Divorce Me Before Death Takes Me, CEO

Chapter 310

Blake's POV

‘I don’t just want Astrid to know about Snow,” | said, watching the landscape blur past the car window. “I want

her and Ethan to meet this Mrs. Knox in person.”

If that woman truly was Audrey, she might foolor Rachel, but her closest friends? No chance. Astrid and

Ethan would recognize her instantly.

Rachel handed back my phone with a sigh. “Fine. I'll contact Thalia when we get back.”

She hesitated before continuing. “Look, | get you want to make things right with Audrey. But if this doesn’t pan

out... you need to stop.

“This woman has a family, Blake. We can’t keep disrupting their lives on a hunch.”

| raised an eyebrow. “Family? You call that a family? They don’t even sleep in the sroom.”

“What kind of husband doesn’t know his wife's basic habits? Their whole setup is off.”

“Legally, they're married,” Rachel countered, leaning forward. “Blake, promisesomething. If Astrid and Ethan

meet her and confirm she’s not Audrey... you'll back off.”

Her voice hardened. “Promisethat, and I'll help. Otherwise, I'll do everything | can to stop you.”

| stared at her. “Are you threatening me?”

“Yes,” she said simply. “That's exactly what I'm doing.”

“Sometimes | wonder if you ever considered Audrey a friend,” | said. “She did everything for you. When she was

dying, she still found a way to get you away from the Rose family.”

| clenched my fist. “If she meant anything to you, you'd want her back just as much as | do.”

Rachel let out a short, pained laugh. “Blake, Audrey is dead. No amount of wishful thinking changes that.”

Her voice shook slightly. “Do you think | don’t wish she were alive? That | wouldn't give anything to have my

friend back?”

“Look at the evidence. Evelyn's records are all there - childhood photos, school records, marriage certificate. She

even has a child with Adrian!”

| couldn’t deny the facts. Evelyn Knox had a documented life in Australia that never overlapped with Audrey's

American upbringing.

But something instill refused to accept it. Two women with identical faces? That couldn’t be coincidence.

Rachel wiped away a tear. “Audrey was my best friend. Of course I'd be overjoyed if she were alive.”

She took a shaky breath. “But she’s gone, Blake. And she wouldn't want you harassing sstranger just

because they look alike.”

| stayed quiet for a long time, watching the road ahead. Finally, | had to ask, “You really don’t think she’s

Audrey?”

“No,” Rachel said. ‘Il don't.”

She straightened in her seat. “Astrid handled her cremation. If Audrey were somehow alive, Astrid would know.”

“Think about it. Would Astrid have spent months grieving if Audrey were still out there somewhere?”

Her words sank in, heavy and cold. After a long moment, | nodded.

*Fine. | promise.” My voice sounded distant to my own ears. “If Astrid confirms she’s not Audrey, I'll drop it.”

Rachel's POV

“I hope you'll keep that promise,” | said, watching the hotel cinto view.

As the car stopped, | gave Blake one last look before getting out. My feelings were a mess - relief that he'd

agreed, worry that he might not follow through, and that persistent, painful hope that maybe, just maybe, he

was right.

Back in my room, | sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my phone. Finally, | found Thalia’s number and hit dial.

“Rachel.” Thalia’s voice cthrough immediately.

“Is the cat taken care of?” she asked.

My hand tightened around the phone. “Yes. | found someone to take her.”

“Good,” she replied, sounding pleased.

Thalia’s POV

| shifted in the makeup chair, careful not to disturb the artist applying my false eyelashes.

“My brother's been carrying that cat everywhere,” | said. “It's disgusting.”

Every t| saw that white furball, | couldn’t help but think of Audrey Sinclair. And thinking of her always led

back to that boarding school Blake sent us to.

My fingers dug into the armrest. That place wasn’t a school - it was prison.

The teachers forced us to stand in freezing rain for hours. They made us run laps at 3 AM. They called us

worthless, pathetic, spoiled.

And they hit us. Actually hit us.

How were Olivia and | supposed to handle that? We called our mothers daily, begging them to convince Blake to

let us chome.

| can still hear his cold response: “I sent them there because of their status. Prison wouldn't give them what they

deserve.”

“Everything those teachers are doing has my approval.”

‘I need them to experience at school ten times all the grievances Audrey endured over those three years!”

Blake actually had to spell it out before Olivia and | got it. Everything those teachers did to us matched what

we'd done to Audrey.

Those months at that school broke us. And Blake made it worse by hiring doctors to patch us up each night so

we'd be ready for more “discipline” the next day.

If my grandfather hadn't nearly died last month, forcing Blake to bring everyone back to New York, we'd still be

trapped there for the full five years.

All because of Audrey.

That's why seeing Blake with that cat drovecrazy. He sent his own sister away, but couldnt part with a dead

woman's pet. The CEO of Parker Group carrying around a cat to board meetings like sgrieving widower.

| tried to get rid of that cat once. Rachel caught me. Before we cto Long Island, she pulledaside, telling