Chapter 6

Now, sitting on the floor, I kept replaying everything, and suddenly, from a mess of "something's wrong," I finally pulled out the crucial thread.

There was no "friend's travel agency." It was clearly a setup he orchestrated, to lure my travel-loving parents to the Northwest, then have his contacts guide them into the uncharted wilderness.

My parents' emergency contact was me. The rescue cost was too high, and no one offers free rescue. So, naturally, they contacted me to get them out.

In my initial panic, I hadn't thought much.

But now, calm, I knew that regardless of whether it was my parents or his, if either pair of elderly people were in trouble in the wilderness, I would pay to rescue them.

However, Blake’s words just now had completely extinguished that notion.

He was so resolute, demanding no rescue. Why should I make him act like a devoted son?

Thinking this, I stood up and knocked on his bedroom door.

"Come out. I want a divorce."

The door opened, and Blake stared at me, utterly shocked. "Are you insane? You want to divorce for those two old geezers, willing to waste so much money? I'm not giving you the money, and now you want a divorce?"

I nodded. "Divorce, and divide the assets. My parents paid the down payment on this house, and we've been jointly paying the mortgage. Your family paid for the renovations and appliances. So, we'll split it equally by market value: the house goes to you, and the money comes to me."

"Our joint assets will be divided equally. Don't worry, we had a prenuptial agreement notarized, so our pre-marital assets won't be mixed in.

"One car each."

At this moment, I was even more grateful that I had considered getting pregnant some time ago. For it, I had specifically asked experienced colleagues with children, bought folic acid and other prenatal supplements, and downloaded an app to calculate my ovulation day.

But these were just preparations. Just as I was about to start, some things got in the way. I even decided I didn't want children this lifetime.

Without children, dividing assets would be incredibly easy.

Seeing my resolve, Blake sneered. "You think threatening me with divorce will make me pay that money? Ashley Miller, don't dream. Your money is also mine. You won't get a divorce."

I looked at him, stunned. It was hard to imagine the man who used to show up under my dorm building every day, who knelt on one knee to propose and promised to treat me well for life, had turned into this.

"Are you really willing to let our parents die?" I struggled to control my breathing, staring at him coldly.

He sighed. "Ashley, I know it wasn't easy for your parents to raise you for so many years, but you have to think about our future. We're both only children; we already have four elderly parents to support. If we have two kids too, can we afford it?"

I said grimly, "My parents have their retirement funds; we don't need to worry about their retirement."

He looked at me coldly, his eyes even showing clear dissatisfaction.

"But now we're talking about $150,000 for one rescue, and there's no guarantee they'll even make it out alive! Wouldn't that $150,000 just be wasted? How many years will it take us, with our salaries, to save up that much?!"

Hearing this, I felt utterly sick to my stomach. Perhaps it was psychosomatic, but I clutched my stomach and gagged.

Seeing my action, Blake's eyes suddenly lit up. "If you won't consider us, at least consider our child, right?"

Pregnant? How could I be pregnant?

He moved to hug me. "Honey, you're pregnant, you're tired, don't stress over these things. Don't worry, after this is over, I'll contact a search and rescue team to try and retrieve your parents' bodies."

"I remember your parents should have a few insurance policies, and you're the beneficiary. Once the money comes in, we can move my mom to the city. She can live in your parents' house. That way, everyone in our village will say you're a filial daughter-in-law."

"Once the baby is born, we can pool our money to buy him a house. Wouldn't that be amazing later?"

Oh, he’d already planned everything, even for the money after my parents died, and the house we were living in now. When did Blake start having these thoughts?

I dodged his embrace. "Are you sure you don't want a divorce?"

Blake nodded. "No divorce, no divorce. You're pregnant now, why would I divorce? Think about it, wouldn't it be better to spend that $150,000 on our child than on rescuing two elderly people with slim chances of survival?"

I took a long, hard look at Blake, hoping he wouldn't regret his decision today.

After that, Blake became incredibly attentive, even specifically telling me not to be too upset, and to remember to think more about our child if I felt overwhelmed.