A wealthy Russian businessman who wanted to propose to his girlfriend decided to test her love for him before popping the question — by faking his own death.

After working with a stuntman, a make-up artist, a screenwriter, and a directer to stage a phony car crash, 30-year-old Alexey Bykov of Omsk told Irina Kolokov to meet him at a certain place at a certain time so she could witness the accident.

"When I arrived there were mangled cars everywhere, ambulances, smoke, and carnage," Kolokov told Russian media. "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."

With his mission accomplished, Bykov rose from the dead and proposed to his stunned partner while drenched in "blood." Kolokov said she contemplated killing him "for real this time," but decided to agree to marry the lunatic instead.

"I wanted her to realise how empty her life would be without me and how life would have no meaning without me," Bykov said. "I think it worked but I promise it's the last time."

[photo via Sina News]