Chapter 2

Lily couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears.

"Amber loved you so much. When you wanted to start a business, she gave you all of her dowry. No matter how we tried to persuade her to keep something for herself, she wouldn't listen."

"She said she wanted to share joys and sorrows with you for life, to weather storms together. And now you won't even save her..."

"If I had known this would happen, even if it meant ending our friendship, I would have urged her to be with Ryan, her childhood sweetheart from a similar background, instead of you, this ungrateful bastard!"

Lily's heartfelt crying made the surrounding climbers even angrier.

"Captain Jack, even if you're injured, you can still direct the rescue! Your wife loves you so much, how can you bear to do this?"

"That's right! You're the only one here with rescue experience. If you go, the chances of saving her will be much higher!"

"The startup funds for his business all came from his wife's dowry. Now that his wife is in danger, he won't even try to save her. What an ungrateful bastard!"

"His wife sacrificed so much, and he's still so cold. There must be something wrong with this guy..."

The people around went from trying to persuade me to gradually getting angry. The accusations grew louder, and some hot-tempered guys were getting ready to beat me up.

I stared at the snow outside, motionless, like a cold, hard stone in a latrine.

Tom knelt on the ground with a handwritten IOU, gritting his teeth as he said:

"I only have one sister. As long as you're willing to save her, all the family property will be yours in the future! This is the IOU I wrote. Everyone here can be my witness!"

I took the IOU from Tom's hand and looked at it carefully. It indeed represented the total assets the family could liquidate.

"Alright, I can go rescue her."

Tom and Lily's faces lit up with joy, and Ryan also looked relieved.

"But you need to find a lawyer to sign a liability waiver. You can't blame me if anything goes wrong."

My words made everyone's expressions change. Where could they find a lawyer here?

"The situation is urgent now. Where can we find a lawyer? Isn't it enough for everyone here to be witnesses?"

Tom couldn't hold back anymore and grabbed my collar, about to hit me.

But he didn't follow through. The situation in the snow cave was tricky, and I was the only one capable of rescuing her.

"I've even written an IOU. Isn't that enough sincerity? What else do you want?"

Tom roared. I removed his hand from my collar.

Helplessly but firmly, I said: "Without a lawyer's notarization, everything you say is just empty words."

Just then, a climber rushed over and said: "It's bad! Amber has lost consciousness!"

"Before she passed out, she asked me to tell you not to force Jack to save her. She knows Jack isn't afraid of death, but afraid that the child would be left without a father to care for them."

Lily cried until she fainted, and Tom also collapsed to the ground, devastated.

He regained a bit of consciousness and quickly kowtowed to me, his forehead bleeding after just a few bows.

"Brother-in-law, my parents have always treated you like their own son. As long as you try your best, we definitely won't blame you. I'm begging you!"

Seeing Tom like this, I hesitated for a moment.

Ever since I got together with Amber, her whole family had treated me like one of their own.

Ryan's parents had originally wanted to form a marriage alliance with Amber's family.

At that time, I had just started dating Amber and thought her parents would look down on me, a poor boy from a mountain village.

But to my surprise, they firmly rejected Ryan's parents, willing to marry Amber to me even without a bride price.

I didn't want Amber to suffer or lower her standard of living, so I started my own business.

The early days of the business were tough, but Amber gave me all of her dowry to support me.

Her parents helped me build connections, and Tom would come help out whenever he had free time.

During Chinese New Year, when Amber's relatives looked down on me, calling me a "phoenix man" (a poor man who marries a rich woman),

The four of them - Amber and her family - all protected me.

"Jack is capable and filial. He's truly outstanding."

"If you keep mocking him, we won't associate with you anymore!"

I was so moved at the time that my eyes turned red.

I silently vowed to treat Amber well for life and never do anything to betray the trust of anyone in her family.

I was grateful for their acceptance of me, their respect for my background, how they protected and loved me.

And now...

I looked at Tom's anxious face, his eyes revealing disappointment and anger.

I didn't dare meet his gaze, silently looking at my twisted legs.

It hurt, but I couldn't tell if it was the pain in my legs or the pain in my heart.

Ryan helped Tom up from kneeling before me and angrily berated me:

"Jack, Tom has always treated you like a real brother. You refuse to save a life for money and even push Tom to this state. Are you even human?"

"Indeed, men who marry above their station are all ungrateful bastards! How can you face Amber and her whole family?"

After saying this, he turned to face everyone and said loudly:

"He's afraid to die and won't save her, so I'll do it! I'm willing to risk my life to save her! Not because I'm trying to show off, but because I have a conscience!"

Ryan's words made everyone admire him, with some even shouting that he should be named the most admirable rescue worker.

I just smiled calmly.

"Good luck to you."

Before leaving, Ryan glared at me fiercely, then turned and walked towards the snow cave.

I could no longer bear the pain and felt my vision go black as I passed out.