Chapter 5

Eric never came home for the rest of the night. He only sent Penelope a text message, saying that he was working overtime at the company. Penelope knew that he was lying to her, but she never questioned him or made a fuss. She just focused on dealing with her own things. Since she had made up her mind to fake her death and leave Eric, she was going to go all in and get rid of every trace of herself. After the wedding, Eric wasn't going to find a single thing related to her anymore—aside from the corpse. First, she gathered all the things they seldom used and put them into a box. She also put her personal and expensive items into the box and mailed them to Doornail Corporation. After all, her fake death package also included services to secretly dispose of and deal with her personal belongings. Finally, she brought out a huge jewelry box from the safe inside her dressing table. Since she was an award-winning jewelry designer, all of her best designs she was the proudest of were inside this box. They were the matching jewelry sets she had painstakingly designed and made for Eric and herself for every anniversary they had celebrated ever since they got together. There was only one set of each design in the whole world, and they belonged to them both. The items included couple rings, couple watches, couple necklaces, and even couple brooches. Each jewelry piece was adorned with countless precious gems worth a fortune. Every now and then, Eric would open up the box and admire each piece for a long time. He would touch them and hold them in his hands but never wear them out. The most he had ever done was show them off on social media. He told Penelope that he wanted to save each jewelry piece for when they got older. Then, he would open up a museum to put each couple jewelry set she designed on display for public viewing. … Penelope dumped everything in the jewelry box into a gunny sack. Then, she donated them to a local charity. The person in charge of the local charity thanked Penelope with tears in his eyes. He promised her that he would make sure every single penny from the auction of the jewelry pieces went to the poor and needy kids in the city. Penelope felt light and unburdened as she made her way back home. However, she was immediately met with Eric, who looked extremely upset, waiting for her on the living room couch. He had been waiting for her for hours. As soon as Penelope came back, he rushed up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Penelope! Why did you donate all of the jewelry pieces that belonged to us both?" Penelope raised her eyes to look at him. He was still shrouded in a chilly air as if he had just rushed back from somewhere. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with panic and anxiety. Seeing that she wasn't saying a word, Eric quickly pulled her into his arms. He was shaking. His voice also quivered because of how anxious he was feeling. "I saw on the trending news that someone had just donated priceless jewelry to a local charity. The photos were of our matching couple jewelry! The ones you designed specifically for us! Didn't we agree that we'd keep them until we grew old together? Why did you sell them off? Are you not planning to grow old with me anymore? Are you leaving me? "Penelope, please, I'll give you anything. Please, just don't leave me…" Toward the end, Penelope even felt a few tears dripping onto her neck. However, she just casually lifted her eyes and watched him cry. She didn't react to him at all. If he was truly so afraid of her leaving him, then why did he cheat on her with another woman? He was already crying so hard from the sudden, slight realization that she could be leaving him. How would he react on the day she finally "died"? The corners of her mouth tugged upward. Then, she pushed him away and said faintly, "I'm just preparing things before our wedding. It's not like we can't live without those jewelry pieces. Also, we're about to get married. Why would you think that I'm leaving you? Why are you behaving so suspiciously, like you're acting out of guilt? Did you do something bad behind my back?" Penelope's eyes were calm, yet Eric's heart thumped so hard it missed a beat when he met her gaze. He then pretended to loosen up and smiled at her before placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. "What nonsense are you talking about? You're the person I love the most in the whole world. I'd never do anything bad behind your back. I think it must be the pre-wedding jitters getting to me…" She chuckled softly and interrupted his explanation, saying, "If you didn't do anything wrong, then why are you so anxious? Alright, I've got a design draft to rush. I'm going back to work." Eric somehow felt his guilty conscience eating into him. However, as he watched her sketch her designs in her room, he forced himself to suppress the unease he felt and stayed right by her side from afternoon till the crack of dawn the next day. He didn't fall asleep until early in the morning. It was right then that Penelope cracked open her eyes and carefully picked apart Eric's fingers that were curled around her wrist to free herself. Then, she grabbed her design drafts and went out. Penelope had a long-standing collaboration with Diaz Diamonds. Before she left for good, she wanted to submit one final design for a necklace. The owner was very pleased with Penelope's design which had multiple layers of pendants. He wanted to sign her on as a permanent jewelry designer for his company, but Penelope just smiled and rejected his offer. She just lingered in the shop for a bit. Eric had already woken up and kept sending her text messages to return as soon as possible. Penelope didn't feel like seeing him at the moment, so she decided to stay out for a while longer. The door chimed when a new customer entered, and the salesperson greeted the newcomer politely. However, there was no reply from the customer. The strong scent of tangerine perfume invaded Penelope's senses once more, and Ingrid's sickeningly sweet voice was heard right next to her ear. "Penelope? Are you here to pick your wedding ring? But why are you here alone?" Penelope looked up and saw Ingrid's innocent face right in front of her. However, this time, Ingrid's expression was full of envy and disdain.