While Fake-Dead Ex Begs, I Wed Another

After my boyfriend Ethan Cross died in a car accident because of me, I remained unmarried until I turned thirty.

My parents and friends all urged me to move on.

Even he begged me in my dreams to look forward.

So I agreed to a blind date, planning to say goodbye to him on his death anniversary.

But just as I left the cemetery, I came across a post online.

[Sixth anniversary! My husband bought me another luxury penthouse!]

Looking at the photo, my whole body trembled, my scalp tingling.

In the picture, the boyfriend I had personally buried was tenderly embracing a woman.

I tracked down the address and knocked on the door.

The moment our eyes met, I froze in place.

This woman was none other than Vivian Quinn, the secretary Ethan had cheated with and fired six years ago.

Our eyes met, and a flash of panic crossed Vivian's face.

"Winona..."

She reflexively tried to close the door, but I blocked it.

Just then, conversation from Ethan's friends drifted from the elevator.

"Ethan's been married for six years now, and she's still trapped in the pain of his death, unable to move on. She's thirty this year and still hasn't married."

"I heard she recently agreed to go on blind dates. Probably ready to let go finally."

"I'm just saying, what Ethan pulled was truly ruthless. Back then, he clearly crashed into that highway overpass because Vivian sent him a provocative photohe was too eager to respond. But he let Winona believe he was rushing to celebrate her birthday."

"Winona even tried to kill herself several times out of guilt."

"But at least now that she's agreed to blind dates, she'll probably get married soon."

"Keep it down, don't let Ethan hear..."

Turning the corner and meeting my gaze, their voices cut off abruptly.

His childhood friend Marcus Smith's eyes darted away.

"Winona, what are you doing here..."

Just then, a familiar voice came from inside the apartment.

"Vivian, are Marcus and the others here?"

The familiar voice from inside made my breathing catch, my heartbeat nearly stopping.

I spun around sharply to see Ethan standing there holding a bouquet of trimmed flowers. Seeing me, his body stiffened, his eyes trembling.

I looked at the banner hung in the center of the living room"Happy Sixth Anniversary, My Love"

I pulled my lips into a mocking smile.

"Ethan, you've been doing really well for yourself, haven't you?"

Ethan instinctively pulled Vivian behind him protectively, his face somewhat embarrassed.

Everyone else froze in place. The atmosphere turned terrifyingly silent.

Six years ago, Ethan rushed onto the highway overpass in a rainstorm to celebrate my birthday, crashed, and fell into the sea to his death.

By the time I returned, he had already become an urn of ashes.

I was consumed by guilt and grief, thinking over and over that if I hadn't been so fixated on his affair, he wouldn't have gotten into an accident trying to appease me.

The day he was buried, I collapsed from crying while clutching his gravestone.

In the days that followed, I often couldn't sleep from missing him. I'd run to the cemetery alone and stay there all night.

During the hardest times, I even attempted suicide at his grave. A cemetery caretaker found me and saved my life.

But I never imagined that it was all an elaborate scheme for him to fake his death.

I picked up the photo frame on the table, looking at the two people standing together under the aurora. My eyes burned, making my heart ache.

"Nice wedding photos. Did you take them in Iceland?"

During our engagement, Vivian, as his secretary, was involved in everything.

Once when I was debating where to take our wedding photos, she carefully suggested:

"I think Iceland would be nice, because each aurora appears only once, symbolizing uniqueness."

Ethan had smiled and said her idea was great.

But not long after, I discovered a lipstick in his car that wasn't mine.

Following the trail of clues, I identified its ownerVivian.

I insisted on canceling the engagement, but he stood on the ledge of an eighteen-story building.

"Winona, if you cancel our engagement, I'll jump."

My heart softened immediately. I gave him a chance to cut things off cleanly.

He erased all traces, fired Vivian, and tried every way to make it up to me.

He even died by accident because of me.

But now, he stood alive before me, having built a home with that so-called "clean break" mistress.

I laughed mockingly and smashed the photo frame hard onto the floor.

Glass shattered everywhere. Vivian covered her cut face and screamed.

"Winona, can you stop being crazy!?"

Ethan's eyes immediately turned red as he roared at me.

I laughed at myself bitterly, my voice dry and painful.

"I'm being crazy? That's right, I am crazy!"

"For the six years you've been 'dead,' I've been like a madwoman every single day!"

Ethan's chest heaved violently, his eyes red-rimmed, his tone full of blame.

"Back then when I tried to jump, you were the one who stopped me!"

"I did everything you asked, but you just wouldn't let go of that one thingyou kept torturing me!"

"Do you know how exhausting my life has been?"

I slapped him across the face. The impact made my wrist ache as tears burst from my eyes.

"Ethan, you were the one who cheated! You were the one who deceived me!"

"How dare you say I tortured you, that your life was exhausting?"

Vivian knelt before me, tears blurring her vision.

"Winona, please stop fighting. This is all because of me. I'm shameless. I seduced Ethan."

"He did everything he promised you. I was the one who kept pestering him. I'll divorce him immediately."

She pitifully covered her lower abdomen. "As for the baby... I'll abort it."

Ethan's eyes and brows filled with joy.

"Vivian, you're pregnant?"

My heart clenched suddenly, as if a hand was squeezing it tight. Pain stiffened my entire body.

Vivian pushed away Ethan as he approached her, shrinking back.

"The doctor said it's only a little over a month. If I abort it now, it's just a clump of cells."

"I'll leave with nothing and give you the signed divorce papers."

"You... should compensate Winona properly."

With that, she rushed out without hesitation.

Ethan's expression changed drastically, and he immediately moved to chase after her.

I instinctively blocked him, wanting an explanation, but he shoved me hard.

"Winona!"

His eyes were full of disgust for me, his tone ice-cold.

"No matter how much you make a scene, this is between the two of us!"

"Ever since you threatened her six years ago, Vivian has suffered from severe depression. When her emotions are triggered, she does extreme things."

"I've worked so hard to help her recover, and you want to destroy her so viciously?"

"If anything happens to her, I won't forgive you."

I lost my balance from his push, my body falling backward uncontrollably. My neck was sliced by broken glass, warm blood gushing out.

Before I lost consciousness, I heard the conversation between Marcus and Ethan.

"Ethan, Winona's bleeding a lot!"

"Call an ambulance and dump her at the hospital. Clean everything upVivian's easily frightened!"

When I groggily came to, nurses were whispering in the hospital room.

"Miss Quinn only experienced some mild fetal distress, but her husband immediately put her in a VIP room and stayed with her the whole time, terrified something might happen."

"Look at this onethe glass almost cut her carotid artery. So dangerous! She's been awake for so long and not a single person has come to see her. Really pitiful."

"The gap between peoplehow can it be so huge?"

After the door closed, I slowly opened my eyes and laughed bitterly at myself.

My hand touched the gauze on my neck. Tears fell, and I wiped them away before going to find a doctor to pay my bills.

Just as I sat up, Ethan aggressively pushed the door open and rushed in. He grabbed my wrist hard, his tone cold.

"Winona, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Deceiving you was my ideait has nothing to do with Vivian!"

"If you have a problem, come at me! Why did you deliberately get the media to accuse her of being a mistress online?"

"She just woke up and saw those comments. She got so emotional she almost jumped off the building!"

His grip was painfully strong, making my already pale face look even worse.

I struggled with all my strength to shake off his hand, shouting back in anger.

"Ethan, I never did anything like that!"

He snorted dismissively and shoved his phone in my face.

The screen was filled with comments calling Vivian a mistress.

[Mrs. Cross of Cross GroupVivianhomewrecker who stole someone's position.]

Besides that, there was a long post about how Ethan faked his death to escape and fabricated lies to deceive his girlfriend for his mistress.

Cross Group's stock had also become volatile because of this.

And the media outlet that published this news was where my best friend used to work.

Ethan's eyes were cold, his tone dripping with mockery.

"Still denying it? Your best friend works there, doesn't she?"

"Whenever anything involves you, she always rushes to the front line without hesitation."

I stood there stunned, explaining helplessly and aggrieved.

"She went abroad three years ago. She doesn't work there anymore..."

"You're still lying!"

Ethan cut me off sharply, his eyes full of disappointment.

"Winona, how did you become so manipulative and scheming?"

"You used to be such a kind person. Now you'd stop at nothing to drive Vivian and her child to death."

He paused, his tone inexplicably softening.

"Have you forgotten how much pain you were in when you lost your child?"

I looked up sharply, locking eyes with him.

My heart felt like it was being cut back and forth with a dull knife, turning the scabbed wound into a mangled mess.

I suddenly rememberedsix years ago, the day I found out I was pregnant, I caught Ethan and Vivian together in our wedding house.

At that time, I had just discovered his affair and hadn't confronted him yet when I became so emotionally distraught I ended up in the hospital.

I returned home in a daze, only to hear the ambiguous sounds of a man and woman from inside.

Like a madwoman, I rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and swung it at them. But he pushed me hard while desperately protecting Vivian, and I crashed into the vanity table.

My abdomen hurt, something sticky flowed down below, and the baby was gone on the spot.

Later came his apology, his threats of suicide, my compromise, and his false remorse.

My tongue tasted bitter. I pulled my lips into a desolate smile, my voice hoarse beyond recognition.

"Ethan, Vivian will never shake off the label of mistress for the rest of her life. Your relationship will always be shameful."

"Also, you have no right to mention my child."

"Winona, shut up!"

Ethan frowned and shouted, his eyes ice-cold without a trace of guilt.

"This is between you and me. It has nothing to do with Vivian."

He lowered his voice, looking down at me, his tone carrying naked threats.

"You've been working so hard to earn money all these years just to get your adoptive mother a heart transplant, right?"

"I heard a donor match has already been found?"

My heart jolted violently. All the blood in my body seemed to freeze at that moment.

I was an orphan from childhood. My adoptive mother took me in despite others' gossip.

By collecting recyclables and doing odd jobs, living frugally, she raised me bit by bit.

When I first started dating Ethan, I never wanted him to take me home.

I was afraid he'd look at me and my family with the same judgmental eyes as everyone else.

But when Ethan found out, he cried with heartache.

He held me in his arms, gently stroking my hair, his voice choked with emotion.

"Winona, I'll work hard to earn money, give you the best life, repay your mother, and slap the faces of everyone who looks down on you."

Later, he truly did it.

When he proposed to me, he hired the city's most authoritative planning team and created a sea of ten thousand roses that became the talk of the town, making me the envy of everyone.

He bought a wedding house and put it in my name. He found doctors to care for my adoptive mother's health and covered all medical expenses.

Those who had once looked down on me and mocked me all came forward to congratulate me, saying all kinds of flattering things.

Back then, they always said behind my back that Ethan must have done something terrible to feel guilty enough to treat me so well.

I was deeply immersed in it, believing this love would last forever.

Until Vivian's intrusion shattered that dream.

But I never imagined that now he would use my adoptive mother's life to threaten me.

Using my only weakness to please Vivian.

I clenched my fists, nails digging hard into my palms, yet it didn't compare to one ten-thousandth of the pain in my heart.

Despair suffocated me. I closed my eyes as tears silently rolled down.

When I opened them again, my eyes were filled with deathly stillness. I spoke softly.

"Fine. I'll apologize."

Ethan looked at me with satisfaction and snapped his fingers. His assistant placed a paper covered in text on the hospital bed.

"Read it exactly as written. Don't miss a single word."

I picked up the paper, my hands shaking uncontrollably.

The entire page twisted the truth.

It pushed all the blame onto me, saying I became vindictive from unrequited love and maliciously slandered Vivian.

It even claimed that Ethan's fake death was something I had imagined due to mental problems.

But I had no way out. I could only force down my emotions and record a video reading from his prepared script, then post it.

After finishing all this, my whole body was ice-cold, drenched in cold sweat.

Ethan looked at the wound on my neck, took out a checkbook and pen from his pocket, quickly wrote several zeros, and stuffed the check into my hand.

He sighed deeply.

"Here's a million dollarsconsider it my compensation to you."

"Hurry and switch to another hospital so Vivian doesn't see you and get upset."

Then he turned and left.

I shakily completed the discharge procedures and left the hospital. My phone rang.

It was my supervisor.

"Winona, the company is restructuring and optimizing personnel. Your termination notice has been sent to your email, and the corresponding compensation has been transferred to your bank account."

I was stunned, finally managing only a few words.

"Thank you for the company's support. I understand."

After hanging up, I scrolled through my phone. The apology video I'd just recorded had already shot to the top of trending topics, while all negative news about Vivian had been scrubbed clean without a trace.

Then my phone suddenly flashed with several new messages.

They were from Vivian.

In the VIP room, piled high with this season's clothes, jewelry, and handbags.

[Winona, lookthis is just the tip of the iceberg of what he gives me.]

[I'll tell you the truth: he and I never broke up. During the time he was appeasing you, he came to me every single day.]

[There's no right or wrong in love. The one who isn't loved is the real mistress.]

I stood in the cold wind, tears dripping onto the screen, biting my lip hard to keep from crying out loud.

Just then, I received a call from my adoptive mother's attending physician.

"Miss Walker, your mother had a sudden heart attack. The situation is critical. Get to the hospital immediately to sign for emergency surgery!"

I had no time for grief. I turned and ran madly toward the hospital.

The elevator wouldn't come down, so I rushed to the stairwell instead.

Just as I reached the third floor, a group claiming to be reporters suddenly swarmed out and surrounded me.

"Miss Walker, is it true that you became mentally unstable from unrequited love as a mistress and imagined Mr. Cross had died?"

"Your former classmates have come forward saying you're an orphan who survived by collecting trash since childhood. Is that accurate?"

"Knowing Mr. Cross was already married, you deliberately harassed and slandered him. What exactly are you trying to achieve? Can you give everyone a response?"

Camera flashes went off constantly, so bright I couldn't open my eyes.

Those harsh questioning voices made my ears ring, my head splitting with pain.

I was so anxious I broke out in sweat, desperately pushing through the people surrounding me, my voice tearful and pleading.

"Please let me through, okay? I have an emergency! My mother is critically ill and needs immediate surgery. I'm begging you!"

But they still blocked me, continuing to interrogate and photograph me, forcing me to give them the answers they wanted.

In the struggle, my phone slipped and fell to the ground, trampled beyond recognition.

I bent down to pick it up but was slapped hard across the face.

"A shameless homewrecker like youyou deserve to have a mother? Using your mother as an excuse to gain sympathyabsolutely disgusting!"

The woman who hit me had a cutting tone, her eyes full of contempt and disgust.

The slap left me dizzy and disoriented, my cheek burning with pain. Despair and rage swept through my entire body.

Just then, hospital security rushed up, shouting sternly.

"This is a hospital! If you don't leave now, we're calling the police!"

Taking advantage of the gap, I desperately rushed upstairs.

But the moment I burst into the hospital room, all the strength was instantly drained from my body.

On the bed, my adoptive mother lay quietly, her face as pale as thin paper, her lips completely bloodless.

The attending physician stood beside the bed, his face full of regret and sympathy. Seeing me enter, he sighed softly, his tone heavy.

"Miss Walker, I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

My pupils constricted. My vision went black, and I nearly collapsed.

A nurse beside me helped me up, explaining in a low voice.

"The old lady was fine an hour ago. A woman came to her room and said something to her. They argued, and the old lady had an attack."

"When you didn't come to sign the papers, we activated the emergency protocol, but the donor suddenly backed out."

Grief pressed down on me until I could barely breathe, yet I couldn't make a sound of crying.

I slowly broke free from the nurse's support and moved step by step to the bedside, holding my adoptive mother's cold hand.

The person who had given me warmth and strength during my most difficult times would never open her eyes again.

After carrying my adoptive mother to the crematorium for cremation, I simply buried her in a quiet cemetery.

After kneeling and bowing, I dragged my numb body to the cross-river bridge. Standing at the edge, I recorded a video set for delayed posting and uploaded it online.

Without a moment's hesitation, I leaped down.

Ethan was at the obstetrics department accompanying Vivian for a prenatal checkup. The two were discussing what to name the baby.

Just then, his assistant's phone call came through, an urgent voice on the other end.

"Mr. Cross, something terrible has happened! Miss Walker jumped into the river!"