Five years ago, Luke Gilbert—the golden heir of the Capital's elite circle—was caught up in a murder case and taken into custody as the prime suspect.
Just when everyone in the city had written the Gilberts off for good, forensic doctor Penelope Simmons spent three days and three nights performing a painstaking autopsy, ultimately uncovering the crucial evidence that cracked the case.
The real killer was arrested. Luke Gilbert walked free.
From that day forward, Luke became Penelope's most devoted admirer.
He transformed himself into the perfect suitor, laying his heart and everything he owned at her feet.
After two years of dating, they married. The wedding was a grand, headline-making affair, the kind people called a fairy tale.
Everyone said Penelope Simmons had accumulated eight lifetimes' worth of good fortune. With a single forensic scalpel, she'd cleared Luke Gilbert's name and carved open a path to a life of wealth and privilege.
But all of that shattered at a charity gala.
"Ma'am, Mr. Gilbert said he'll attend on his own." The assistant's face held a trace of awkwardness.
"He's just worried I've been too tired lately. It's fine."
Penelope changed into an evening gown and headed to the address the assistant had given her.
In three years of marriage, she had always been the one on Luke's arm at these events. It was only recently, while she'd been buried in a new case, that he'd stopped asking her to come.
She had just reached the doors of the ballroom when voices drifted out from inside.
"Mr. Gilbert, is this Mrs. Gilbert? She's absolutely stunning—so elegant and radiant."
Penelope's hand froze on the door handle.
A familiar voice answered. Luke's voice.
"This is my friend, Miss Crystal Henson. She's a perfumer. As for my wife..." He paused, and a note of contempt crept into his tone. "She's a forensic doctor. Spends her days around corpses. You can't exactly bring someone who deals with the dead to a charity gala for children with congenital diseases, can you? Bad luck."
Outside the door, Penelope stood rooted to the spot, the words hitting her like a thunderclap.
There had been a time when one of Luke's business partners had mocked her profession, saying she reeked of death.
Luke had punched the man on the spot, breaking four of his ribs, and severed all business ties with him.
"Penelope Simmons is my woman—and the woman who saved me. Her work is sacred and just. She speaks for the dead who can no longer speak for themselves. Anyone who disrespects her is making an enemy of me."
After that, no one had ever dared say a word against Penelope's career.
But now, those same cruel, cutting words were coming from Luke's own mouth.
Something cracked open inside Penelope's chest, and a bitter cold wind poured through.
She was freezing all over, numb, until the sound from inside the ballroom dragged her back.
"Tonight's premier auction item—a sixteen-carat pink diamond ring. Congratulations to Mr. Gilbert on his winning bid of two hundred million dollars."
The gavel struck. Penelope moved through the crowd just in time to see Luke slide the diamond ring onto Crystal Henson's finger.
His eyes were full of tenderness as he leaned close to Crystal's ear. "You smell incredible. Can I breathe you in again tonight?"
Crystal smiled shyly and gave him a gentle push.
One minute later, Penelope's phone buzzed.
Something came up at the office tonight. Won't be home. Get some rest.
She lifted her gaze toward the two figures climbing into a car together in the darkness, and the tears she'd been holding back finally spilled over.
Once, Luke had looked at her with that same depth of devotion.
But in just five years, everything had changed.
Five years ago, the scandal had sent the Gilbert Group's market value plummeting overnight. The stock crashed. Capital fled. All those sycophants who'd once bowed and scraped before Luke couldn't distance themselves fast enough.
Old Mr. Gilbert had called an emergency meeting that very night to select an alternate heir. The message was unmistakable: Luke was being cast aside.
Just when even Luke himself believed there was no coming back, Penelope Simmons changed what everyone had already accepted as a foregone conclusion.
Once his name was cleared, Luke had eyes for no one but Penelope.
An endless stream of jewelry, even luxury cars worth small fortunes, all delivered to the front steps of the police bureau.
Penelope turned down every last gift. "We have rules. Don't make trouble for me."
Faced with this indifferent woman, Luke refused to give up.
A man who had never set foot in a kitchen started asking around about Penelope's favorite foods. He taught himself to cook, and all ten of his fingers were covered in cuts.
Rain or shine, even canceling contracts worth hundreds of millions, he showed up at the bureau entrance on time with a homemade lunch box and waited.
Penelope remained unmoved.
Until the day she was conducting a preliminary examination of victims at the scene of an explosion, and the site suddenly collapsed again and reignited.
Penelope, absorbed in her work, didn't notice. Luke, standing beyond the safety perimeter, charged in without a second thought and threw himself over her.
A burning beam crashed down on him. Blood sprayed from his mouth, but even after losing consciousness, he held his body over hers like a shield.
After that, Penelope finally relented.
"Let's try dating and see how it goes."
The moment Luke heard those words, he swept her up and spun her around, heedless of his stitches tearing open, grinning like a child.
After two years of passionate courtship, Luke filled the sky above the city with fireworks for three straight nights and proposed.
Penelope said yes, feeling as though she were walking on clouds.
On their wedding day, Old Mr. Henry Gilbert personally placed a bank card loaded with a billion dollars into her hands.
She didn't take it. She simply said, her voice calm and even:
"Dad, I'm not marrying Luke for money."
Seeing how resolute she was, the old man replied:
"If it weren't for you, the Gilberts would have gone under. From now on, if there's ever anything you want, just ask. This family owes you."
The memories flickered and faded. She dialed Henry Gilbert's number.
"Dad, I'd like to cash in on that promise you made. I want a divorce from Luke."
Silence on the other end. Then: "You're sure about this?"
"Yes."
"All right. You'll have the papers in a month."
