Chapter 3

I pushed the man in front of me away and went around madly, trying to find Eugene.

"Why did you let your friends slander my mother like that online, Eugene? It's fine if you target me, but what did my mother do to deserve such defamation after her death?"

Eugene slammed his legs on the table haughtily and replied with indifference, "Well, it was your dirty scheme, wasn't it? Don't you have the guts to admit to what you're attempting to do?

"You should count yourself lucky that Rina loves you. We're her friends, and it's our duty to help her make sure she finds the right man. You're just a penniless loser, after all. How can we be sure that you don't have an ulterior motive in being with her?"

The glass in my hand cracked, and blood seeped through my fingers, but I could not feel the pain. I wanted to say more, but Rina stopped me. "That's enough, Micah. Stop making a fuss over this. Eugene is just concerned for my well-being.

"We'll be getting married anyway, and I'm just postponing it for six months. Just apologize, and everything will go back to normal."

After that, Rina got someone to bring over a first-aid kit, and she took out some bandages and said to me with concern, "Your fingers are bleeding. Come here. Let me bandage them for you."

I looked up at her and asked, "Do you also think that I'm putting up an act?"

Rina did not reply, but her silence told me everything.

I smiled bitterly as I nodded, "Since every one of you thinks of me as such a horrible person, maybe it's best that we part ways. I don't want to get married anymore, Rina."

As I turned to leave, Eugene called out to me. "Wait a minute. If you're leaving, you should return the ring Rina gave to you." He pointed at the ring on my finger.

Rina had that ring custom-made for me.

Her tests for me started six months ago, and they had never stopped. I had gone through much torment because of her tests, and there were moments when I could not take it any longer, but when I initiated a breakup, she lost her temper. Rina smashed everything in the house and left the house angrily.

The next morning, she rushed up and hugged me as she teared up while apologizing to me. She took a ring out of a jewelry box and said to me softly, "I got this wedding ring made for you quite a while ago. We'll get married soon, and all you need to do is get through all the tests, and I'll be yours forever after that, all right?"

I gave in and never mentioned breaking up after that. Little did I know this would end up costing my mother her life. Thinking this, I took off the ring without hesitation and flung it onto the beach. "You can have the ring back. It's over between us."

Rina looked upset, but I did not care at all and left without looking back.

She kept calling me after I left, but I did not pick up any of her calls. All I did was hug my mother's cold body, unable to shed a single tear even though I really wanted to cry.

When I got home, I wanted to cremate my mother's body, but none of the crematoriums were willing to take her body, and no one was willing to give my mother a death certificate. I knelt and begged, but everyone gave me a cruel answer.

"Miss Shaker has given strict instructions not to accept this job."

"The Shakers are about to have a wedding, and it's bad luck to have a funeral."

I had no choice but to call Rina, but it was Eugene who picked up the call. He laughed at me cruelly, "You have pretty thick skin, don't you? You were the one who broke up with Rina, but you're still harassing her with phone calls.

"Just give it up already. The only person Rina should be with is me. I made up all those tests about proving true love to Rina to get you to back out of your relationship, but you just refused to give up, and your mother got sacrificed in the process."

Eugene laughed maliciously before hanging up, and my call no longer got through after that, no matter how many times I dialed Rina's number. I clenched my fists and smashed the phone hard against the wall.

I returned to my hometown, I got a coffin for my mother, and held a simple funeral for her. On the day she was about to be buried, an unexpected guest turned up. It was Rina, and she entered my house angrily.

"What's this with the coffin and the funeral, Micah? How long do you plan on putting up this act? You've already embarrassed my family previously, yet you're still refusing to give this up. Stop doing whatever you want and creating scandals like this just because you know how I always indulge you!"

Rina looked pained and disappointed, as if I had let down her love for me, but all I did was reply coldly, "Stop disrupting my mother's peace. If you have anything to say, say it after her burial. You're not welcome here."

I had never spoken to Rina so coldly before, and she was stunned by my attitude. It took her a while to snap out of it, and she clenched her teeth to say, "That's enough! How long do you plan on putting up this act? Do you think I'm naive enough to believe you?"

However, all I did was repeat myself coldly, "Please leave. You're not welcome here."

Rina laughed in anger, and tears fell down her cheeks. She nodded bleakly. "Fine. You're claiming your mother is in that coffin, are you?

"Take this coffin away!"

The bodyguards she brought with her immediately stepped forward to carry the coffin. They placed the coffin against the window railing, so much so that it would take only one push for the coffin to fall over the edge.

"What are you doing?!" I tried to struggle out of the bodyguards' grip, but failed.

Rina said, "If you insist on lying to me, I'll give you one last test of true love. Do you want this coffin, or do you want to marry me? You have only one choice."

I looked at Rina in disbelief. I could not believe that she would do something so ridiculous at a time like this. "Put that coffin back where it was! My mother is in there! I won't forgive you if you push her over the edge!"

Rina started crying. "You're still refusing to choose me over a fake coffin? You're a heartless man, Micah Sanders. I'm making this official. You have failed my last test. I want you to watch me marry Eugene, and as for that coffin…" She pointed at the coffin and sneered. "Throw it over the railing! It sticks out like a sore thumb!"

Her bodyguards released the coffin, and it fell from the building, smashing into pieces the moment it landed on the ground.