Eric brought their child to bed and out of habit, wrapped his arm around Wanda.

“You seemed upset tonight,” he said gently. “Anniversaries aren’t about the date. What matters is who you spend them with.”

He smiled faintly as his mind drifted to the surprise he had planned. On her birthday, he was going to unveil a special gift. It was a new brand that he had named after her, "Wanda." However, he would hold this surprise for a week time before revealing it to her.

Wanda did not respond because she was afraid that the moment she opened her mouth, her hoarse voice would betray her emotions. So, she lay stiffly in his arm and murmured a barely audible response.

By the time Eric thought of saying more, he noticed she had already slept. Their son, Ben, exhausted from playing, had also fallen fast asleep in her arms.

Then, Eric's phone began to vibrate repeatedly. It was a message from Christina.

He slid his arm from under Wanda's neck and opened their chat box. Perhaps because of the guilt, he purposely turned around from the sleeping Wanda.

When the sight of Christina in a revealing outfit entered his eyes, he could not help but cough awkwardly.

She sent him a message, "Do you want to come out and play tonight?"

Just when Eric was about to decline, she video-called him. "Are you sure you aren't coming?" Christina teased. "Christmas is around the corner and I can fulfill one of your wishes … let's see … how about I act as a Christmas fairy? The kind that will grant everything you want."

Eric's heart raced. Christina sure knows how to play her cards right, he thought. Yet, tonight was his wedding anniversary and leaving Wanda alone had already crossed a line. Meeting someone else in the middle of the night would be a bit too far.

Yet, while the rationality was still running in his mind and Wanda was lying quietly beside her, his desire grew as the woman at the other end of the video call coyly slipped out of the last few layers of her clothes.

Slowly, Eric got up as he promised himself it would be the last time that he indulged his desire before Wanda’s birthday.

Just as he reached for his coat, Wanda stirred awake. When their eyes met, Eric forced himself to remain calm and smile, "Something urgent came up at work. Did I wake you?”

He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead as if to reassure her. Without waiting for a response, he grabbed his car keys and left.

With the slam, the door closed and once again the room went silent.

Ben startled awake by the noise, rubbed his eyes.

When he noticed that Eric wasn't there, he muttered in a small voice, “Dad is sneaking off to meet Christina alone again, next time I'll be sure to follow!”

Wanda froze. Her gaze fell on her son as her heart broke into pieces.

Realizing he had said something wrong, Ben quickly covered his mouth and hugged her as he tried to cover it.

“Mommy, Daddy must be busy with work,” he said, his voice soft and comforting. “However, I’ll always stay with you.”

Despite his words, there was a tinge of regret in his young eyes.

Wanda didn’t respond. She didn’t praise him for being thoughtful, as she usually would. She just tucked Ben back under the covers, then stared blankly at the ceiling.

Hearing the sound of the car engine downstairs, she curled into a ball and covered her ears with her hands.

Maybe if she blocked out the noise, she could convince herself that Eric really was busy with work and he was not with another woman.

Eric didn’t come home that night. He even did not return in the morning.

As Wanda sat down for breakfast, her phone buzzed with a message from him:

“I asked Jane to make chicken soup for you. Don’t forget to have some. Let the nanny take Been to kindergarten. You should rest more and not tire yourself out.”

Eric had her daily life arranged down to the last detail.

Yet, this kind of care was nothing more than a guilty conscience. It was a feeble attempt to atone for his infidelity. Every time Rick cheated, he would pour a lot of attention to Wanda.

These text messages often came at odd hours of the night. Maybe they were sent as he smoked his cigarettes after doing the deed, or perhaps ….

The thought made Wanda's stomach churn violently. She bolted to the bathroom and vomited until she felt utterly drained.

When she finally stepped out of the bathroom, Ben had already finished his breakfast and waited patiently by the door.

When he saw her, he instinctively grabbed her hand. “Mommy, if you don’t take me to school soon, I’ll be late.”

Wanda pulled her hand from his grasp and said nonchalantly, "Jane will take you to school today. I’m tired.”

"I want you, Mommy, to take me to school," Ben pleaded. "Please."

"No, I'm tired," she replied coldly and ruthlessly.

Her ruthless refusal made Ben froze and he closed his mouth. He did not understand the reason his mother who usually did what he wanted would become so cold to him. He gulped down the words as he held back his tears.

Jean, who was standing at the side, sensed Wanda was in a bad mood. She wisely dragged Ben out of the house.

Wanda didn’t have the energy to console her son’s wounded feelings.

At the front desk, the receptionist hesitated as she looked up to confirm Wanda’s identity, her disbelief was evident. Yet, she quickly masked her shock and directed Wanda to Room three hundred and two to proceed with the paperwork.

Inside the room, a masked figure confirmed the details with her, such as the time and method of her death.

After she gave her firm answers, the man reminded her once again, his voice low and somber, “Once you sign, there’s no turning back. Seven days from now, Wanda will cease to exist.”

Wanda nodded. With steady hands, she signed her name. Then she handed over the sandalwood bracelet she’d worn for years as she said, "If I’m going to die, let’s make it convincing."

The bracelet held special significance. After Ben was born, Wanda fell into a mysterious coma. In desperation, Eric, despite being a staunch atheist, had traveled to Tibet. He endured freezing temperatures and knelt every three steps to pray for her recovery.

His sincerity had moved her back then, so much so that she had vowed never to take the bracelet off, even in death.  Now, in a cruel twist of fate, she was making good on that promise.

As she left the office, she overheard the murmured gossip from the reception desk, “They say Mr. Gordon dotes on Mrs. Gordon like she’s his whole world. Yet here she is, signing up for a fake death service.”

"This shows that even the most glamorous marriages can be miserable behind closed doors.”

“I can’t believe I used to root for their love story. Turns out it was all fake.”

Wanda did not wait to hear the rest of the conversation. Maybe Eric had truly loved her at some point in the past seven years. However, for him, love was just a fleeting thing.

Leaving the service center, Wanda wandered into a nearby mall. She hoped she could distract herself.

Yet, fate was cruel. Unexpectedly, she bumped into Ben, who was supposed to be in kindergarten. At that time, he was being with Eric and Christina. The trio of them were walking side by side like a real family.

Wanda froze and stood rooted to the ground. Her mind went blank.

It wasn’t until Christina noticed her that reality snapped back into focus.

"Mrs. Gordon, why are you here?" She covered her mouth in pretend surprise. She walked briskly on her high heels toward Wanda. There wasn’t the slightest trace of guilt on her face being caught in an affair.

“Please don’t misunderstand,” she continued with a practiced innocence. “Mr. Gordon was just being kind. I recently got cast in a role where I play a mother and he thought it would be helpful for me to spend time with Ben to practice.”

“If you’re upset, please take it out on me. It’s my fault, not theirs. Mr. Gordon and Ben are completely innocent," she added.

Christina deliberately played the role of a pitiful damsel, her teary eyes brimming with innocence. However, she used the fact that Eric was standing behind her, so she subtly exposed the faint red marks on her neck.

"Alright, Wanda isn’t the petty type," Eric interjected, as he was massaging his temples in frustration. "There’s nothing for her to misunderstand. We’ve done nothing wrong."

Before Christina could say anything more, he cut her off, "Don't you have to appear at the media conference? You should leave now."

"Mr. Gordon … but … but you promised that today you'll …."

When Eric saw Christina was about to say something detrimental and revealing, Eric's voice turned cold, "Christina, you're crossing the line!"

Her lips tightened in defiance, but seeing his expression, she eventually relented. Shooting a covert glare at Wanda she put on her mask and left, her reluctance palpable.

Using his young age, Ben walked toward Wanda and said, "Mommy, Christina is here to help pick out a present for you! I wanted to get you the world’s most amazing birthday gift.”

Wanda said calmly, "I’m not upset. It’s just … such a coincidence running into you all here."

She seemed detached, "Do you need anything else? If not, I’ll be heading back first."

“It’s rare for us to go out together,” Eric said, his softened voice. “There’s a charity auction tonight. Will you join me?”

Wanda said nothing, but her silence was enough for Eric to take it as agreement.

Without hesitation, he placed an arm around her slender waist. “You’ve gained some weight,” he remarked absentmindedly, then quickly added, "Yet, that’s a good thing. You were too thin before. Whether you’re slim or not, I love you either way."

Wanda’s lips curled into a cold smile, but she did not say anything.

Her weight hadn’t changed in years. His comment about her being fat was only because he was accustomed to Christina’s waist.

Perhaps out of guilt, Eric took her to an upscale boutique and personally picked out a red dress for her.

When Wanda emerged in full makeup while wearing a tailored gown, there was a flicker of amazement in his eyes.

Ben, on the other hand, clapped his hands directly and cheered, “Mommy, you look so pretty!”

When Wanda looked at her reflection, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the red gown Christina had worn on television just days ago. For so many years, she had never worn a red dress.

Yet, when it came to choosing a dress for her, Eric had instinctively picked Christina’s favorite color.

In the past, she would have confronted him, demanded him to give answers and even threatened to get a divorce. However, she did not care anymore.

With less than a week left, she decided to let him do as he pleased.

When they arrived at the auction that evening, Wanda wasn’t surprised to see Christina again. This time, she stood on the stage as the host of the show. Her witty remarks earned laughter from the crowd.

When she got off the stage, Christina intentionally sat next to Eric and even pinched Ben's face intimately.

On the contrary, Wanda, who was sitting on the side, was extraordinarily indifferent to the father and son duo. She did not take Christina's provocation in her heart.

Her attention was directed to the stage and her eyes slowly reddened as she recognized the final auction item.

If she wasn't mistaken, the last exhibit was the necklace her mother had worn the day she was killed, the Eternal Heart.

The name symbolized the truest form of love.

Her mother had once joked that when Wanda grew up, she would gift her the necklace as part of her dowry.

Perhaps he noticed the way Wanda looked at this place was a bit strange, Eric was the first to raise his sign to bid. "Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars," he said.

However, a crisp female voice sounded immediately afterward, “Fifteen hundred dollars.”

Eric frowned when he heard that. He was very unhappy with Christina's recklessness.

Yet the woman was spoiled and pretended to be envious, “Mrs. Gordon is now a winner in life, Mr. Gordon loves you so much. Surely you wouldn’t begrudge me to get this necklace, right?”