Marrying rich sounds like something that could solve all of anyone’s problems, but as the recent unflattering headlines involving billionaires over the past couple of years shows, even all the money in the world can’t guarantee you a fairytale life.

In 2000, a then 22-year-old Hongkong model Connie Ng seemed set for tai tai life when she wed Edwin Kwok, whose family owns Wing On International Holdings, an investment holding company that is best known for their department stores.

Sadly, Connie suffered from a rare gastrointestinal disease, so Edwin took care of her. However, this took up all of his time and he was unable to run his business, and they had to rely on their families for their living expenses.

Connie and Edwin on their wedding day

Things went from bad to worse when a doctor messed up Connie’s operation so badly that her entire stomach had to be removed.

Instead of continuing to stay by her side, Edwin eventually grew tired of not being able to work and having to care for Connie, and asked for a separation after six years of marriage (geez, what happened to “in sickness and in health”?).

They finalised their divorce two years later, and it wasn’t long before Edwin started seeing Hongkong singer-actress Miki Yeung, who became his wife in 2016.

After Connie and Edwin split, the former penned an angry rant accusing her ex-husband of cheating on her, but Edwin claimed that his relationship with Connie had already ended by the time he met Miki.

As for Connie, she continued to struggle with her illness as well as depression, which led her to lose so much weight that she only weighed 22kg(!) at one point and had to be confined to a wheelchair.

She shared these concerning photos of herself in 2020

Many were very worried about her condition

In 2019, she shared an update admitting that she was in an unstable condition and that her antidepressants were no longer effective.

However, instead of wanting pity, she declared that she did not want to rely on others, and sold gifts from friends and items from her personal collection in order to cover her medical expenses.

Fortunately, she seems to be getting better, at least judging from her last selfie on Weibo that was shared last year.

While she clearly appears a lot less gaunt than her previous photos, Connie clarified that although she’s in better health, she hasn’t really gained weight.

Still, it’s a vast improvement, as you can see for yourself:

Hope she’s doing even better now

Photos: Connie Ng/Weibo, 绚烂强壮小娱/Weibo, 安傲芙追剧/Weibo