13
“A iva sat at the table beside Knox as they waited for Mia and Harvey to arrive. She was beyond irritated because they were late. Not only wasting her and Knox’s time but the mediator’s as well. Their session was due to start at eight-thirty, and here it was, ten minutes till nine, and the other party had yet to arrive.
She’d been willing to let them slide for being a few minutes late because she assumed Mia might have taken Yasmine to school. When fifteen minutes passed, she wondered if the child was sick and maybe they needed to reschedule. When she voiced her concerns to Knox, he informed her that Yasmine was fine, and he’d taken her to school that morning.
With that not being a possibility, she wondered if Harvey was scrambling to get his shit together. He must have thought Aiva was playing with him when she said they’d go to immediate mediation when he and Mia filed their counterclaim. She didn’t know why Harvey thought she was. He was familiar with how she and her sister conducted themselves for their clients. If she told you something, then it was always in your best interest to believe it.
Knowing that she was going to push for immediate mediation meant he should have been getting his information, facts, and evidence to back up what they were asking for together. Aiva would bet Harvey twiddled his thumbs, and when they received the mediation appointment forty-eight hours ago, as she and Knox had, Harvey scrambled to get everything he would need in order.
Aiva brought up her notes app on her tablet and wrote that the other party was late. She placed a dash after it, intending to write the time they arrived if it happened within the next ten minutes. At nine, they would have to reschedule the mediation; the thirty-minute window the mediator who was sitting at the end of the table gave would close.
A part of her wondered if that was Harvey’s plan. To have this initial appointment rescheduled to give him more time to get things together. However, she knew not even he was that incompetent. Canceling would show they were unprepared, which wouldn’t work well in their favor. Harvey had plenty of time to prepare. From the day he told Aiva they were filing a counterclaim until now, he’d had nine days.
It was five minutes until nine when Mia and Harvey stepped into the room. Aiva was seeing her for the first time, and she’d have to admit she was a pretty woman. Her black hair was in ringlets of curls over her shoulders, and as she removed her sunglasses, brown eyes set against sand-colored skin looked between Aiva and Knox. Her features were sharp, and Aiva could tell she was of Latin descent. However, her pretty features were overshadowed by the air of superiority she had about herself.
“Aiva, lovely to see you as always,” Harvey stated as he pulled out his chair and took a seat.
“Harvey,” she responded simply because, again, she would not lie to him. “Knox, Harvey Flint. Harvey, Knox Chandler,” Aiva introduced to get the formalities out of the way.
“My client, Mia Chandler. Mia, Aiva Neel,” Harvey reciprocated.
“Neel?” Mia inquired, pulling her chair closer to the table as the mediator rose to close the door. “As in one of the partners at Neel therefore, he owns them, and I deserve half of them.”
Knox watched Aiva lean back in the seat she occupied. “Did you manage the rentals, take deposits, schedule maintenance and cleaning, inspect the properties before and after someone moved in or rented while they were on vacation?”
“Knox didn’t even do that,” Mia countered. “He has a company that takes care of that for him.”
She wasn’t wrong. Knox had a property management company he owned, which he’d opened once his properties expanded. It was easier that way, hiring his own employees rather than having a third party do it for him.
“Fair enough,” Aiva responded. “Did you liaise with the company to have any of the aforementioned things done? Did you check in with the company to ensure everything was running smoothly? They were conducting themselves according to state regulations and the Fair Housing Act for long-term renters?”
Mia remained quiet because she had done none of those things. Knox watched as her jaw ticked and her right eye twitched slightly. A sure sign she was annoyed.
“Then, as I stated, next item.”
Harvey cleared his throat. “Moving on to the proposed spousal support. We believe eighty thousand a month is more amenable for Mrs. Chandler.”
“I disagree,” Aiva responded. “What Mr. Chandler is offering is far more generous than what the court will order him to pay in spousal support if this goes past mediation.”
“I fail to see how,” Mia countered.
“At the moment, Mr. Chandler will uphold the promised amount in your prenup and pay you two million dollars. You’re asking for eighty thousand a month in spousal support. If taken before a judge, I will counter at fifteen thousand while presenting them with a slew of evidence of your less than cordial attitude towards my client. If the judgment is found in Mr. Chandler’s favor, you’ll receive half a million dollars since, by law, he’ll only be required to pay you for three years.”
Knox looked at her in awe of how flawlessly she’d broken that down without skipping a beat. He shouldn’t have been. Her firm didn’t have those outstanding reviews for nothing, and she’d proven over the past month of working together that she was more than competent and fought for her clients.
“You signed a prenup?” Harvey questioned, turning his attention to Mia.
At the same time, Mia questioned, “He only has to pay me for three years?” As if she were in disbelief at the information.
He listened to Aiva answer them both. “Yes, she did, and yes, he does.”
Knox wasn’t surprised Mia hadn’t told Harvey she signed a prenup. He wasn’t even sure she remembered signing since it had been so long ago and had never been updated. So, they had no reason to discuss it while they were still married.
“Yes, I signed one, but it’s no big deal. I deserve more now that he’s worth more,” Mia responded.
“I take it you haven’t seen the prenup then, Harvey,” Aiva said. “I have a copy here if you’d like to look at it.”
Aiva handed the copy over to the other lawyer, and the room was quiet for a few moments as he read through it. Mia seemed tired of waiting and the session being on hold.
“Can we get back to it?” she questioned, impatience lacing her voice.
“I may need a brief break to confer with my client,” Harvey spoke.
Knox wasn’t sure if calling a break this early in mediation was normal. They were barely half an hour into it and already needed a break. He took that as a sign in their favor. Mia seemed to handicap her lawyer by not informing him she’d signed a prenup. Knox hoped that whatever strategy the other two came up with was knocked off its axis by that fact. It would favor him and Aiva better.
“We don’t need to step out and speak,” Mia informed Harvey. “Let’s move on and move away from money for a moment.”
Knox was surprised to hear her say that because her counterclaim only focused on money. The only thing she’d been worried about when he had her served was money.
“Let’s move on to custody of Yas,” she continued, and Knox, who, mostly, had been silent and impassive, worked overtime to keep the irritation he knew could grow at bay. “Now, I love my daughter more than anything, and I’m acutely aware that you want sole custody with my visitations supervised. My question to you is how much is that worth to you?” she finished with a smirk.
This bitch , Knox thought.
A iva felt Knox stiffen beside her, and she reached over under the table and placed her hand on his lower thigh. She knew he was seething inside, and she couldn’t blame him. Aiva was ready to reach across the table and strangle the other woman.
She had put nothing past Mia, and Aiva hated to admit it, but using their daughter as a bargaining tool had been something she suspected. While she knew Knox at least had a little faith in Mia not to use their daughter in such a way.
She knew as soon as the words tumbled from Mia’s lips that Knox would be upset by them, and rightfully so. However, she didn’t want him to act out or say something that could jeopardize his case. Not that it would hurt much when weighed against everything Mia had been recorded saying, all the text messages she’d sent.
Aiva wasn’t usually one to comfort her clients in situations like this with touch, using words more often than not. Before she could stop herself, she’d done it. While her action surprised her, what shocked her, even more, was Knox’s hand coming down on hers.
Harvey looked a bit mortified at what his client had just said, and Aiva felt they hadn’t discussed this beforehand. Mia had this in her back pocket and was waiting to pull it out to use it to her advantage.
Aiva wondered if Harvey regretted his decision to represent Mia. He hadn’t fully known what he was getting into with her, and his choice had placed him in a precarious position.
“Custody of your daughter was not mentioned in your counterclaim,” Aiva stated. She knew that didn’t mean they wouldn’t discuss it because it was in Knox’s. She simply wanted to turn the tone of the conversation.
“But my dear, future ex-husband brought it up in his. He decided that after five years, I was an unfit parent and wanted full custody. So, I would say it’s appropriate to discuss it.”
“I agree,” Aiva replied, wanting to remain calm for herself and Knox. “However, I would suggest we discuss this cordially. We’re talking about the future and well-being of a child. Not a bargaining chip.”
Aiva watched Mia sit back in her seat as she felt Knox begin to play with her fingers. She figured it was in an attempt for him to stay calm. Aiva knew he was upset, but as mad as he may have been by Mia’s words, his touch was gentle, his hand on hers soft.
“I wasn’t the one that used Yasmine as a bargaining chip. That would be your client’s doing when he decided he wanted to take her from me.”
Aiva schooled her facial features because she saw Mia was not only a money-hungry gremlin but also delusional. There was no way she could have thought that Knox asking for full custody was him using Yasmine as a bargaining chip when he was upholding everything in their prenup.
“Is custody of our daughter worth my demands?” Mia questioned. “Since she’s the center of your world, you should be willing to do anything to get custody of her.”
Aiva had heard enough. Mia was playing Uno, but Aiva always played chess. Always stayed steps ahead. She pulled up the pictures she’d loaded onto her tablet.
“February seventh at one twenty-three p.m. Quote: ‘You can’t afford to keep ignoring me if you want to see Yasmine this weekend.’ End quote. February ninth at ten-thirteen a.m. Quote: ‘Give me what I asked for, or you can forget about seeing Yasmine for a while.’ End quote.”
“What…” Mia questioned, stunned, trailing off.
As icing on the cake, Aiva played a voicemail Mia left Knox where she was cursing him out and threatening to take Yasmine away. It was a message from when they first separated that he’d still had, and as soon as Aiva heard it, she knew it would be her trump card.
“I have hours of recordings like this one and pages of text messages like the ones I’ve read. So, here’s what we’re going to do. As per your prenup, my client will pay you a settlement of two million dollars.”
“That is not acceptable. I—”
“If,” Aiva continued, cutting Mia off. “You aren’t satisfied with that; we will not meet back in mediation. I will take this in front of a judge and present every shred of evidence I have. They will hear the voicemails and read the text messages and witness statements. At which time we will not only request full custody of Yasmine, but that you pay child support as well.”
Aiva felt Knox run his thumb over the back of her hand before releasing it. While Mia sat in stunned silence, Aiva packed up her things, and she would be lying if she said she hadn’t enjoyed wiping that smirk off her face and humbling her. Harvey sat as if he regretted getting roped into this case, but he hadn’t heeded her warning.
Knox pulled her chair out for her, and Aiva thanked the mediator before they exited the room. They were quiet until they reached the parking lot, and he walked her to her car.
“Thank you,” he stated. “I don’t know what I would have said or done had you not been there.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Your frustration and irritation were warranted. I wanted to reach across the table and put my hands on Mia, but I’d prepared for that to come up. I’d hoped it wouldn’t, but I was ready for it.”
“Do you think she’s going to take your threat into consideration?”
“I don’t make threats. I make promises,” Aiva responded with a smile. “I believe Harvey will attempt to get her to, but I have little faith that he’ll be able to talk her into it. We’ll give her some time to decide. In the meantime, contact and communication with her should stay the same. Only regarding Yasmine. I would say have a third-party conduct pickups and drop-offs between the two of you if possible, so she isn’t able to rope you into a conversation.”
“I can do that.” Knox sighed. “I know it’s optimistic, but I want this to be over as soon as possible.”
“Quick would be nice, but nothing will be lost if it takes a while.”
“Nothing but my patience.”
Aiva smiled at him again. “I understand that.”
Knox shook his head. “No, you don’t.” Aiva furrowed her eyebrows at him. “There’s something I want to ask you, but I can’t until I’m no longer a married man.”
She allowed his words to sink in, and when they did, she wasn’t sure how to respond. He’d just told her he planned on asking her out, and while she didn’t date her clients, it seemed Knox planned on waiting until he was no longer attached and she was no longer his lawyer.
“Enjoy the rest of your day, Aiva,” Knox told her with a smile that said he knew she was thinking about what he’d just stated before walking toward his vehicle.
She slid into her car, hoping for a quick end to this divorce.