Everyone knew that Simon Zimmer and Luna Springfield had been friends with benefits for a year, but they had chosen to hide it from Bertha Marsh, the deaf one.

During a New Year’s gathering, Bertha's cold attitude caused displeasure to Simon’s friend.

“Simon, is Bertha kicking up a fuss again? Seriously, that doctor of yours is more considerate. She knows how to get you into a good mood and doesn’t throw tantrums,” he said loudly with disdain.

Simon’s expression turned dark, and he snapped at him. “Don’t say anything you shouldn’t. Bertha’s the most important person to me. I’ll die if she leaves.”

He then anxiously signed to Bertha to ask whether she was sick.

What he did not know was that Bertha had heard it all, and their future together was over.

“Ms. Marsh, the plan for your fake death is in place. You will ‘die’ in an accident. After that, your personal information will be destroyed, and you will cease to exist.” A cold, mechanical voice came through Bertha Marsh’s phone.

She smiled and replied with a firm, “Okay.”

“We’ve given you a new identity in Switzerland, and your death will occur half a month later. Please cooperate with us when the time comes.”

Once she hung up, Bertha opened an app and scrolled down. Soon, she received a message that she had successfully booked a flight ticket.

Following that, she drove over to the restaurant where she was supposed to have a date with Simon Zimmer.

She went upstairs shortly after she spoke with a waiter. Simon had booked the second floor and covered the place with roses. Only the table beside the window was not covered in flowers.

It offered the best view, which was a clear view of the entire ocean.

Soon after Bertha sat down, the sight of a man and woman on the beach drew her attention.

The sun shone on the woman's smooth back. Then the man removed his blazer and covered her while he caressed her thin neck. Bertha could not see their faces, but the man wore a ring with a ruby on his middle finger.

It was cut from the same raw gemstone as the one on Bertha’s ring.

She took her phone out and tapped the name at the top of her contact list. With trembling fingers, she typed her message for around five minutes. During this time, she kept deleting and retyping her message. In the end, she only sent three words.

[Where are you?]

The receiver replied quickly. [I’m at a meeting in the company. What’s wrong?]

Bertha looked outside. The man was typing on his phone with one hand as he forced the woman to remain in the same position.

Bertha held her phone tightly as pain filled her heart. Her eyes stung while she replied, [How much longer will it take before you arrive?]

[An hour.]

Soon, the man sent another message over, as though trying to appease her. [Are you getting antsy from the wait? I’m sorry for making you feel that way. I’ve gotten you a surprise for your birthday, so forgive me, please?]

Bertha no longer looked at the screen. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on the beach. Soon, the man threw his phone to the side, cradled the woman’s face, and kissed her passionately.

When tears started to blur her vision, Bertha took a deep breath. While she endured the pain in her heart, she forced herself to stop looking. This was perhaps the surprise Simon had mentioned.

An hour and a half later, she heard hurried footsteps from the stairs.

Simon was holding a bouquet of lilies in his arms, along with presents of various sizes.

By this time, Bertha’s tears had dried up, but she did not smile at Simon as usual. Instead, she turned her head away and stared at the setting sun in the distance.

Simon’s eyes were full of regret. Feeling pity for her, he hugged Bertha and anxiously signed to her, “The people in the company just kept pestering me. That’s why I’m late. Don’t be mad, please? I’ll accept whatever punishment you give me.”

She broke free from his embrace. The sweet smell of another woman’s perfume made her want to puke. With dull eyes, she whispered, “Do you still love me, Simon?”

However, Simon was already used to the smell of perfume lingering on him, so he did not think much of it. When he saw the dried tears around Bertha’s eyes, he panicked and signed, “What on earth are you saying? Of course I love you! Everyone knows that I’ll die if I don’t have you by my side.”

Despite his passionate declaration of love, Bertha’s heart did not flutter. She just wore a self-deprecating smile.

Indeed, everyone knew that Simon loved her and could give everything up for her.

Before she met Simon, she did not know what love was.

Her family was no good, as her parents only doted on her younger brother. Ever since she was a child, she would have to eat her brother’s leftovers and constantly patch up her clothes. Her sanitary pads were all sold and bought in bulk because they had already expired. Even her undergarments were items she got from dumpster diving.

To buy her brother a tablet, her parents even stole her scholarship. She also had to beg her parents for an entire day and night just for a chance to study at university.

It was cold that day, and the floor was chilly. She ended up getting a fever and nearly died from it, but her parents just told her to go ahead and die.

It was her neighbor who told her that she could get a student loan to study.

Later on, she became a famous designer, and her parents came to her doorstep with her brother in tow. They shamelessly stayed at her place, with the excuse that they had the right to do so because they brought her up. When her house caught on fire, her parents pushed her into the flames so that she would save her brother. As a result, she lost her hearing.

Everyone treated her like a burden after that. She was chased out of the studio she had built up with her own two hands. Her parents took all of her savings and swore that from then on, she was no longer their daughter.

The first half of her life was hell on earth, hence she scoffed at the idea of love.

Simon fell in love with her at first sight when they met in university. But she had already shut herself off from the world, and she remained unmoved by his attempts to win her heart.

Yet, after she lost her hearing, Simon kept taking care of her without complaint. He took her all around the world to receive treatment and even learned sign language for her sake.

Time passed, and Simon continued trying to win her heart for four years.

His constant companionship eventually melted the ice around her heart. During those four years, the entire world abandoned her, but Simon was the only one who stayed by her side.

When they just got together, the Zimmer family did not like her. They were an affluent family, and they thought that she was not worthy of their heir. Simon abandoned his title as heir and built his own business for her. Every day, he worked overtime, until he nearly died from exhaustion. The constant social gatherings also caused him to get a gastrointestinal rupture. But eventually, he managed to create a business that rivaled Zimmer Corp, and he brought her back to his family.

Their wedding shocked the entire world. Simon booked all the billboards in the city and signed his love for her at the same time that he announced it to the world.

After they got married, Simon’s enemies orchestrated an accident for her, and she nearly died from it. In the process of protecting her, he lost a leg and fell into a coma for three days in the hospital. Despite nearly dying, the first thing he did after he woke up was look for Bertha.

“If anything happens to her, I’ll die too.”

The media took pictures of this, and the incident trended for a few days online.

[No one’s as loyal as Simon Zimmer.]

[Simon Zimmer almost died for his wife.]

[The warrior of love: Simon Zimmer.]

However, the man who claimed to love her slept with Luna Springfield in the third year of their marriage. She was Bertha’s attending physician.

He would take care of Bertha during the day, but at night, he would lie that he had a meeting. Then, he would stay overnight at Luna’s place and make love to her until the sun rose.

It was Bertha’s birthday today. Just how obsessed was he with Luna that he would cheat on her so fearlessly right beside the restaurant?

Some time ago, Bertha had regained her hearing. She was overjoyed, and she immediately ran off to tell Simon, only to hear his conversation with Luna.

“Simon, why don’t you marry me? I want to be with you like a proper couple. If you can’t abandon Bertha, you can take care of her. I won’t mind. After all, you loved her so much in the past.”

“Don’t I dote on you enough already, you little witch?” Simon’s voice was hoarse. “Bertha’s different from you. You can’t hope to compare to her.”

During the three months after she learned the truth, Bertha could not sleep. But she did not have the courage to confront Simon and demand answers. She could only let her pain, disappointment, and despair overwhelm her bit by bit.

“Simon, do you remember what you said on our wedding day?”

Bertha stared at Simon and smiled. With an earnest tone, she said, “You asked me to swear that if you ever made a mistake, I should leave without a word and not give you a chance to apologize because you’d be undeserving of forgiveness.”

It was time for her to fulfill her oath.

Half a month later, she would disappear during their fourth anniversary, and no one would ever find her.

Bertha’s serious gaze made Simon panic.

“Bertha, why are you suddenly talking about this?”

He did not know why Bertha would say such a thing. Frowning, he fell into deep thought for a few minutes before a possibility occurred to him.

“Bertha, did someone say something to you?”

Before she could reply, Simon’s expression turned stern, and he made a call. “Come to the restaurant now.”

Fifteen minutes later, his secretary rushed over and stood in front of him while gasping. With a dark expression, he said to his secretary, “Sign to Bertha all the business trips and all the things I’ve been doing at the company lately.”

His secretary frowned. After some thinking, he approached Bertha and started signing, “I went on a business trip abroad with Mr. Zimmer two months ago. When Mr. Zimmer heard that you fell ill, he abandoned a contract worth one million dollars. He immediately booked a plane ticket back so that he could take care of you. He watched over you as you fell asleep.

“Over the years, all sorts of women have tried to sleep with Mr. Zimmer, but none of them have ever caught his eye. Since he’s worried that you’ll misunderstand, he always asks me to chase them away.

“When Mr. Zimmer attended a social gathering last week, he got drunk and kept calling out your name. He stumbled back just so that he could fall asleep beside you. Whenever he joins a meeting in the company, Mr. Zimmer always reminds me to immediately tell him if you call because he doesn’t want you to wait for him.”

The secretary signed so much that his hands became sore. All the things he said pointed to how much Simon cared for and loved Bertha over the years.

When Simon saw that Bertha was still silent, he scowled, and fury raged in his eyes.

“Tell all the women who want to crawl into my bed to know their place. If they want to work under me, they need to understand what they should and shouldn’t do. If they dare gossip to my wife again, only one thing will happen to them.”

His secretary agreed to it and left. Just then, he heard the rhythmic clacking of heels from the stairs. Simon looked over and saw Luna, who was dressed in a red pencil skirt. His scowl finally let up a little.

“Sorry, am I bothering you two?”

Recalling what she just heard and seeing the tense atmosphere between them, Luna walked to Bertha’s side and signed, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Zimmer. Whenever Mr. Zimmer comes to me, it’s just to ask about your condition. Everyone knows that you’re the one he cares about the most. Mr. Zimmer doesn’t discuss anything aside from your condition with me.”

Bertha kept quiet and just stared at her.

Luna had a cheerful gaze, and she looked really dignified.

If Bertha had not heard those things with her own two ears, she would never have expected Luna to be in such a twisted relationship with Simon. It would be even less likely for her to realize that Luna loved looking flirtatiously at Simon from time to time. When Luna looked back at Bertha, her gaze carried a hint of disdain and mockery.

Bertha just kept staring at Luna, so much so that Simon grew restless and got up to stand between them.

“Why are you here?”

Luna smiled. “It’s Mrs. Zimmer’s birthday today, and I came here to wish her a happy birthday.”

She signed to Bertha, “There’s a new technology abroad that can install manmade cochleas into your ears. After that, you’ll be able to hear again.”

Simon was so excited that he hugged Bertha and teared up.

“Bertha, you’ll finally get to hear again!”

Perhaps she was imagining it, but she felt as if Simon was trembling.

“Once you’re better, we can go on a trip and fulfill your dreams. We’ll be together forever, okay? Bertha, promise me that you’ll never talk about disappearing again. I’ll get really scared.”

Bertha did not reply to Simon. Disgust crept through every part of her body. She could no longer feel warmth in Simon’s arms, only coldness.

He was such a good actor.

She had witnessed with her own two eyes how he cheated on her. If she had not, perhaps she would have believed him after he worked so hard to explain himself to her. But there were no what-ifs in the world, were there? The sight of his tears just disgusted her, and she found the entire situation ironic.

She pushed Simon away and smiled at Luna.

“Thank you for working so hard to take care of me all this while. Since you’re here, you might as well have a seat and eat with us.”

Simon could sense that there was something off about Bertha, and he signed timidly, “Bertha, are you still mad?”

Bertha shook her head and looked at the beach again.

Simon clapped, and the entire ocean of flowers lit up. A server then pushed a cart over. When he lifted the lid, Bertha found that the tray was not filled with food. Instead, it contained a set of emerald accessories.

Simon had spent a few hundred million dollars on the emeralds during an auction in Paris last month, simply because Bertha had said that she liked them.

She looked up and saw the burning love in Simon’s eyes.

Whenever she saw such gifts in the past, she would be surprised and weep. But all she did in the present was stare at him calmly.

“Bertha, do you remember the first gift I gave you? I gave it to you in this restaurant as well. When I first confessed to you, I gave you an emerald too. I spent half a month researching what you liked. Everyone told me that I would never win your heart and that I was an idiot, but I knew that you were worth the effort.

“When you said that you liked them, I bought them and hired someone to turn them into accessories. Our names are carved into the backs of each one. Once words are carved into something, they won’t disappear, just like how my love for you won’t disappear.”

Luna cast her an envious gaze.

“To think that after all these years, your relationship with Mr. Zimmer would still be so good, Mrs. Zimmer.”

Mockery flashed in Bertha’s eyes. Simon had indeed sworn to love her forever, and he had declared that his love for her would never disappear. All these things were a subject of envy for others, but only Bertha knew that their love had rotted away long ago.

She allowed Simon to put the accessories on her. The emerald made her skin even more radiant, and she supposed that she really did love emeralds. However, emeralds shattered easily, just like love.

While they ate, Simon busied himself cutting steak for her, but she noticed that he would occasionally reach for the car keys beside his hand.

She had never seen those keys before. Each time he pressed down on it, she would hear a faint buzz, along with a faint moan.

Right before her eyes, she saw Luna’s cheeks slowly turn red. Luna gnashed her teeth, as if enduring something. Just when things were about to go out of control, Luna trembled, and her glass of red wine toppled over. It accidentally spilled on Simon’s shirt.

Simon frowned before giving Bertha a troubled look as he signed, “Bertha, I need to clean myself up. I’ve cut your steak for you. Go ahead and eat it.”

He then left.

Soon after, Luna received a call. With the excuse that she had surgery in the hospital, she left the restaurant too.

As for Bertha, she did not eat her steak as Simon had asked. Instead, she got up and went to the other side of the restaurant. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, she saw Luna running strangely toward the car Simon had parked by the road.

Bertha got down quietly. The car window was partially rolled down, and it revealed the people inside. Simon and Luna were pressed flush against each other as they kissed.

Soon, the car started shaking.