My heart felt like it had been pierced straight through by a blade, the pain so sharp it stole my breath. I clamped both hands over my mouth, forcing myself not to cry.

I couldn't bring myself to keep watching, so I turned and ran. Unfortunately, I slipped in the process and crashed to the ground, eating a mouthful of snow while my skin tore open and blood flowed freely from the wound.

The searing pain finally broke the dam. All the grievances I had bottled up over the past few days surged out at once, and my tears fell in heavy drops.

After I cried until I had nothing left, I dragged my exhausted body back to the hospital.

Not long after, James rushed in. "Darling, my assistant said he couldn't find you when he came to bring your meal. Where did you go? Don't scare me. I'll lose my mind if I can't find you."

Would he really?

I glanced at the scratch marks on his chest and felt nothing but irony.

Looking away, I replied calmly, "I felt suffocated, so I went out to watch the snowfall for a bit."

Only then did James notice my reddened eyes. "Why are you crying? This is my fault. I've been too busy with work and ended up hurting you. Our fifth wedding anniversary is in three days. I'll throw you a grand celebration then and make it up to you properly, alright?"

I smiled when I heard that.

James took it as forgiveness and smiled back. What he didn't know was that I was smiling because three days later happened to be the day I had scheduled my staged death.

When the time came, I would give him a surprise he would never forget.

…

The next day, I checked out of the hospital. James drove me home.

As I got into the passenger seat, I immediately felt something was off. The seat was lower than usual.

When I looked closer, it had indeed been adjusted downward. That was when I noticed strands of brown hair tangled around the seatback.

My hair was blonde, while Cassandra's was brown. She was also half a head shorter than I was.

Evidently, she had been sitting there.

James noticed my pause and looked where I was staring. When his eyes fell on the brown hair I held, they twitched for a moment before settling back into calm.

"Darling, don't get the wrong idea. Morgan is away on a business trip. Before leaving, he asked me to look after Cassandra, so I've been driving her to and from work. That's why there's some hair left behind."

Hearing that only made my heart grow colder.

He had once told me this seat belonged to me alone and that no one else was allowed to touch it.

There had even been a time when a scheming coworker tried to use the chance to get close to James and sat in the passenger seat before I did. James had kicked her out without hesitation and said, "This seat is for my wife only."

And yet, he let Cassandra sit there, abandoning the rule he had strictly followed for me.

If he genuinely wanted to avoid suspicion, he could have sent a cab for her. Instead, he drove her himself and allowed her to take the passenger seat that had always belonged to me.

On top of that, two cartoon figurines sat pressed together on the dashboard in front of James's seat, marked with the initials JL and CW.

Cassandra had quietly taken my place, making herself the woman of this car without me even realizing it. I swallowed the bitterness rising in my chest and quietly fastened my seat belt, pretending nothing had happened.

I would be leaving soon, and whatever affection James and Cassandra shared was no longer my concern.

Maybe because I had been unusually quiet, James kept trying to strike up a conversation, but I replied curtly every time.

Not long after, his phone rang.

He deliberately angled himself away while replying, but through the reflection on the car window, I still caught a glimpse of the screen.

Sure enough, Cassandra's bunny avatar appeared the moment I looked.

"James, a pipe burst at home, and I'm soaked. Can you come over?"

After reading the message, his throat bobbed visibly. Mindful that I was still there, he quickly turned off his phone and smiled at me, trying to cover up the flash of guilt in his eyes.

From then on, his mind was clearly elsewhere. He nearly ran a red light more than once.

Halfway through the drive, he suddenly slammed on the brakes and looked at me with an apologetic expression. "Darling, something urgent came up at the company. Why don't you take a cab home first? I'll come back to keep you company once I'm done, okay?"

It sounded like a question, but he clearly was not offering me a second option.

Before I could respond, he had already opened the door, helped me out onto the roadside, and sped off in a hurry.

As the exhaust faded into the distance, I felt a bitterness that I couldn't put into words.

James must have forgotten that this was the outskirts of town. With the snow falling, there was no way to get a cab.

I had once believed he was my salvation.

After all, he had broken three ribs fighting for me. He had drunk himself into a stomach bleed to shield me from alcohol. He remembered every one of my cycles. His social media was filled with nothing but me.

Even his friends mocked him for being hopelessly devoted to me alone.

I never imagined that my savior would become the one who pushed me back into the abyss.

Everything that happened in the pool that day had been Cassandra's setup. She pulled me under and screamed that I had pushed her.

I thrashed in the water, trying to explain myself over and over, but all I got in response was James's icy stare and the determined look on his face as he swam straight toward Cassandra.

His betrayal cut deeper than even Morgan's indifferent rejection ever had.

With no way to get a cab, I was forced to trudge home through the biting wind and falling snow.

…

The moment I got home, Cassandra sent me a private message.

There were countless photos of James asleep, along with all kinds of intimate pictures of the two of them. "Elsa, so what if you're pretty? A substitute is still just a substitute. You only deserve whatever scraps I don't want."

Her every word dripped with provocation.

Even though I had braced myself, actually seeing those photos still made my eyes burn red as a wave of grief swallowed me whole.

I forced myself to look through every message Cassandra sent. After rubbing my aching eyes, I turned off my phone and went inside to pack.

There was a lot to deal with. It took me two full hours to finish sorting everything.

In the end, I packed only a few changes of clothes into my suitcase. Everything else went straight into the fire pit.

Among the items were ninety-nine handwritten love letters he had written for me. Even in the raw, unpolished scrawl, his love shone through. There were also the Elarian pearls he had spent a fortune winning at auction, meant to symbolize a lifetime together.

…

After that, I lit the fire and burned everything to ash.

Since I was going to fake my death and leave James, I would erase every trace of myself from this place.

When the time came, I wouldn't leave James with anything but a fake corpse.

Just as I finished burning the last of it, James walked in and caught sight of the flames. "Darling, what are you burning?"

His eyes narrowed sharply when he saw the remnants of jewelry in the fire. "Aren't these yours? Why are you burning them?"

I gave him a calm look. "I didn't like them anymore, so I burned them."

It wasn't only the things I had grown tired of. It was him as well.

I thought James would be angry at my words. I never expected that instead of getting upset, he tenderly tapped my nose. "If you don't like them, burn them. I'll bring you to buy new ones tomorrow. We can also pick out your dress for the anniversary gala at the same time."

He wore that same warm, tender smile that used to make my heart race. Now, all I could do was sneer inwardly.

James must have forgotten our agreement. We had promised long ago that if either of us wanted to separate, words would be unnecessary. All we had to do was destroy our shared memories. Now I was doing exactly that, and he didn't flinch.

He had clearly forgotten about this promise.

Perhaps he was simply overconfident, believing he had covered his tracks so well that I wouldn't suspect a thing.

It didn't matter anymore.

With our shared memories gone, we were finished.

Before I could fully process it, James suddenly wrapped me in his arms, burying his face in my neck. "Darling, I've made you suffer these past few days. That's on me. Once things settle down, I'll make it up to you properly!"

If it weren't for the faint, cheap scent of Cassandra's perfume lingering on him, I might have believed his words.

I stifled my disgust and forced a faint smile. "Okay."

I took his phone and set an alarm for 2:00 pm, two days from now.

James looked up at me. "Darling, what's this for?"

I smiled slightly. "When the alarm goes off, you'll finally see the surprise I've been preparing for you."

James's eyes brightened instantly. He scooped me up and spun me around, holding me close. "Darling, is this my anniversary gift? I can't wait to see it!"

I looked at him. "I can't wait either."

What I was really looking forward to was the moment he saw my body and completely lost his mind.

Early the next morning, James got me up and took me out for a date of shopping and a movie. He stayed glued to my side the whole time, trailing me like a devoted shadow.

When we went to pick out dresses, the salesperson complimented us on our looks, saying we were a perfect match, and even brought out the store's most prized gown for me to try on.

The gown was dazzling, studded with pearls and diamonds. Even I, who had seen my fair share of rare and exquisite treasures, couldn't tear my eyes away from it.

The salesperson beamed as she began her pitch. "This gown is stitched with gold thread and ten-million-dollar pink diamonds. There are 9999 pink diamonds on it, which is why this dress is also called Eternal Love. The price is 90 million dollars."

Before she could finish, James pulled out his black card. "I'll take it for my wife."

The salesperson smiled as she accepted the card, looking at me with envy. "Mrs. Lambert, Mr. Lambert really cares about you."