In the third year of their marriage, Conrad Fowler tried to buy the city’s number one socialite. When his wife, Zara Dandrige, let the woman go, he flew into a rage and held Zara’s parents hostage on a cliff.
That night, she was thrown into the freezing ocean and left there for four full hours. While she was shivering in the water, he held his mistress and asked her, “Do you realize your mistake?”
Her biggest mistake in life was saving that amnesiac man by the seaside three years ago.
That same night, Zara went back to her room, printed a divorce agreement and dialed a long-forgotten number.
“The bethrotal… I agree to it. But only if you can help me fake my death. One month from now.”
***
Zara Dandrige, a fishmonger, once brought home an amnesiac man. A month later, the most powerful family in Millford City came looking for him.
To marry her, he had gone against his entire family. With an iron fist, he silenced the old conservatives. Their grand wedding lasted for three days and nights. Everyone said Conrad Fowler was obsessed with Zara.
After the wedding, he spoiled her and made her the First Lady of high society.
But in the third year of marriage, Conrad lost his memory again.
“My family has a rule against divorce. Even if I lost my memory, you're still my lawfully wedded wife. That said, you have to tell me where Wrena is. Got it?”
On the cruise in international waters, Zara's hands and feet were bound, forced to kneel. There was nothing left of the elegant First Lady image on her.
Conrad grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.
They were invited to a private auction that evening.
When the final item was brought on stage, the always-cold Conrad Fowler lost all composure. In front of everyone, without caring about his wife’s dignity, he raised the paddle and bid for Wrena Lawson's virginity—the most sought-after debutante of high society.
In that moment, Zara became a laughingstock.
Humiliated, she helped Wrena escape. Furious, Conrad ordered Zara to be tied up and dragged to the deck. Worse, he sent people to an island far away to hang her parents over a cliff.
In the video, her aging parents cried helplessly.
Zara broke down completely. Crawling on her knees, she begged, “It was Wrena. She begged me to let her go. She said she used to be the top debutante and couldn’t stand the thought of her first night being auctioned. She begged me to spare her. Please, let my parents go. You know how much they mean to me…”
“Zara, you’ve been very disobedient.”
Conrad's eyes were icy, like he was staring at something lifeless. He forced her face toward the screen.
Like a devil from hell, he said, “If a child is unruly, the fault lies with the parents. If you won’t tell me where Wrena is, your innocent parents will pay the price.”
“No…”
Zara's nails snapped as she clawed at the tablet, her screams drowned by crashing waves.
She shook her head madly, her face drenched in tears.
Wasn’t this the same man who knelt before her parents for 36 hours, not eating or drinking, just to convince them to let her marry him?
Now, the man she loved the most was threatening her with her parents’ lives.
As the cold wind howled, Conrad lost all patience and gave a signal.
In the next second, her parents were thrown off the cliff.
“No! Conrad, you monster! Dad! Mom!”
Her screams echoed across the open sea, heartbreaking to anyone who heard.
A sweet, metallic taste rose in her throat as Zara collapsed.
She had a long, long dream.
In it, her family owned an island. Her father was the most respected fisherman, her mother a famously elegant lady. Zara grew up adored and envied.
Then one day, she rescued a handsome man from the shore.
She nursed him, fed him herbal soup, introduced him to the sea breeze and cooked fresh fish feasts for him. Naturally, they fell in love.
Then, men in black suits came to take him away, revealing that he was heir to the most powerful family in the capital.
He went back, but defied his family to marry her. When his uncles opposed, he overthrew them and became head of the family.
Her parents didn’t approve, so he knelt on the beach for 36 hours until he fainted several times. In the end, they agreed.
At the wedding, someone mocked her as just a fish vendor unworthy of being his wife. Conrad dragged the guy out, cut off his tongue and gave her the highest status in the family.
On the third year of their marriage, he left for a business trip abroad. The night before, he pinned her under him ten times.
“Zara, when I get back, maybe you’ll be pregnant with our baby.”
But when he returned, he lost his memory again.
He remembered nothing of their three years together. Instead, he said he owed his life to Wrena Lawson, a down-on-her-luck heiress who had saved him during a shootout abroad.
From that moment on, he was obsessed with Wrena.
Until Wrena fell into debt and became the final item at a private auction.
Zara woke up to the sound of soft sobbing.
“Don’t blame your wife, Conrad. I heard how much you loved her. You gave her a $10 billion dowry, built her a castle with wool carpets stretching for miles because she was afraid of the cold. When she said going back to her family was inconvenient, you bought 520 planes to fly her there anytime.”
“You bid for my virginity tonight, only because she loved you so much it drove her mad with jealousy. That’s why she threw me into the sea.”
The sobbing grew louder.
Then Conrad comforted Wrena in a voice so gentle it pierced Zara’s heart. It was the same tone he used to whisper sweet nothings to her.
When Zara opened her eyes, she was met with a cold, sharp voice.
“Awake now, Zara? So, you love tossing people into the sea? Now, let’s see if you like it.”
“Tie her up and throw her overboard!”
Conrad gave a cold gesture. His well-trained bodyguards acted without hesitation.
Someone tried to intervene. “Sir, she’s terrified of the cold. You once said no one was allowed to hurt her.”
“Conrad,” Wrena suddenly cut in, her voice trembling. “You seem to love your wife so much… then why bother bidding for me? Maybe I should just leave.” She turned and bolted, tears glistening in her eyes.
Conrad caught her in an instant. Without a second glance, he struck the servant across the face.
Zara couldn’t escape her fate.
As the icy water flooded her mouth, she summoned her last strength to scream, “Conrad! One day, when your memory returns, you’ll regret everything you’ve done today!"
She spent five hours in the water. Every time she tried to climb out, someone shoved her back in.
When Conrad finally allowed her to be pulled out, her body was ice-cold and her face ashen.
“Ma’am, Mr. Fowler wants me to ask you if you learn your mistake?” a servant asked gently.
Tears streamed down her face as she nodded.
Her biggest mistake was saving him three years ago.
That night, still soaking wet, she printed a divorce agreement, slipped it among several auction contracts and handed it to Conrad.
“Sign this,” she said.
“If only you’d done this sooner,” Conrad said taking the papers. “I’d still give you anything you want. Jewelries, cars, houses. All I ask is you to behave.”
He signed without hesitation, thinking it was just another auction contract.
He didn’t realize he had signed two copies of a divorce agreement.
After signing, Zara staggered back to her room and shakily picked up her phone.
“The betrothal… I agree to it. But only if you can help me fake my death. One month from now.”
