love to have you all there!" Words then appeared on the screen, detailing everything Eric had ever done for her. "He fell in love with her when he was 19 years old; started a company when he was 20 years old to measure up to her family's wealth; flew to Payris nearly 200 times a year when he was 22 years old just to visit her while studying overseas… "And eventually, his romantic gestures won her heart over, resulting in marriage." Penelope read the words with ridicule in her eyes. She then lowered her head and tapped on her phone screen, looking at the screenshot of a chat in her gallery. On the top right corner of the screenshot was a photo of a woman she didn't know, looking straight into the camera. She held her skirt up, showing the camera her red and swollen butt cheeks. "Ricky, look at what you did to me! My butt hurts so much… You'd better come here and give me a massage in half an hour or I'll cry my eyes out! And I won't forgive you no matter what!" Eric had replied almost instantaneously after that. "I'm coming." The whole world was jealous of Penelope for finding herself a man who loved her so much. However, she was the only one who knew that Eric had been "sponsoring" a college student outside of their relationship for two whole years. Tears blurred Penelope's vision. She suddenly felt as though she were in a trance. Her parents died when she was 19 years old, and Eric had been the one gently cradling her in his arms when she cried so hard she nearly passed out. He was also the one who had sworn to the heavens that he would take care of her for the rest of her life. Once, he broke his leg on a rock while protecting her. He even brought her all over the world to taste the finest steaks simply because she made an offhand remark about how much she liked them. She knew all of his bank account passwords and his phone password, and every profile picture of Eric on his social media platforms had her in the background. Even on the day of his proposal, Eric cried and told her that he would never be able to leave her for the rest of his life because he was irrevocably in love with her. He later made her promise that they would be together even in death. However, right after promising her the moon during his proposal, Eric went out that very night to see his side chick and spent the night with her. Penelope closed her eyes in despair as she replayed the scene of Eric's proposal in her head. Since he had betrayed her trust through and through, he no longer had the right to complain if she didn't uphold her promises to him as well. She was going to fake her death under the eyes of millions, wipe away all traces of "Penelope Sanders" from the earth, and disappear from his life for good. She wiped away the tears in her eyes and was just about to stand up when she suddenly felt a force against her shoulder. A tall figure appeared, crouching down to help her up to her feet before pulling her into his embrace. "Didn't I ask you to wait for me to pick out the diamond ring, Penelope? Why did you come out by yourself and squat at the roadside?" Eric looked anxious when he saw the tear tracks on her face. "Why are you crying? Did you get hurt?" Penelope didn't answer him. She just stared at him quietly. The concern and anxiety on his face didn't seem fake. However, the strong scent of fresh tangerine perfume on his body told her that this man had just been intimate with that side chick of his. She turned away to avoid the stench of perfume on his body, lowering her eyes to hide the hint of disgust appearing in them. If just seeing her teary face sent Eric into such a state of frenzy, Penelope wondered how he would react when he saw her lifeless body on the day of their wedding ceremony. A long while later, after Eric had thoroughly checked Penelope everywhere for any injuries and concluded that there were none, she said softly, "I'm just on my period. It hurts."