A day before we were about to get married, my fiancée invited my family for a trip on a cruise ship to test my love for her.

She pushed my mother off the ship when the waves were strong, and she jumped into the sea as well.

I got anxious as I had no idea who to save first.

My mother had swallowed a lot of water, but she pushed me away weakly while shouting, "Save Rina first! She's your fiancée!"

When I finally dragged Rina to shore and returned for my mother, I found that she was no longer breathing.

Rina looked at me coldly as I cried with misery, "Stop putting up that act. Your mother can't be dead. She used to be a professional swimmer when she was young. I can't believe you didn't choose to save me first. Eugene was right. You don't love me enough.

"We should postpone our wedding. When you're done reflecting on what you did, bring your mother along and apologize to me. We can discuss our wedding then."

With that, Rina put her arm around Eugene's, and they left.

Rina had no idea that my mother had stopped swimming since she suffered a major illness several years ago. Pushing my mother off the ship had made her lose her life.

When my mother was brought to shore, her body had turned cold, and she was no longer breathing. I hugged her while trembling, and I tried to wake her up, but she did not move at all.

Rina Shaker came over to us, looking annoyed, and kicked my mother's hand, which had fallen to the ground. "Stop the act. Everyone knows your mother is a professional swimmer. That little wave couldn't have drowned her. Your pitiful act won't convince me to give in so easily.

"There is no compromise when it comes to this. Anyone who marries me must be someone who loves me with all their heart and makes me the most important person in their life. You've really disappointed me this time."

My mother still did not react despite Rina kicking her. A flash of uncertainty flashed in Rina's eyes, and she started to walk forward to check on my mother's condition in a fluster when her childhood crush, Eugene Cullen, stopped her.

Eugene turned to look at my mother's pale face and burst out with a chuckle. "Your mother looks pretty healthy, not at all like she's dying." He patted Rina's shoulder and continued as if he were an expert, "I heard that professional swimmers are great at holding their breath. A couple of minutes under the water won't hurt them.

"It's pretty clear that they've planned this to put you on the spot, Rina. It's all a scheme to guilt you into becoming an obedient daughter-in-law after you marry into their family."

Rina paused and stood still with clenched fists. She turned slowly to look at me and said, "Is this true?" I was about to reply when she stopped me. "Don't. I won't believe what you say anyway. We should postpone our wedding another six months as punishment. I'll reconsider marrying you after you've learned how to love me properly."

With that, Rina held Eugene's arm and left without looking back.

That was when I felt my mother's finger move. I was filled with hope as I grabbed onto this slim chance of her being alive. I quickly crawled over to Rina, "My mom is still alive! She can still be saved! There aren't any hospitals on this island. Please, can you get a private doctor here to check her condition?"

When Rina did not react, I begged her once more.

"Have you forgotten how good she's been to you? She treats you like her own daughter! Back during the flu, she braved the lockdown just to bring you food! She would never do anything to hurt you, let alone give you a hard time after the wedding!"

Rina seemed to be convinced, and she paused. She looked at me thoughtfully for a while before agreeing to my pleading. "All right. I'll get you a doctor."

Eugene tried to stop her. "Rina, you don't have to…"

However, Rina stopped him from saying more. "This is the last time I'll believe you. If the doctor arrives and proves that your mother is fine, you'll need to pay the price for lying to me."

I nodded right away. The important thing was that the doctor would be here to save my mother. As for everything else, they were no longer important.

When the doctor hurried toward us with his medical bag, my mother suddenly threw up sea water, and she started coughing violently.

Everyone was shocked to see my mother suddenly open her eyes. I was stunned as well, but my heart still sank over what was happening, because I knew that this was a sign that my mother was about to die.

I quickly pulled the doctor over to her, "My mother won't make it. Please give her first aid…" Before I could finish, Rina stopped me.

Rina's face fell. "That's enough! Your mother is fine.

"Let's go, Eugene." She turned to leave without looking back again.

I wanted to run after her, but my mother tugged at me with difficulty. A tear fell from the corner of her eye as she stuttered, "Don't hold it against Rina, Micah. It was my fault for not being able to swim a short distance of a few hundred meters.

"Just explain things nicely to her, and don't hurt her, all right? I can pull through. I still want to attend your wedding…"

However, her eyes slowly widened, and her hand fell limply to the ground right after saying this. It did not matter how hysterical I was, calling out to my mother, but she never woke up again. It felt like my heart had stopped beating as I numbly closed my mother's eyes.

Rina and I had been together for three years, and I could not understand how we ended up this way. I still remember how loving we were the first year we were together, but everything changed when her childhood crush returned from overseas.

She kept her distance from me for no reason and would constantly test my love for her. Rina even said that I had to pass 99 tests of true love before I could marry her.

The last time I had to go through one of her tests, she told me to attend a welcome party for Eugene in the middle of the night, but when I got to the door, a full bucket of flour was poured all over me. Eugene was holding the bucket of flour while saying in a pitiful manner, "I poured the flour on you, Micah. You aren't mad at me, are you? I just wanted to make this a fun party for everyone."

Even though I was angry, I did not lose my temper as I spotted Rina watching me thoughtfully. So, I shook my head and told him I was not mad. However, Eugene winked at Rina, and he congratulated me for passing the test. "Not bad. Your boyfriend passed the test. It looks like he has a good temper. That means you don't need to worry about domestic violence."

Rina's expression relaxed, but she did not do anything to comfort me despite the humiliation I faced. All she did was get me to clean myself up in the kitchen indifferently and get me to make supper for everyone with the remaining ingredients.

I could not understand why Rina was adamant about the tests, but I said nothing as I was in love with her. I told myself that everything would return to normal after Eugene left the country, but I never imagined the situation would escalate like this.

It took me a long time to finally stand up from where I was sitting limply. After taking care of my mother's body, I went in search of Rina, who was still having fun at the party. All I wanted to do was leave the island to give my mother a proper burial so that she may rest in peace.

However, many people kept pointing their phone cameras at me while I was on my way to find Rina. They were taking pictures of me and whispering amongst themselves. I was initially unperturbed until one of them suddenly stepped forward to stop me. That person pushed his phone to my face.

"Hey, how much was your mother paid for her life? I'd like to make some money from Rina Shaker like how your mother did."

I was taken aback, and I grabbed the phone from that man, only to see Eugene's friends had posted a video of what happened online.

The comments were filled with angry and vulgar words.

[Isn't that old hag a swimming champion? Why can't she even handle swimming several meters in the sea?]

[Makes one wonder how she cheated during her glory days, doesn't it?]

[I'd cry my heart out if I were Rina Shaker. She's pretty unlucky to have a mother-in-law who's penniless and difficult to handle. Even her fiancé is leeching off her money. They're afraid they can't handle a rich daughter-in-law, so they're putting on a show to put her in her place.]

I pushed the man in front of me away and went around madly, trying to find Eugene.

"Why did you let your friends slander my mother like that online, Eugene? It's fine if you target me, but what did my mother do to deserve such defamation after her death?"

Eugene slammed his legs on the table haughtily and replied with indifference, "Well, it was your dirty scheme, wasn't it? Don't you have the guts to admit to what you're attempting to do?

"You should count yourself lucky that Rina loves you. We're her friends, and it's our duty to help her make sure she finds the right man. You're just a penniless loser, after all. How can we be sure that you don't have an ulterior motive in being with her?"

The glass in my hand cracked, and blood seeped through my fingers, but I could not feel the pain. I wanted to say more, but Rina stopped me. "That's enough, Micah. Stop making a fuss over this. Eugene is just concerned for my well-being.

"We'll be getting married anyway, and I'm just postponing it for six months. Just apologize, and everything will go back to normal."

After that, Rina got someone to bring over a first-aid kit, and she took out some bandages and said to me with concern, "Your fingers are bleeding. Come here. Let me bandage them for you."

I looked up at her and asked, "Do you also think that I'm putting up an act?"

Rina did not reply, but her silence told me everything.

I smiled bitterly as I nodded, "Since every one of you thinks of me as such a horrible person, maybe it's best that we part ways. I don't want to get married anymore, Rina."

As I turned to leave, Eugene called out to me. "Wait a minute. If you're leaving, you should return the ring Rina gave to you." He pointed at the ring on my finger.

Rina had that ring custom-made for me.

Her tests for me started six months ago, and they had never stopped. I had gone through much torment because of her tests, and there were moments when I could not take it any longer, but when I initiated a breakup, she lost her temper. Rina smashed everything in the house and left the house angrily.

The next morning, she rushed up and hugged me as she teared up while apologizing to me. She took a ring out of a jewelry box and said to me softly, "I got this wedding ring made for you quite a while ago. We'll get married soon, and all you need to do is get through all the tests, and I'll be yours forever after that, all right?"

I gave in and never mentioned breaking up after that. Little did I know this would end up costing my mother her life. Thinking this, I took off the ring without hesitation and flung it onto the beach. "You can have the ring back. It's over between us."

Rina looked upset, but I did not care at all and left without looking back.

She kept calling me after I left, but I did not pick up any of her calls. All I did was hug my mother's cold body, unable to shed a single tear even though I really wanted to cry.

When I got home, I wanted to cremate my mother's body, but none of the crematoriums were willing to take her body, and no one was willing to give my mother a death certificate. I knelt and begged, but everyone gave me a cruel answer.

"Miss Shaker has given strict instructions not to accept this job."

"The Shakers are about to have a wedding, and it's bad luck to have a funeral."

I had no choice but to call Rina, but it was Eugene who picked up the call. He laughed at me cruelly, "You have pretty thick skin, don't you? You were the one who broke up with Rina, but you're still harassing her with phone calls.

"Just give it up already. The only person Rina should be with is me. I made up all those tests about proving true love to Rina to get you to back out of your relationship, but you just refused to give up, and your mother got sacrificed in the process."

Eugene laughed maliciously before hanging up, and my call no longer got through after that, no matter how many times I dialed Rina's number. I clenched my fists and smashed the phone hard against the wall.

I returned to my hometown, I got a coffin for my mother, and held a simple funeral for her. On the day she was about to be buried, an unexpected guest turned up. It was Rina, and she entered my house angrily.

"What's this with the coffin and the funeral, Micah? How long do you plan on putting up this act? You've already embarrassed my family previously, yet you're still refusing to give this up. Stop doing whatever you want and creating scandals like this just because you know how I always indulge you!"

Rina looked pained and disappointed, as if I had let down her love for me, but all I did was reply coldly, "Stop disrupting my mother's peace. If you have anything to say, say it after her burial. You're not welcome here."

I had never spoken to Rina so coldly before, and she was stunned by my attitude. It took her a while to snap out of it, and she clenched her teeth to say, "That's enough! How long do you plan on putting up this act? Do you think I'm naive enough to believe you?"

However, all I did was repeat myself coldly, "Please leave. You're not welcome here."

Rina laughed in anger, and tears fell down her cheeks. She nodded bleakly. "Fine. You're claiming your mother is in that coffin, are you?

"Take this coffin away!"

The bodyguards she brought with her immediately stepped forward to carry the coffin. They placed the coffin against the window railing, so much so that it would take only one push for the coffin to fall over the edge.

"What are you doing?!" I tried to struggle out of the bodyguards' grip, but failed.

Rina said, "If you insist on lying to me, I'll give you one last test of true love. Do you want this coffin, or do you want to marry me? You have only one choice."

I looked at Rina in disbelief. I could not believe that she would do something so ridiculous at a time like this. "Put that coffin back where it was! My mother is in there! I won't forgive you if you push her over the edge!"

Rina started crying. "You're still refusing to choose me over a fake coffin? You're a heartless man, Micah Sanders. I'm making this official. You have failed my last test. I want you to watch me marry Eugene, and as for that coffin…" She pointed at the coffin and sneered. "Throw it over the railing! It sticks out like a sore thumb!"

Her bodyguards released the coffin, and it fell from the building, smashing into pieces the moment it landed on the ground.