My Fiancée Faked Her Death—But I Really Died

The night before our engagement, my fiancée, Yvonne Gomez, died. The police said her car had crashed through a guardrail and plunged into the river. All they found was a bloodstained watch. The entire Gomez family blamed me. "If she hadn't gone out to buy you a wedding ring, none of this would've happened!" "You're a living curse! Wasn't getting your parents killed enough? Now, you've killed your fiancée too!" Ernie Young, a junior she had gone to school with, played her final voice message as he cried. "Don't die for me. Go live a good life." I held her watch and kept vigil at the funeral home for three days. On the fourth morning, I put on the white suit she liked best and went to the river alone. Then, I downed a bottle of poison. "Yvonne, I'm coming to marry you." I had just climbed over the guardrail when cheers erupted under the bridge. Ernie ran up to me, clapping and laughing so hard that tears rolled down his face. "I won! I knew he would come! Yvonne, he fell for it! He was really going to jump into the river to keep you company!" The crowd parted, and Yvonne stepped out holding a bouquet of roses. Her white dress was spotless, and it hurt to even look at her. She turned to Ernie first, her voice indulgent. "Happy now? No more games after this." Ernie put an arm around her shoulders and asked smugly, "Don't I get some credit for testing how much he loves you?" "Of course." She smiled and nodded. "You liked the wedding ring I picked out, didn't you? You can borrow it for a week." Only then did she hand me the roses. "Surprised? Ernie was just upset. He felt like you were taking me away from him, so I went along with it this one time. You don't mind, do you? You've proved you love me. Now, we can go back and get married." I finally understood everything. The accident was fake. So was the recording. It was all a prank Ernie had come up with to appease himself. And Yvonne had personally allowed him to put my life on the game board as a bet. I shook my head as a sharp pain shot through my stomach. "It's fine… There's no going back…" Chapter 1 Yvonne's smile froze as she looked at me. "What do you mean there's no going back?" Another painful spasm hit my stomach as I grabbed the guardrail tightly, blood rising in my throat. I murmured, "Exactly what I said." Ernie tilted his head. "You're not mad, are you? I just wanted to see how much you really love Yvonne. Turns out you would die for her." He laughed before anyone else could, and their friends gathering under the bridge joined in. "Come on, Alex. Don't be a sore loser." "Yvonne actually spent half an hour soaking in the river for this test." "Ernie stayed up two nights planning it. You should thank him." I turned to Yvonne. "You were hiding under the bridge the whole time?" "I had a diving suit on. I was safe." She made it sound like nothing. Over the past three days, her father had cried until he fainted at the funeral home. Her mother had smashed the framed photographs of my late parents. They had pointed their fingers in my face and called me a living, walking curse. I had been on my knees in front of Yvonne's photograph, unable to get up until my knees were bloodied. And all that time, she had been in a nearby hotel, watching the funeral home's security footage and waiting to see when I would break down. "I kept vigil for you for three days." Yvonne glanced down at my bloody knees and said, "It's over now. I'll have someone take care of your wounds when we get back." Ernie suddenly grabbed his ankle. "Yvonne, I think I twisted my ankle running over here." Yvonne immediately dropped the roses and crouched in front of him. She asked, "Can you walk?" "It hurts a little," Ernie said. "I'll take you to the hospital," Yvonne said, helping him toward the parking lot. Ernie then glanced back and winked at me, the wedding ring on his finger. "Yvonne…" I called out. She turned, impatient. "What now?" "Your father saved that ring for your future husband…" I said. She glanced at the ring. "It's not that big of a deal. Just let him wear it for a few days. He proved to me just how much you love me. I have to reward him with something." Just yesterday, her father had slapped me seven times with the hand that had worn that ring. He had blamed me for his daughter's death and said I did not deserve to marry into his family. Ernie shook his finger at me. "Don't be so petty. I'll put it on your finger myself on your wedding day." I bent down and picked up the roses. A thorn pierced my palm, and blood dripped onto the white wrapping paper. Yvonne frowned. "Are you ruining them on purpose? I picked those out at the florist first thing this morning." She had remembered that Ernie liked champagne roses. She had forgotten I was allergic to rose pollen. I tasted blood in my mouth again. I forced myself to ask, "Yvonne… What if I really do die here today…?" Ernie burst out laughing. "You haven't even made it over the guardrail, and you're already talking about dying?" Yvonne also laughed. "Don't try to scare me by talking about dying. The wedding's in three days. Go home and calm down." She then helped Ernie toward the parking lot, and everyone followed. Before the car door closed, Ernie stuck his head out. "That white suit looks great on you. Let me borrow it for some photos tomorrow." After they drove away, I collapsed to my knees by the guardrail. Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth onto my white suit. My phone chimed. Yvonne had sent two messages. [Take a cab home.] [Ernie hurt his ankle. There's no room in the car.] Our conversation was still pinned at the top of my messages. In it was the message she'd sent three days earlier. [Alex, wait for me. We'll get married when I get home.] Someone ran over to help me, and I heard an ambulance approaching below the bridge. As the paramedics cut open my sleeve, I called Yvonne. It took all my strength, but all I heard was Ernie laughing when the phone was picked up. "Yvonne's checking me in at the hospital. Did you need something?" I opened my mouth, but blood came out first. Ernie waited a few seconds. "Alex, don't tell me you're pretending to be sick again. You didn't fool us last time, so now you're trying something else?" Then he hung up. Before the ambulance doors closed, someone asked, "Where's your family?" I closed my eyes. "There's no one left." Chapter 2 It was dark outside the window when I finally woke up. The doctor asked how long it had been since I had taken the poison. I could not move. All I could do was blink once. The doctor turned to the nurse and said, "Keep trying to contact his family." The nurse opened my phone. Yvonne was my only emergency contact. The first call went unanswered. She declined the second and finally answered the third. "Who's this?" Yvonne sounded furious. In the background, Ernie was asking which dress shoes suited his best man outfit better. The nurse glanced toward my bed. "This is Central City Hospital. Mr. Alex Shaw has been poisoned, and we're trying to resuscitate him. You need to come right away." The line was silent for almost two full seconds before asking, "Did he put you up to this?" "We don't have time for jokes," the nurse said. Yvonne laughed coldly. "He was just making a scene about canceling the wedding, and he found a hospital willing to play along in just two hours." The nurse kept her anger in check. "Mr. Shaw needs a family member here right now." "If he wants to make a scene, he can deal with the consequences," Yvonne said coldly. Ernie leaned toward the phone. "Hey, don't blame Yvonne. Alex was saying he was going to kill himself back at the river. Now, he's in the hospital because he's been poisoned? Any sane person would think it was a prank." The nurse wanted to say something else, but I raised my hand a little. She held the phone to my ear. "Alex." Yvonne's voice went cold. "You think this is funny?" I tasted nothing but blood in my mouth as I said, "I'm not… Lying… I took… poison." She laughed. "What kind of poison lets you talk that clearly? Vitamins?" Laughter erupted on the other end. All of Yvonne's friends were there, waiting to see how long I would keep up the act. "Send me the address," Yvonne said. My heart skipped a beat. Then she added, "I'll have my assistant send you flowers. I'll play along with your little test. When you're done acting, find your own way home." I stared at the harsh light above me. "You told me to wait for you… the day my father died too…" The line went quiet. The night my father was cremated, Ernie had just had a breakup. Yvonne had promised to stay with me for the vigil, but one call from him was enough to make her leave. She told me she would be gone for half an hour, but I sat alone until dawn. She never came back. "That was ages ago," she snapped at me, cutting me off. "Why are you bringing it up now?" Ernie called out to her. "Yvonne, help me with my cuffs." Fabric rustled over the phone as Yvonne gently told Ernie to hold still. I had spent seven years begging her to show me that kind of care. She never had. "I don't have time for your games," Yvonne said, picking up the phone again. "Don't forget the wedding's in three days. If you don't show up, don't expect me to marry you. Ever." The doctor pushed open the door. The nurse saw the report in his hand, and her eyes welled with tears. I could no longer lift my fingers. She held my phone for me as another message from Yvonne appeared. [Did you hear me?] With the last of my strength, I typed one last word. [OK.] She had lied to me once. Now, I would do the same. I had agreed to attend the wedding. I had never promised I would still be alive for it. The heart monitor made a long beep, and my hand slipped from the phone. Yvonne's reply appeared on the screen almost immediately. [Good boy.] Chapter 3 The day before our wedding, which was also two days after my death, Yvonne brought Ernie into our new home. He took our engagement portrait off the wall as soon as he walked in. "We can put it back tomorrow. Let's test Alex again. Think he'll get jealous when he sees his portrait gone?" Yvonne caught the frame. "Don't break it." Ernie pouted. "I know you care about him." He stuffed the frame into a cardboard box and opened the closet. My wedding suit hung inside beside a black traditional dinner jacket. My father had made that jacket for himself before he passed away. He had been so ill he could barely hold a needle, and the stitches around the cuffs were uneven. When I tried on my wedding suit, he had held my hand. "I'll wear this during your wedding, Alex." He had not lived to see that day. Ernie pulled out the black jacket. "This thing's so old. What a bad omen for your new life after marriage." Yvonne glanced at it. "Alex's father left him that. Put it back." Ernie's smile faded. "I've spent all day getting everything ready for you, and he won't even come home to help decorate, yet you're upset because I touched some old jacket?" Yvonne hesitated. "Just put it away for now. Don't let him see it." Ernie smiled again as he balled up the jacket and threw it into the box. At the bottom lay the only photograph I had of myself with my parents. Ernie complained that we were all wearing black and told the staff to take it away too. Yvonne stood by and let him. The crew making the wedding video had just arrived when the hospital called. The person in charge opened a laptop. "Ms. Gomez, here's the video about your love story for the wedding." The large screen lit up. In the video, I wore my white suit and held a bloodstained watch as I climbed over the guardrail. Then, Yvonne stepped out with the roses. Off camera, Ernie was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. "I won! …He was really going to jump into the river to keep you company!" At the end, a line of text appeared. [True love can withstand any test.] The room filled with applause. Someone even laughed and said, "Alex is going to cry when he sees this. He'll be so touched." Yvonne stared at my face on the screen. I was gripping the guardrail hard, my hands shaking. "Cut the part where he falls to his knees afterward. It won't look good at the wedding." Ernie sat at my desk and unwrapped the wedding gift I had prepared for Yvonne. Inside was a scrapbook for our seventh anniversary. The first page held the bus ticket from our first ride together. Ernie flipped through a few pages and laughed. "He kept this worthless scrap of paper?" Yvonne snatched the scrapbook away. "Don't touch that." Ernie's eyes became red. "I was just looking for things to use in the video. Why are you yelling at me?" She looked at him for a moment, then let go. "Use it if you want." Ernie pulled out the bus ticket, cut it into a heart, and pasted it beside a picture of himself with Yvonne. The hospital called again. Yvonne saw the number and declined the call. "That actor again?" Ernie asked. "Yeah." Yvonne nodded. She opened our chat. My last reply was still that single word: [OK.] "He already promised he'd come to the wedding. He's just making a scene because he wants me to give in first," Yvonne mumbled to herself. The staff carried the box out. A corner of the black jacket hung over the edge, dragging along the floor. Ernie rested his head on Yvonne's shoulder. "If he's still mad tomorrow, let's test him again. Cancel the wedding in front of everyone and see if he begs you to marry him." Yvonne glanced at the empty wall. "Don't push him too far." "He can't bear to leave you." Ernie put on the bow tie that was once mine. "Not even in death." She did not argue back as she sent me a message: [I've got our new home ready. Don't be late tomorrow.] The message went through. But this time, there was no one left to answer. Chapter 4 I never showed up for our wedding. At nine that morning, Yvonne called me for the first time. No one answered. At ten, the wedding cars pulled up outside the hotel. Her father could not find me, and he threw the bridal bouquet onto a table. "Who does he think he is? Yvonne, you're not going to pick him up. Give in today, and he'll walk all over this family after this!" Ernie wore his best man's suit. My wedding ring was still on his finger. "Don't get upset. Alex is definitely hiding nearby, just waiting for Yvonne to beg him to come out." Yvonne stared at her phone. Our conversation was still suspended on that single word. [OK.] Her anger flared again as she said, "He promised he would come. Let everyone wait." By eleven, all the guests had arrived. At eleven thirty, the officiant asked for the third time when the groom was arriving. Yvonne sent me more than a dozen messages. [Are you still throwing a tantrum?] [You have until noon.] [Come over right now, and I'll pretend none of this happened.] The last was a voice message. "Alex. You tried to dupe me by working with the hospital, and I can let that go. I can forgive you for showing up late on purpose, too. But if you miss the wedding, there's no one to blame when I leave you." After she sent it, Ernie clapped his hands and said, "Get ready. Time for round two." Their friends locked the wedding hall doors and changed the text on the large screen to announce that the wedding was canceled. They waited for me to rush in. To cry. To beg Yvonne to marry me in front of everyone. At noon sharp, the wedding music began. Still, nobody was outside the doors. Yvonne grew angrier by the minute. "I can't believe he has the guts to bail on me today!" Ernie put an arm around her shoulders. "Why don't I walk down the aisle in his place? It's just a rehearsal, anyway." He stepped onto the red carpet without waiting for her answer. The guests kept cheering them on. "Ernie and Yvonne look more like a couple anyway." "The groom had better get here. Someone's really about to steal his bride!" "Yvonne, kiss him! See if that brings the groom out of hiding!" Yvonne didn't push Ernie away. She kept watching the entrance, as if she expected me to burst through the doors. Instead, two police officers came into the hall. Yvonne recognized one of them. Three days earlier, he was the one who had told me she had fallen into the river and gone missing. Everyone in the hall immediately fell silent. The officer approached Yvonne and said, "Ms. Gomez, Central City Hospital has been trying to reach you since the day before yesterday." Yvonne's fingers tightened around her phone. "Did he call the police again? Tell Alex the wedding has already started. If he comes out now, I can still forgive him." The officer said nothing as he simply took out a clear evidence bag. Inside was a phone with a shattered screen. The case had a picture of Yvonne and me on the back. Yvonne's angry expression froze. Ernie laughed. "That smashed phone looks so convincing. Don't tell me Alex imitated Yvonne and faked his death too." "Where's Alex?" Yvonne stared at the phone. "Tell him to come here himself." The officer watched her for a few seconds. "Mr. Alex Shaw passed away the night before yesterday. The medical team at Central City Hospital couldn't save him. He passed away at twenty-seven minutes past ten."