On our wedding night, my husband suddenly died right on top of me. My mother-in-law broke the door down, beating and cursing me, calling me a cursed jinx who brought death to her son. I stood there, stunned by the beating, when bizarre, floating comments suddenly appeared before my eyes: [The male lead is so smart to choose his wedding night to fake his death! He gets to fly off into the sunset with his beloved childhood sweetheart, AND he makes the female side character bear all the blame. Killing two birds with one stone!] [In a bit, the male lead will escape from his coffin like a cicada shedding its shell. The female side character will live the rest of her life drowning in guilt, working herself to the bone for his family.] I froze. I was the "female side character"? My husband was faking his death on our wedding night to run away with the "female lead"? I turned my head stiffly. My mother-in-law shoved me aside, wailing, and pointed at the burly men waiting outside with a coffin. "My son! Mommy is going to have you put in this coffin right now so you can rest in peace!" In her dreams. The men pushed into the room, just about to lift my husband from the wedding bed. I lunged forward, brandishing our marriage certificate. "I am his legally wedded wife! I have the final say on his funeral arrangements, and I forbid him from being put in that coffin!" Out of the corner of my eye, I glared at my husband, whose face was as pale as a genuine corpse. Wants to be dead? I'll grant his wish! ... Hearing my words, my mother-in-law lunged at me and slapped me hard across the face. "You jinx! I haven't even settled the score with you for killing Arthur, and now you won't even let him rest in peace! What the hell are you planning?!" She glared at me viciously, then turned to the men behind her. "Tie her up and throw her out." "No one is stopping Arthur from resting in peace today!" I touched my stinging cheek, staring at the men preparing to advance. The floating text appeared before my eyes again: [The mother-in-law never liked the female side character anyway. If it wasn't for her family's wealth and her willingness to bend over backward for them, she never would have been allowed into the Sterling family.] [The male lead finally saved enough for the astronomical bride price the female lead's family demanded. Get out of the way, female side character!] My eyes narrowed, my heart violently constricting with a sickening pain. To marry Arthur Sterling, I hadn't asked for a single cent in bride price. I even brought millions in dowry to the Sterling family. When his mother fell ill, I arranged for her to stay in the best hospital, bought her the most expensive imported medications, and had boxes of exorbitant health supplements delivered to their door. I thought I could trade genuine sincerity for the same in return. I never imagined that this mother and son had been scheming against me from the very beginning! I looked at my mother-in-law's fierce face, reached out to tightly grip her hand, and let tears slide down my cheeks. "Mom, it's not that I don't want Arthur to rest in peace. I want to hold a three-day wake for him." "According to the customs of my hometown, someone who dies a sudden, violent death carries a heavy resentment. They need a three-day wake to receive the respects of the living. This disperses the resentment and allows them to reincarnate smoothly." The floating comments suddenly became agitated: [What kind of nonsense is the female side character spouting? The female lead is waiting for the male lead at the edge of town so they can run away together. A three-day wake?! I feel so bad for our precious female lead.] [The mother-in-law ships the male and female leads so hard, she definitely won't let the side character get her way.] My mother-in-law forcefully shook off my hand. "The custom here is immediate burial! If you try to stop it again, I won't hold back!" I steadied myself from almost falling, stepped aside, and allowed the men to lift Arthur into the coffin. Watching my mother-in-law's smug expression, I lowered my eyes mockingly and spoke slowly: "Mom, according to the customs of my hometown, everyone who comes to pay respects to someone who died a sudden death offers a ten-thousand-dollar red envelope to help disperse the resentment." "Whenever my parents attend a friend's funeral, they always give a pound of gold. Arthur is my husband; the amount they give will only be more, not less. If we bury him right now... there won't be anything." Hearing this, my mother-in-law snapped her head toward me, her voice rising sharply. "Is that true?" I nodded. "Absolutely true." Her conflicted gaze darted back and forth between me and Arthur. Ultimately, greed conquered all. "He must be kept here for three days! You tell your parents and relatives to come pay their respects. All the money they give belongs to the Sterling family!" The comments instantly panicked: [The mother-in-law is so stupid! This is clearly a trap by the female side character!] [Wait, why isn't the female side character following the plot? She's supposed to watch helplessly as the male lead is carried away.] [Don't panic. The fake-death pill the male lead took is the real deal; it cost tens of thousands. He'll appear dead for seven days. Making a huge profit in three days is a good deal.] Tens of thousands? Arthur, a man so stingy he'd insist on buying only one-eighth of a cake, actually spent that much for the female lead. He really went all out. But this time, he wasn't going to survive to run off with his beloved. My mother-in-law, looking wary, led the men out of the room. The next second, I heard the lock click from the outside. "To stop you from trying any tricks, you're going to stay in this room with Arthur until your family gets here. You are not allowed to come out." I didn't say a word. My gaze fell on Arthur lying in the coffin. I leaned over him, burst into loud, theatrical wails, and began slapping him across the face, one hard strike after another. "Arthur! How could you bear to leave me like this?! Get up and look at me! What am I going to do without you..." "Don't worry, from now on, your mother is my own mother. I will definitely fulfill your duty of filial piety to her." As the footsteps outside faded away, I looked at Arthur's flushed, blood-engorged cheeks. I sat tiredly on the bed, let out a long breath, and pulled out my phone to call my father. "Dad, Arthur suddenly died. I want to give him a grand funeral." "Please invite every prominent figure in the city, especially Arthur's immediate superiors." "Also, bring a lot of bodyguards tomorrow. I need to ensure the absolute safety of Arthur's body!" As soon as I said this, a wave of wailing flooded the comments: [Oh no, oh no! Arthur just wanted to quietly fake his death and be with the female lead. With the female side character making such a huge scene, is she trying to let the whole world know he's dead?!] [The female side character is too vicious! She's even notifying his bosses. He only took a month off for his honeymoon and planned to go back to work after!] [Wake up, male lead! If you don't wake up now, you're going to be dead for real!] ... Before dawn the next day, my parents arrived with relatives, friends, and a small army of bodyguards. Startled, my mother-in-law immediately unlocked the door. I hadn't slept all night. My face was pale, my eyes red and swollen. Seeing my parents, I threw myself at them, wailing loudly. "Mom! Dad! It's all my fault! If it weren't for me, Arthur wouldn't be dead! It's all my fault! I owe the Sterling family everything!" My mother wiped her tears while comforting me. My father looked at my mother-in-law apologetically and pulled a red velvet bag from his coat. "In-law, I never imagined such a tragedy would occur. Here is a pound of gold. According to our local customs, during the three-day wake, this gold must be placed under Arthur's head so his soul can find peace." My mother-in-law eagerly snatched the red bag, barely suppressing the smile on her lips. "Arthur had a hard life... to pass away on his wedding night... But a body can only be kept for three days. Our custom is still to bury him as soon as possible." My father nodded and began outlining the schedule for the next three days. "Today, friends and family will pay their respects. Tomorrow, city officials I work with and Arthur's superiors will come. And the day after..." My father turned to me, hesitating, then looked back at my mother-in-law. "Don't worry, In-law. I promise to give Arthur a grand send-off." My mother-in-law stared worriedly at Arthur in the coffin, whose cheeks were bright red from my slapping. Just as she was about to speak, over a dozen bodyguards surged into the room, blocking everyone irrelevant from entering. Watching my mother-in-law stumble backward in panic, I lowered my eyes mockingly. According to our customs, on the third day, I'll spend the whole day alone with Arthur, and that night... he goes straight into the incinerator. The floating comments instantly grew tense again: [Holy shit! The female side character's custom is to secretly cremate the male lead on the third night?!] [That's too evil! Female lead baby, hurry up and save the male lead!] Suddenly, there was a commotion at the door. A fresh-faced woman wearing no makeup walked in. She tried to push past the bodyguards but was shoved back. Her expression shifted. She stood on her tiptoes, peering through the gaps between the bodyguards at Arthur in the coffin. Tears streamed down her face. "Arthur... I'm too late." Arthur? What an intimate nickname. She must be the "female lead" the comments kept mentioning. I looked her up and down. Covered head to toe in designer brands, at first glance, she looked like the pampered daughter of a wealthy family. But her dry, yellowing split ends betrayed her entire disguise. Add in the fact that she was Arthur's childhood sweetheart, and it was glaringly obvious whose money bought those clothes. My mother-in-law snapped out of her daze, marched over, grabbed the woman's wrist, and forcefully pushed her way through the gap between the bodyguards. "This is Arthur's childhood sweetheart, and I am his own mother! What right do you have to keep us out?!" The bodyguards remained silent, simply blocking my mother-in-law's attempts to force her way in. After several failed attempts, my mother-in-law's furious gaze landed on me. "Chloe! Tell them to let me and Mia in!" The corners of my mouth twitched, and just as I was about to speak, Mia looked at me with an incredibly frail, pitiful expression. "You must be Arthur's new wife? I am his childhood sweetheart... I beg you, let his mother and me in to see him one last time." The comments suddenly exploded: [Hurry up and let the female lead in! She has the antidote to wake him up immediately!] [Female lead baby, only you can save him! You have to force your way in!] An antidote to wake him up? Then I absolutely couldn't let her in. I lifted my gaze and coldly instructed the bodyguards: "Except for members of the Hastings family, no one else is allowed inside!" Hearing this, my mother-in-law erupted into a string of curses. "Chloe, you cursed jinx! What exactly are you trying to do?! Arthur is my son! What right do you have to stop me from seeing him?!" What right? Shedding my usual eager-to-please demeanor toward her, I stared back with intense authority. "By the right that Arthur Sterling is my legally wedded husband!" She froze for a second, then immediately collapsed to the floor, wailing dramatically. "Oh, my son! What kind of wife did you marry?! How dare she treat me and Mia like this..." Watching her theatrical, funeral-dirge performance, I turned away mockingly and told the bodyguards nearby: "Find somewhere to lock those two up. We must ensure absolutely nothing goes wrong over these three days." The comments completely melted down: [What are we going to do?! The female side character locked the female lead up! The male lead is doomed!] [Is Chloe insane?! She's committing intentional murder!] Intentional murder? I strode toward the mourning hall my family was setting up. This was only the beginning. Tomorrow was the real show! By 10 AM the next morning, various city officials had arrived to pay their respects. Arthur's direct supervisor arrived with great fanfare, bringing over a dozen reporters and putting on a hypocritical display of fake crying. "Heaven is jealous of true talent! How could such a good man like Arthur just be gone..." While he "cried," he made sure to pose at the perfect angle for the reporters' cameras. This supervisor was a master of media manipulation, superficial acts, and exaggeration—a massive blowhard. When he first found out Arthur was my boyfriend, he hyped up two minor incidents to make Arthur look like a superstar at work, resulting in a rapid promotion within six months. I specifically had my father invite him precisely so the entire world would know Arthur Sterling was dead. After dozens of rapid-fire photos, he bragged to my father for a bit, then left satisfied with his entourage of reporters. Half an hour later, major media outlets began reporting the news of Arthur Sterling's passing. The local police even personally delivered Arthur's death certificate to my hands. Staring at the stark black-and-white text, I looked mockingly at Arthur in the coffin, letting tears stream down my cheeks. "Arthur, my heart aches so much. I can't bear to look at you like this anymore." "I'll send you to the funeral home for cremation tonight, okay..." I knelt sorrowfully before his coffin, choking back "sobs." "In our next life, we'll be husband and wife again!" The people around looked at me with deep sympathy. My parents, their eyes red, spoke up: "His mother also wished for Arthur to be laid to rest as soon as possible." "I've already arranged the hearse. Since Arthur has seen everyone he needed to see, doing it a day early won't hurt." Everyone nodded in agreement, but the comments were going crazy: [What is the female side character's family doing?! They're cremating the male lead without even telling the female lead and the mother-in-law?!] [The female lead is using a hairpin to pick the lock! She almost has it open! The male lead is going to be saved!] Saved? Arthur Sterling was going into that incinerator today no matter what! I mournfully followed the pallbearers outside. When I reached the door, I grabbed a bodyguard and lowered my voice. "Keep a close eye on my mother-in-law. In exactly one hour, personally escort them to the funeral home." I wanted my mother-in-law and his precious childhood sweetheart to personally pick out Arthur's urn! Half an hour later, the hearse stopped at the funeral home. I stood by the coffin, looking at my parents with red eyes. "I want to go in and personally push Arthur into the incinerator." My parents nodded sorrowfully. "Alright. Consider it your final goodbye to him." I followed the pallbearers down the staff corridor. Arthur was moved from his coffin onto a metal gurney with wheels. A staff member looked at me with a numb expression. "Just push it hard along the tracks, and it will go straight into the incinerator." I looked at Arthur's pale face, my grip on the metal gurney tightening slightly, my heart aching intensely. Why fake your death to trick me for a woman who is inferior to me in every way? You had already found the best wife and gained everything others could only dream of... Why didn't you know how to cherish it?! I gripped the edge of the gurney again, hardened my heart, and gave a forceful shove. The metal gurney slid along the tracks toward the open mouth of the incinerator. Watching it roll inside, I slowly closed my eyes. When I opened them again, the comments had exploded: [Holy shit! He's burning! The male lead is burning in the incinerator!] [The drug suppresses all five senses. He can't feel any pain right now.] [The female lead just broke in! The male lead is going to be saved!] [The female side character is so evil! When he wakes up, he's definitely going to divorce her!] I stared at the incinerator, a mocking smirk spreading across my face. Wake up? In his dreams! Suddenly, there was a massive crash at the door. Mia sprinted toward the staff like a madwoman and forcefully yanked the incinerator's emergency shut-off switch. The roaring flames inside instantly died down. My mother-in-law rushed toward the incinerator, yanked the door open, grabbed the metal gurney, and desperately dragged Arthur out. Seeing this, the staff rushed down from the control panel, their faces pale with anger, shouting: "What are you doing?! A body that isn't fully cremated can release dangerous pathogens! Push it back in immediately, or I'm calling the police!" My mother-in-law held Arthur, whose face was severely burned and unrecognizable, and glared at me fiercely, wailing loudly. "Chloe, you jinx! I told you Arthur was to be buried in the Sterling family cemetery!" "To burn him to death, you actually locked me and Mia up! How can you be so vicious?!" Me, vicious? If she and Arthur hadn't tried to trick me with this fake death scheme first, I wouldn't have pushed him into an incinerator. I lowered my eyes, my gaze falling on Arthur. Even if he didn't burn to death, looking like that, he probably wouldn't survive anyway. But I simply refused to let my mother-in-law have her way and take him. I pulled out our marriage certificate and the death certificate. "Arthur and I are legally married. Since there was no division of assets, I have the absolute right to decide whether he is buried or cremated!" My mother-in-law stared at the death certificate in my hand, trembling with rage. "You!" Mia, panting heavily, ran to my mother-in-law's side. Her gaze instinctively fell on Arthur. She carefully put a little distance between herself and my mother-in-law, looking up at me. "Ms. Hastings, the Sterling family has practiced traditional burial for generations. Furthermore, Arthur is the male heir. By burning him without his mother's consent, she has the right to punish you by making you kneel in the ancestral hall!" To be able to spout such archaic nonsense so calmly at a time like this... it seems her love for Arthur wasn't all that deep after all. My mother-in-law was just about to agree when the Arthur in her arms suddenly twitched unconsciously. She stared at him, her face grim. She forcefully hoisted him onto her back and looked at Mia. "Don't waste words on her, Mia. Let's go!" Mia nodded and hurried after my mother-in-law, leaving the funeral home. Watching their retreating backs, I followed them with a mocking smile. Since I couldn't burn him to death, I would watch him be "laid to rest" with my own eyes! At the entrance to the funeral home, my mother-in-law froze when she saw me. The next second, she started cursing me out, trying to cover up her guilt. "You jinx, why did you follow us?!" "I don't recognize you as my daughter-in-law anymore! Everything that happens to Arthur from now on has nothing to do with you! Get lost!" My grip on the marriage certificate tightened. "The marriage hasn't been annulled. Legally, I am still Arthur's wife. I am going to watch him be buried!" My mother-in-law's face flushed bright red with anxiety. "If it weren't for you, Arthur wouldn't be like this! You murderer, what face do you have to watch him be buried?!"
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