Chapter 8
Hess
I remember walking into the Waffle House five and a half years ago, seeing Camila in her white dress, and being so nervous about whether or not I was making the right decision to marry her for money.
Fast forward to my life now and everything I’ve been able to do with my business, and hands down, I’d say I made the right decision.
That’s what I thought until my girlfriend wouldn’t return my calls, and I was served a legal letter accusing me of being a fraud.
Which I am.
Now I’m majorly questioning my decision-making skills.
I throw the letter on the table in front of Camila before taking a seat across from her. We’re back at the Waffle House. Same booth. Very different life circumstances from the first time we met.
She grabs the paper, quickly scanning. “It says the same thing as mine. They’re challenging the validity of our marriage.”
“So we’re going to jail?” I half-joke, but really, I want to know if an orange jumpsuit is in my future.
“No, but if the judge declares our marriage fraudulent, then we are on the hook to pay everything back.”
“Our marriage is fraudulent.”
“Shh,” she hisses, glancing at the approaching waitress.
“The cat’s out of the bag. Your dad is suing us. I think he knows our marriage is fraudulent.”
The waitress flips her notepad over, flashing me a brilliant smile. “Hey, honey. What can I get you?”
“I’ll have the all-star special and a Diet Coke.” I look at Camila. “Want anything?”
“No.”
“Sure thing, sweetie. Anything for you.” The waitress tucks her notepad into her apron. “Coming right up.”
As she walks off, Camila snaps her gaze to me. “She’s hitting on you right in front of me.”
“Her?” I scoff. “Nah, she was just being nice. How come you never order anything here?”
“Gross.” She scrunches her nose as if the Waffle House is beneath her. “But going back to what you just said. My dad is suing for declaratory relief. It’s more like he’s asking the court to say our marriage doesn’t count, so we shouldn’t get the money.”
“So lawsuit-lite?” I smirk. “Like you being lightly unconscious on the plane?”
“Something like that.”
“Do I still get to yell, ‘Not guilty, Your Honor!’”
“No.”
“Are you sure? Because I think I could make that very dramatic.”
“You are guilty so you’d be lying.”
“So I need to get my checkbook ready?”
“Absolutely not.” Her chin lifts in defiance. “I’m not paying a dime back to that man. I’ve read through the trust, and I believe we satisfied the conditions of a good-faith marriage.”
“You’re joking, right? We haven’t spoken in five years.”
“So?” Her jaw sets. “The amount of crap marriages I’ve seen come through my office is ridiculous. How is that kind of dysfunction considered more ‘good faith’ than ours? I’ll argue that they’re not. I know I can win this.”
“Someone’s delusional.”
“I’m not delusional. I’m good at my job, so just let me take care of it.”
“Well, let’s hope so.” I shrug. “I’d love not to have to come up with all that money right now.” I have a lot of money tied up in my house and land.
“We have an emergency hearing in front of the judge in two days.”
“So soon?”
“My father’s lawyer filed a motion for immediate relief to stop the monthly payout and freeze the account. It’s just a quick session to decide what happens until the case is resolved. But the biggest problem is the judge assigned to the case. It’s Judge Perry.”
“Who’s Judge Perry?”
“He’s a whacko. I’ve never gone before him but some of my colleagues have and I’ve heard he’s super traditional and unorthodox. It’s going to be an uphill battle with him.”
“Well, let me know how it goes.”
Her brows lower. “You have to be there too.”
“Why do I have to come?”
The eye roll she gives me is answer enough.
“Fine. I’ll be there. Text me when and where.”
The waitress appears, holding a plate of hot food and a glass of soda. “Can I get you anything else, sugar?”
“No, this is great. Thank you.” I scoot the food closer, smelling the greasy bacon.
“I just can’t figure out why now.” Camila watches me take a bite. “Why, when we only have six months left on the marriage, is Glen Lucas challenging the validity when he’s not so much as glanced our way in the last five and a half years?”
“Beatsh me,” I say through a mouthful of waffles.
“I was certain he would leave us alone until the end, so nothing about his affair would ever come out. Keeping me a secret is the most important thing to him, plus he got the tax breaks by having his assets in the trust.” She drums her fingers on the table as she thinks.
“It’s as if something happened. But how could something have happened when nobody even knows about the agreement? ”
My chewing pauses as I replay last Friday night, when I told Shanna about the marriage. Since then, I’ve tried to call and text her, but she’s ghosting me. I thought she just needed some space, but maybe a muzzle is what she needed.
I swallow hard. “Actually, something did happen.”
Camila’s brown eyes carefully study me. “What do you mean?”
“It’s probably nothing, but Friday night after the engagement party, Shanna discovered our text exchange, and she had some questions about our relationship.”
Her gaze narrows. “What kinds of questions?”
“Well, obviously, she wanted to know why we were talking about being married and getting a divorce.”
“You didn’t tell her the truth, right?” I grimace, showcasing my guilt. “Hess, please tell me you made up some lie about how we used to date or something.”
“I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. We only have six months left on the contract, and Shanna wants to marry me. I couldn’t keep her in the dark forever.”
“Yes, you could. You signed a confidentiality clause that you wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“We don’t even know if my telling Shanna is the reason for them challenging the marriage.”
“Oh, so you think it’s just a coincidence that days after you told her, everything blows up in our face?”
“It could be a coincidence.”
“No, Hess. It’s not. She must’ve somehow found out who my father is and told him the marriage is a lie.”
I frown, thinking back over our conversation.
Camila tilts her head, accusation taking over her expression. “Unless you freely gave Shanna that information.”
“I might’ve mentioned that your dad lives in Scottsdale and owns an airline.”
“Geez, Hess!” She slaps the table in frustration, rattling my plate of waffles. “Why not just tell her his name? While you're at it, throw in my social security number.”
“No, that would be going too far,” I joke.
“Is this funny to you? Because it’s not to me.”
“Don’t act like you’re the only one this is affecting. I’m financially liable too. Plus, I may have just lost my girlfriend over this.”
“If you did, it’s your fault.”
“My fault? I’m not the one who sent a bunch of flirty texts, blatantly talking about our big secret.”
She blinks a few times, like she’s processing what I just said. “Nothing about my texts was flirty. If anything, you’re the one who mentioned the black lingerie.”
Yes, that may have been me.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.” I wave our argument away. “Because you’re going to win, right?”
“Right.” A flash of insecurity drifts through her eyes before she masks it and sits up taller. “I’m going to win.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
We stare at each other for a few more seconds before I stab the waffle in front of me and take a bite.
I drive straight from the Waffle House to Shanna’s apartment.
When she opens her door and sees me standing there, her arms fold as her eyes narrow. “I was wondering when I’d hear from you.”
“Because we’re in a relationship, or because you went behind my back, found Camila’s dad, and told him the marriage is a fraud?”
She drops her arms and walks into her kitchen, leaving the door open for me to follow. “You went behind my back first by lying to me about being married.”
“Yes, I did that, but what you did was way worse. Camila and I are in trouble now. I can’t believe you’d do that to me.”
“And I can’t believe you’d lie to me about already being married.”
“That was wrong. I know it was wrong, but I can’t change the fact that I signed a confidentiality clause when I was twenty-two years old, before I knew you.”
“It sounds like you are more sorry that you got caught than sorry that you lied to me.”
“Okay, fine, maybe I am a little sorry I got caught.” Her glare deepens. “But I’m also sorry that I hurt you. That’s the last thing I would ever want to do.”
She purses her lips, not saying anything, though I’m leaving ample time for her to apologize for going behind my back and telling my biggest secret.
“Don’t you want to say sorry to me?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” Her chin flicks upward.
“Yes, you did. It was wrong to go out of your way to find Glen Lucas and tell on Camila and me.”
“Nope. It was the right thing to do.”
I can see I’m not going to win this argument with her, and right now I have to choose my battles, so I move on, knowing I’ll probably bring it up later when things between us are better.
I proceed with caution, stepping toward Shanna slowly. Gently, I place my hands on her arms. When she doesn’t slap me, I continue pulling her to me and wrap her in a hug.
“Can we get over this?” I whisper into her hair.
She shrugs against me. “I don’t know.”
“I just want to make things right between us and move on.”
“Are you paying the money back and getting divorced immediately?”
My breath pauses before answering. “No.”
Anger drives her away from me. “Why not?”
“Well, Camila refuses to pay the money back. She says she can prove this marriage fulfilled the conditions of the trust.”
Her arms go out to her sides. “Oh, well, if Camila refuses, I guess we have to just do what she says.”
“She is the other partner in this marriage.”
“No, Hess. I’m the other partner. Not Camila.”
“You’re right, but in this instance, I kind of have to defer to Camila because she’s a lawyer and knows all the legal stuff I don’t. You can understand that, right?”
“I suppose so.” Shanna inclines her head, contemplating me. “Do you want to know how you can make this better?”
“Yes, please.” I sigh, placing my hands on her hips.
“You have to wear an I’m a liar and a cheater sign taped to the front and back of your shirt and walk around the Westgate Entertainment District for three hours.”
“That’d be funny, huh?” But the more I study Shanna’s face, the more it seems like she’s not joking. “Wait. You’re kidding, right?”
Her expression hardens. “I’m dead serious.”
“That punishment doesn’t even fit the crime.”
“Yes, it does. You are a liar who is married; therefore, you’re a cheater.”
“Yes, but the marriage isn’t real.”
“It’s real to me.”
“I know, but this doesn’t feel like you’re working to forgive or trying to communicate in a healthy way. This just feels like you want to embarrass me or get back at me.”
“So?”
“So, if you love me, why would you want to treat me that way?”
“Because this is what I need to reconcile.”
“Making me do something humiliating in public doesn’t sound like reconciliation; it sounds like punishment.”
“Maybe you deserve to be punished.”
“Yeah, but what you’re asking is so childish and controlling.”
Her lips purse, and it’s in that action that I see Shanna in an entirely new light.
All the times she’s been manipulative, even down to forcing an engagement I’m not sure I even want.
Pieces fall together, and suddenly she seems vindictive and more interested in winning or making me pay than working through our issues.
If this is what forgiveness looks like to her, how can there be any love or respect in the relationship?
“This isn’t going to work,” I say as I take a step back.
“Well, these are my terms, so—”
“No, I mean you and I aren’t going to work. What you did, going behind my back to hurt me, was wrong, but I was willing to overlook it because I’ve made mistakes too. But now, I don’t want to overlook anything. Our relationship is over.”
Her brows drop as her mouth falls open. “You’re breaking things off with me?”
I can’t believe it either. Shanna and I have been together for over a year.
I thought I knew her. I wondered if she was the one, but maybe all my hesitations weren’t a timing thing.
Maybe deep down I knew she wasn’t right for me, but I talked myself out of every red flag in front of me.
I was going down the freeway with my blinders on, using cruise control because it was easier that way.
“I no longer think we’re a good fit for each other.”
“You no longer think?”
“Actually, I know we’re not a good fit. I’d never do what you did to someone I love. I don’t want to be with someone so willing to throw me under the bus as easily as you did.”
That’s when she starts yelling.
And all I can think about is, Holy crap. I can’t believe I actually thought about marrying this woman.