Walking Away While Pregnant: Dear Ex-Husband, I Don't Love You Anymore novel Chapter 175

Chapter 175: Chapter 175

On the other end of the line, Zoey let out a long sigh.

"Elise, you must have done something terrible in your past life. Otherwise, how on earth did you end up saddled with a man like Dylan in this one?"

"I suppose it’s just fate," Elise murmured, gently resting her hand on her slightly swollen belly.

As if sensing its mother’s touch, the baby gave a soft, tiny kick inside her.

The little movement brought a gentle smile to Elise’s lips.

"Gah!" Zoey groaned in deep frustration over the phone. "That Bennett family is an absolute curse! Back when Bruce Bennett was running the show, it was just typical wealthy family infighting. How is it that now that Dylan’s in charge, things have somehow gotten worse? Chaos inside, threats outside... Marrying him really was the worst luck of your life!"

"Things are already as they are. Complaining won’t change anything," Elise said calmly. "Honestly, the rest of the Bennett family doesn’t bother me that much, and I’m not afraid of whatever schemes are lurking in the shadows.

What frightens me is a husband and wife who aren’t on the same page. It’s Dylan repeatedly lying to me and keeping me in the dark under the guise of ’protecting me.’ Asking him gets me nowhere—he just leaves me guessing, leaves me anxious, and in the end, brushes it all off with a single ’my hands were tied.’

"Through all of it, no one steps up to take responsibility for what it does to me emotionally. I’m left to swallow it all on my own."

Elise closed her eyes briefly. "Zoey, a marriage like this is far too draining. I can’t take it anymore."

"Then don’t! Why should you have to?!" Zoey snapped back, her voice rising in irritation. "Why doesn’t Dylan think about how, back when the family feud was at its absolute worst and he was being ruthlessly suppressed, you stood against your entire family just to marry him? As if you’d be scared of a few plots and schemes!

"If you ask me, he’s just arrogantly convinced that he can fix everything by keeping you in the dark. In reality, it completely backfires!"

The more Zoey spoke, the more worked up she became. "He doesn’t understand you at all—or maybe he’s just never truly put himself in your shoes! A man like him isn’t fit to be a husband. He should spend the rest of his life alone, fighting his endless wars of power and politics!

"Elise, you need to get this divorce finalized with him as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knows if you and the kids will end up dragged into it later!"

Elise gave a helpless sigh. "With how things stand right now, even divorcing him might not be enough for me to walk away unscathed."

Zoey fell silent.

"So, rather than complaining, it’s better to prepare as early as possible," Elise said, her voice steady. "My pregnancy needs to stay strictly secret now. One more child means one more piece of leverage someone could use against Dylan."

"True," Zoey agreed, her tone still heavy with concern. "For a man like Dylan, once you’re divorced, how he feels about his ex-wife might change over time, but his own blood offspring will always be his blood. Ugh, our little baby having a dad like that... it’s just exhausting to even think about!"

Elise pressed her lips together without a word.

The current situation was undeniably precarious for both her and the baby. If she had known things would turn out like this, she wouldn’t have agreed to have another child so easily.

But now that the die was cast, all she could do was try her best to protect herself and the baby. As for Dylan—since he never gave a thought to her feelings, why should she waste her energy worrying about him?

"Dylan really is selfish," Zoey spat angrily. "Knowing he has enemies lurking around him, he still refuses to let you go! You really must have been blind back then to fall for such a cold, self-centered man."

"Maybe it’s in his genes," Elise remarked quietly. "Bruce Bennett seemed like a man of passion on the surface, but underneath, he was just a self-serving hypocrite, too."

"Then you definitely need to have a girl this time!" Zoey declared pettily. "What if you have a boy and he inherits Dylan’s worst traits?"

Elise was left speechless.

Thinking about the children naturally brought Robin to mind. If the woman posing as Fleur was a fake, where was the real Fleur?

Keeping Robin and replacing Fleur to infiltrate the Bennett family—was all of this targeted at the family’s assets and power?

Elise’s expression grew increasingly grim. If her suspicions were correct, the real Fleur was almost certainly dead or in grave danger. The only reason they had kept Robin alive was that they knew the boy was the fake Fleur’s ticket into the household.

Based on the information Zoey had uncovered, this entire conspiracy had begun five years ago—perhaps even earlier.

"Don’t worry, my goal right now is to become one of the top star lawyers in North City!"

Elise chuckled softly. "I know you can do it."

"Hearing you say that makes me feel so much better!" Madeline paused for a moment before asking, "By the way, did you call me about something specific?"

"I actually do have something I wanted to ask you." Elise bit her lip slightly, watching little Robin playing on the beach in the distance. "You mentioned before that Aaron pursued Fleur back in college. Does that mean he knew her pretty well back then?"

"He thinks he knew her well!" The moment Aaron’s name came up, Madeline’s voice dripped with exasperated frustration. "Ever since Fleur came back to the country, she’s been pulling one manipulative, fake-innocent move after another, and he still can’t see through it! I’m honestly so done with him—the power of the ’first love’ truly is invincible!"

"Setting the present aside for a moment, what was your own impression of Fleur back in college?"

"Hmm... Back in college, Fleur was an outstanding student and kept a really low profile. So many rich guys tried to court her, but she never budged—she was totally focused on her studies.

Back then, both the faculty and the students had a great opinion of her. I met her a few times myself, and honestly, I used to really like her. She had both beauty and talent, and while she was distant, she was never arrogant. Compared to that, the Fleur today is like a completely different person. It’s almost like her body got taken over by a ghost!"

Hearing Madeline’s words, Elise was now one hundred percent certain: the current Fleur was a fake!

She pressed further, "Has Aaron had any contact with Fleur recently?"

"No idea!" Madeline snorted coldly. "Aaron and I haven’t spoken in over a month!"

Elise pressed her lips together in frustration.

After a brief silence, she said, "Madeline, there’s something I need your help with."

Without a second of hesitation, Madeline agreed readily: "Just say the word. I’m all in!"