Chapter 1

My boyfriend was a prank vlogger.

On the day of our engagement, he had me play along with an escape room.

Halfway through solving a puzzle, I was hit by a sudden attack of acute appendicitis.

I quickly tapped my Bluetooth earpiece for help.

But the voice that came through belonged to his assistant, Daphne Cox.

"Millicent, the stream's really hot right now. If it cuts out all of a sudden, all the work Graham put into it will be for nothing."

My breath caught. Graham knew I was scared. He'd promised he would keep watching me in real time through the earpiece.

How had it ended up in Daphne's hands?

……

There was no time to think about it. The pain in my stomach kept getting worse, and I begged in a small voice.

"Daphne, then please tell Graham my stomach really hurts. Whatever we lose from this, I'll cover it myself."

Daphne didn't answer me. Instead she spoke to Graham beside her.

"Graham, see, what did I tell you? She really does want to quit halfway."

"Do you want to hear what excuse she's giving?"

Graham let out a cold laugh.

"No need. Whatever she says, don't agree to it."

"Millicent, there are over a hundred thousand people watching. If you quit, it'll do serious damage to Graham's credibility."

"I know you're scared, but please don't be so selfish."

Daphne said it like she held the moral high ground, but the pain in my stomach only grew worse.

Sweat the size of beans slid down from my temple.

I forced back the discomfort and spoke again.

"Daphne, this is acute appendicitis. If I don't get to a hospital, I'll die."

But before I could finish, the sound of the call being cut off came through the earpiece.

She'd hung up on me!

Despair swept over me.

The adrenaline kept my mind clear, for now.

I remembered that earlier Graham had let me bring one bag.

Inside it were the things I'd packed myself, things I thought I might need.

Not just my phone and my smartwatch, but also the medicine I take every day.

I turned my head. The bag was sitting less than ten feet from me.

I lifted my foot and inched my way toward it.

Ten feet, and yet it felt like it took me a century to cross.

Finally I reached the bag.

But when I opened it,

every electronic device inside was gone.

Graham had cut off everything I could have used to reach the outside world.

I slumped to the floor, the suffocating pain in my stomach nearly drowning me.

But I still couldn't give up.

I was my parents' only daughter. I couldn't bear to imagine how heartbroken they would be if something happened to me on the day of my engagement.

I pulled myself together again and, forcing through the pain, dug through the bag.

At last I found the painkillers I usually took for stomach aches.

The painkillers might only ease my suffering, but as long as I could finish the puzzles and get out fast, there was still hope.

I took out the painkillers and swallowed them.

After ten minutes or so, the pain in my stomach began to ease.

I got up carefully, ready to keep solving.

Then the speaker above the room suddenly came to life.

"The streamer really knows how to have fun, pranking his own fiancée on their engagement day."

"Love it, so good. Streamer, is there no other prank content besides puzzles? Going easy on her because she's your fiancée?"

"No way, the streamer's never gone easy on anyone. There's got to be more coming later. Let's all wait and see."

"Didn't the streamer's fiancée just take some painkillers? Is something wrong with her?"

"What could be wrong? It's obviously staged for the show. She's his own fiancée. He wouldn't really let her get in that bad a state, would he?"