Chapter 1
Crystal Jones had always been the odd one out among Kranmont's society heiresses. She was wild, fearless, addicted to adrenaline and extreme sports.
To escaped an arrange marriage, she concealed her identity and ran away from home, pretending to be a rich party girl.
Everything changed the day a skydiving trip went wrong. By sheer bad luck, she and Cyril Moore, an aloof powerful businessman who'd never shown interest in women, were swept into a terrorist kidnapping.
The kidnappers, amused by their own cruelty, started a livestream.
Their demand was simple: Crystal and Cyril had to make out on camera. Otherwise, they'd be killed.
Under the red glow of the camera light, Cyril shielded her face with his body. His cold, sharp features softened as he murmured quietly, "Don't be scared. If we do it like this, no one will know it's you."
With tears in her eyes, Crystal nodded.
As she braced herself for what was coming, Cyril suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace.
His arms were warm and firm. "Don't be afraid," he whispered. "I'm here."
Entwined together, they became each other's lifeline in that suffocating darkness where hope seemed out of reach.
In the midst of their ragged breaths, Crystal could feel her own heartbeat thundering in her chest.
It wasn't until three days later that they were finally rescued.
Crystal thought the whole ordeal would just fade away, but then the kidnappers confessed that she was the one pulling the strings behind everything.
In an instant, everyone turned on her, accusing her of faking it all just for the spotlight.
"Fake socialite goes all out, plotting a kidnapping to snag Cyril Moore," they remarked.
The livestream footage went viral, played on repeat. In the video, Crystal's clothes were torn and disheveled, her face exposed for all to see, while Cyril was barely visible, only half his jaw showed.
Her soft, helpless expression was laid bare for everyone to gawk at.
When Crystal was at her lowest, Cyril asked her to marry him.
"Marry me, Crystal. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again," he said, his voice unwavering.
Cyril promised he'd find the proof and make everyone apologize to her.
In that moment, Crystal's once bleak world burst into vibrant color.
For three years after their wedding, Cyril would join her every month for extreme sports around the globe. They'd hold each other close beneath the Northern Lights.
They got hurt more than once, but every time, they'd just start planning their next extreme adventure.
Crystal couldn't help but feel her heart flutter for him.
When she found out she was pregnant, she could barely contain her excitement as she filled out the hospital paperwork. That was when her marriage certificate fell out of her bag.
The nurse gave her a weird look, staring at the certificate for ages before finally asking, "Ms. Jones, are you sure this is the right marriage certificate?"
Crystal paused, a bit stunned. "What is it?"
"This marriage certificate is fake," the nurse said awkwardly.
Crystal grabbed the certificate back in a panic, stunned. "No way. I've been married for three years. How could it be fake?"
The nurse told her how to check if her marriage certificate was valid legally. After a call, all Crystal got was a "no".
Crystal's mind went completely blank.
No way. She'd always kept this marriage certificate locked up in her safe. She'd never even taken it out.
But the answer "no" kept echoing in her ears, tormenting her nerves again and again.
Crystal stood there, rooted to the spot, forcing a smile. "Maybe I grabbed the wrong one."
She rushed home, hoping to get some answers, only to find Cyril sprawled out on the leather sofa, his best friend right next to him.
"Cyril, I seriously don't get it. If you're not into Crystal, why did you go through all that trouble to plan the whole kidnapping?" his friend asked.
Crystal's chest tightened, and everything started spinning. It was like she'd been dropped straight into a frozen pit.
Wait, Cyril was the one behind the kidnapping?
She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood, using every ounce of strength she had to keep from crying out.
Cyril lazily puffed on his cigarette, smoke drifting across his face. "Honestly, I did it to shut my parents up.
"They always look down on Judith because she comes from a regular family. So I went out of my way to marry someone wild and untamed.
"I even risk my life playing all the extreme sports with her. If she wants to skydive, I'm right there jumping out of planes; if she wants to surf, I'm riding the craziest waves with her."
"Damn, that's genius," his buddy said, flashing a thumbs-up. "No wonder you released the video and had the kidnappers frame her as the mastermind."
Cyril crushed his cigarette, his expression hard-edged and cold in the faint glow.
"My parents said Judith isn't good enough for me. Fine. I'll put my life on the line to match her," Cyril said.
Crystal pressed her back against the wall, then slowly slid down, her strength draining away.
She clamped a hand over her mouth, struggling to stifle the sobs that threatened to burst out with every breath.
Everything was a lie. The kidnappers weren't real, and the video was staged and released on purpose.
It was all fake.
For three years, Crystal had been walking on thin ice, bending over backwards to win over Cyril's parents.
Every holiday, she'd be up at dawn getting gifts ready for them. If Cyril's parents ever needed anything, she was always the first to lend a hand.
But no matter what she did, they never warmed up to her.