Alexey Bykov, described by news outlets as an ‘oddball’ in the gross understatement of the year, wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Irena Kolokov. But first, the 30-year-old needed to know that the woman really, truly loved him – ‘til death do they part. And in Alexey’s sickly literal world, this required him to fake his own death in order to test his future fiancée’s love.

So, Alexey went all-out, hiring a movie director, stuntmen, make-up artists and a script writer to make his sick fantasy case study of narcissistic personality disorder romantic proposal a reality. The scene was set when Alexey invited Irena to meet him at a predetermined place. In her own words:

“We’d arranged to meet at a certain place but when I arrived there were mangled cars everywhere, ambulances, smoke, and carnage. Then when I saw Alexey covered in blood lying in the road, a paramedic told me he was dead and I just broke down in tears.”

And then, just as Irena began the process of accepting that the love of her life was dead, he sprang up and proposed to her. Sadly, it worked – the two were married last week.

So, what would cause a person to decide that such extreme emotional manipulation was a good way to propose marriage?

“I wanted her to realize how empty her life would be without me and how life would have no meaning without me,” explained Alexey. Very romantic.

If you’re thinking about proposing to your significant other by faking your own death – don’t. This is all kinds of messed up. Unless, of course, you want to end up dead for real (or at least single).