Chapter 1

My fiancé, Andrew Graham, stiffened, his smile faltering. "What do you mean, you can't go back anymore?"

Another wave of cramping pain surged through me, originating from my stomach.

I held the guardrail for support as the coppery taste of blood welled up in my throat and into my mouth.

"It's exactly what it means."

Katherine Yangley, Andrew's best female friend, cocked her head. "You're not actually angry, are you? I just wanted to see how much you loved Andrew. As it turns out, you love him so much that you would even die for him. Literally."

She burst into laughter when she finished speaking.

Their friends were quick to join in, jeering.

"Come on, Nat. Can't you take a joke?"

"For the sake of this test, Andrew was in the water for half an hour, you know!"

"Kathy stayed up for two entire nights just to work on that plan! You should be thanking her."

I turned to look at Andrew.

"You were hiding beneath the bridge all along?"

"In a diving suit. I was perfectly safe."

His answer was flippant.

In the past three days, his mother, Patricia Holden, had cried so much that she fainted before his coffin. His father, Mark Graham, had smashed my parents' memorial portraits. They had pinned all the blame on me, accusing me of being a jinx and cursing Andrew to an early death.

I had knelt before Andrew's coffin, praying fervently for all those hours.

Yet, as it turned out, he had been in a nearby hotel all along, watching this happen through the surveillance camera as he waited to see when I would have a mental breakdown.

"I was on my knees, praying for you for three days."

Andrew dropped his gaze to the blood crusting my knees.

"That's in the past now. After we go back home, I'll have someone tend to your wounds."

Suddenly, Katherine clutched her ankle.

"Andrew, I think I ran a little too quickly just now and sprained my ankle."

Andrew immediately abandoned the roses and crouched before her. "Can you walk?"

"It hurts a little."

"I'm taking you to the hospital."

With that, he turned his back to me and held out a hand to Katherine.

As she climbed onto his back, she looked over her shoulder and winked at me.

It was also then that I noticed that she was wearing the wedding ring.

"Andrew Graham."

Andrew whipped his head around and snapped impatiently, "What now?"

"Your mother left that ring specifically for her future daughter-in-law."

Andrew simply glanced at the ring before retorting, "I'm just lending it to Kathy for a few days. It's not like that'll kill you. Besides, she helped me gauge your true feelings, so she deserves a reward."

Yesterday, Patricia had worn this same ring when she slapped me seven times. She had cursed me out for causing her son's death and said that I didn't deserve to become a part of the Graham family.

Now, that ring was on Katherine's hand as she wiggled her fingers at me provocatively. "Aww, don't be so petty."

"I'll personally slide the ring onto your finger on our wedding day," Andrew said.

I leaned down to pick up the roses. The thorns stabbed deep into my palm, instantly causing blood to stain the white wrapping paper.

Seeing that, Andrew frowned. "Could you not purposely ruin things like that? I had to wake up early to go to the flower shop and pick those out."

He remembered that Katherine liked champagne roses, yet he had completely forgotten that I was allergic to rose pollen.

Another gush of blood surged up my throat.

"Andrew, what if I really do die here today?"

A bubble of laughter burst from Katherine's lips. "You're not even over the guardrail. How could you possibly die?"

Andrew laughed as well. "Don't bother trying to scare me by threatening me with your death. There are still three days until the wedding, so go back and take some time to calm down."

With that, he headed toward the parking lot while carrying Katherine. The crowd left with them.

Right before the car door was shut, Katherine popped her head out to say, "Your white dress is pretty nice. Lend it to me tomorrow for some photos, okay?"

After the car had sped off, I crumpled to my knees beside the guardrail. Blood trickled from the corners of my mouth to drip onto my white dress.

At that moment, my phone chimed with a message from Andrew.

"Take a taxi back home yourself. Kathy's foot hurts, and there's no space in the car for you."

Right before this message was the one he had sent me four days ago, before he had faked his death.

"Nat, wait for me to come back and marry you, okay?"

A stranger ran over to check on me, and before long, the wailing of an ambulance siren rang out.

The paramedics were cutting away the sleeves of my dress when Andrew called me.

Mustering what strength I had left, I accepted the call. Yet, it was Katherine's laughter that came over the line.

"Andrew is making a doctor's appointment for me. Do you need him for something?"

I opened my mouth, but that only allowed more blood to gush forth.

After waiting for several seconds with no response from me, Katherine asked, "Natalia Sanders, don't tell me that you're pretending to be sick again? We didn't fall for your trick earlier, so now you've changed tactics, huh?"

Then, she hung up.

Before the ambulance doors were shut, someone asked me, "Do you have family we can contact?"

I shut my eyes. "Not anymore."