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."

James looked at me with a bright, indulgent smile. "It's only a dress. If my wife asked for the moon, I'd still find a way to give it to her."

He handed me the dress and urged me to try it on.

That was when Cassandra happened to walk into the boutique as well.

The moment James saw her, his fingers tightened until his knuckles turned pale, and his gaze drifted instinctively toward the entrance.

They had been this obvious all along. Why was I only seeing it now?

Looking back, the signs had been there for a long time.

At every family dinner, James's eyes lingered on Cassandra more than they ever did on me.

Once, when Morgan was away on a business trip, Cassandra stayed at our place.

A thunderstorm broke out that evening. James sprang out of bed instantly and rushed straight to Cassandra's room. He covered her ears, pulled her into his arms, and soothed her gently.

What he forgot was that I was afraid of thunder too. While he was with her, I spent the night awake, curled up alone in the dark.

James always cut my apples into little rabbits. Back then, I thought it was sweet. Later, I realized the truth. Cassandra liked them that way, and I was never the only one eating them. He always split the apples and gave her half.

I was nothing more than a convenient cover he used to disguise his feelings for Cassandra.

While I was lost in thought, Cassandra noticed the gown in James's hands and exclaimed in surprise, "It's so beautiful! Can I try it on?"

James took two steps back and placed the dress directly into my arms. "I'm afraid not, Cassie. I bought this gown especially for El."

Cassandra froze for a moment, then smiled. "I was only joking. You took it so seriously. I wouldn't go so far as to fight Elsa over a dress. Still, James, you and Morgan really are alike. Both of you dote on your wives in the same way."

She paused, then added lightly, "I won't disturb you two any longer. I'll go look around elsewhere."

With that, Cassie shot me a provocative look and walked away in her heels.

James didn't pull his eyes away until she was gone, and for a brief moment, reluctance showed plainly on his face.

When he noticed me watching him, he slipped back into his usual smile. "Wait for me downstairs. I'll go upstairs and have the staff wrap the gown for you."

He returned empty-handed. Before I could react, he said, "Darling, the assistant was clumsy and scratched the fabric while wrapping it. I couldn't let you wear something imperfect. Don't worry, I'll find something even more beautiful and expensive for you."

What a coincidence. Right after Cassandra praised the dress, something just happened to go wrong with it.

I understood James's intentions perfectly, but I simply looked at him in silence and said nothing.

After a long moment, I nodded. "As you wish."

It didn't matter anymore. I would be leaving soon anyway.

James's eyes flickered. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could, his phone rang. A message had come in. There was no need to guess who it was from.

Sure enough, he immediately made an excuse and said he had something urgent to deal with.

This time, I didn't stop him either. I watched him walk away without a word.

The moment he turned his back, my own phone rang.

It was a call from the staff handling my staged death.