Chapter Twenty
CHAPTER TWENTY
The rest of the evening was magical. We cooked dinner together, and Robert teased me about the way I diced onions. While eating, I thanked him for the book he’d bought me as a gift. He’d said it was nothing, but I insisted it was thoughtful. I asked him how he knew I liked that author, and he said he’d noticed I owned a lot of her books.
Later, we watched a movie while curled up on the couch together, Robert’s arm around me. He showed me one of his favorite films — an action movie from the nineties. To be honest, I barely remembered what the movie was about. I just enjoyed the comfort and peace of being in the company of someone I loved.
We showered together, which ended with us fucking quick and dirty against the bathroom wall. Then, just before bed, Robert made me a cup of green tea, just the way I liked it.
Afterward, we turned all the lights off and lay in bed together, Robert’s body heat cocooning me in warmth. Soon, I heard his breathing slow, but I couldn’t fall asleep.
I kept heard Robert’s voice from our conversation earlier. Paying Emily alimony eats up half of my earnings.
That nagged at me, like an itch I couldn’t scratch. It just didn’t seem right. Robert had given her the house, and from what I remembered when I visited Mike’s home in college, it was a gorgeous place in a good neighborhood. Robert had also given her half of his share of the company. Now, on top of that, he was paying a ridiculous amount of alimony. He’d been living paycheck to paycheck, and almost ended up homeless, and yet he was still giving his ex-wife money.
Something was wrong. I’d never heard of such an exploitative divorce settlement in my life.
Eventually, I fell asleep. When I woke up, gentle morning light streamed into the room. I stared up at the ceiling, still thinking about the alimony.
The thoughts wouldn’t go away unless I did something about it.
“Morning,” Robert mumbled sleepily once the sunlight washed over the bed, waking him up.
“Can I see all the legal documents for your divorce?” I asked him.
Robert blinked a few times, processing my words before giving me a confused look. “You want to look over them?”
I gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I know it’s a weird request, and you’ve just woken up, but it’s important.”
He frowned. “Should I be worried?”
I shook my head. “No. At least, not at the moment. I just want to check them, if that’s okay.”
“Of course. I think I have a copy of the agreement somewhere in my emails. I’ll send it to you. But for now…” he dragged me closer, his morning wood bumping my leg.
“We’ve got work,” I reminded him.
“We’ve got time for a quickie.” He pulled away, shooting me a playful look. “Unless you don’t want to?”
“You know I can’t say no to you.” It was true. All he had to do was pull me close and give me a suggestive smile, and I was turned on.
We had sex with Robert on top of me, my legs resting on his shoulders as he rolled his hips, fucking me slow and sensually. It felt so good, and the sensation was heightened by the fact that we were looking into each other’s eyes. I loved his eyes. They were so expressive. During sex, they went dark, his pupils filling up the irises. But later, they were warm, like melted milk chocolate.
Afterward, we showered and got ready for the day. While we had coffee, Robert took out his laptop and emailed the agreement to me.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I told him as we walked out of the apartment together. On the street, the sun was glowing in the sky, and the light breeze was pleasant. It was a beautiful day.
“See you tonight,” Robert replied, his hand finding the small of my back. “Have a good day.”
We kissed before pulling apart.
Once I arrived at work, all I wanted to do was read over the divorce agreement. I stopped myself, though — I had cases to work on and important clients to talk to. I held myself back all the way until lunch, which was fair game. I ate a chicken salad wrap at my desk while reading through the document on my desktop computer.
As I read the sentences carefully, my stomach dropped. The agreement was atrocious. It was greedy. There was a lot of legalese, which would’ve confused Robert when he read it. Did he have his own lawyers look over it?
Did he have his own lawyer during the divorce at all?
I looked through the agreement and found the lawyer who had written the settlement agreement. It was someone named Seth Blackmore, and a quick online search revealed that he was a partner at Blackmore Lawyers.
I picked up my phone, scrolling through my contacts. A woman named Lynn Anderson, who attended law school with me, had gone on to specialize in family law. I hadn’t spoken to her in ages, but I knew she wouldn’t mind helping me out.
I called her. My phone rang for a few seconds before she picked up. “Lynn Anderson speaking.”
“Lynn, it’s Brooke Collins. How are you?”
“Brooke! It’s been ages. I’m well, thanks for asking. How’s life treating you?”
“It’s good,” I said. “I’m still working at Ashcroft. You’re still working in family law, I presume?”
“Yes. I’m a bit jaded after seeing so many couples get divorced, but that’s the job.” She chuckled lightly.
I made a sympathetic noise. “Actually, I have a question about an alimony agreement. Would you be able to help me out?”
“Of course,” she said. “I’m always happy to help out a friend from law school.”
I told her about the agreement and wrote down everything she said. It looked like my suspicions were correct: the agreement was not at all typical.
“Thank you so much,” I said. “One last thing. It looks like the agreement was written by Seth Blackmore. Do you know him?”
“He’s a scumbag,” she said. “I’ve had to deal with him a few times over the years. He works with anyone — wives, husbands — who want to screw over their spouses. Almost all of his clients got married without a prenup. It’s hard dealing with him because, technically, the agreements aren’t illegal, but they do take advantage of husbands or wives who don’t know any better.”
“Have you been able to dispute the agreements?”
“It is possible,” she said. “You can argue that the agreement is unfair, or that your client signed the settlement when they were in a vulnerable position. It’s a bit difficult, but it is possible.”
“I see,” I said. “That’s everything, Lynn. Thank you once again.”
“Feel free to reach out if you ever need anything,” she said.
After hanging up, I looked at all the notes I’d jotted down, and slowly, created a game plan.
I sped home after work, needing to talk to Robert about what I had discovered.
“Robert!” I called out as I stepped into the apartment, my heartbeat quickening when I heard noise coming from the kitchen.
He turned to me with a smile. “Hey, how was your day?” His expression changed when he saw the look on my face. “What’s wrong?”
“Can we talk?” I asked, nodding towards the couch.
He looked concerned, but followed me, sitting down beside me.
“Can you tell me about your divorce?” I asked. “Did you have a lawyer?”
He shook his head. “No,” he answered slowly. “I didn’t think I needed one. Emily wanted the divorce, and she’s the one who gave me the paperwork and everything.”
“Did you negotiate the agreement?”
He shook his head. “I felt so guilty, I let Emily have everything she wanted. The house, half of my share of the company. She even took small things like the TV and our home decor.” He smiled, as though it was funny.
“Did you read the paperwork carefully?” I demanded.
He looked at me, eyes slightly wide, as if he were alarmed by my tone. “Yes. I mean, I did read it, though the legal jargon was a bit confusing. Emily had a lawyer, though. A man. I can’t remember his name, but he assured me that our divorce was standard.” He touched my arm. “What’s wrong, Brooke?”
I sucked in a deep breath. How would I explain this to him?
“Last night, you mentioned that you pay half of your earnings to Emily. That bothered me. It didn’t sound right, not when you were struggling to get by, while she took your home. Not to mention she has the company with Noel, and Noel to support her. That’s why I asked for the agreement this morning. I read over it at work, and I reviewed it with a friend of mine from law school. She specializes in family law.” I exhaled, my shoulders slumping. “They screwed you over, Robert. They took advantage of you.”
He blinked. “No,” he said. “No, the lawyer told me that his way was just the way things are done.”
“It’s not,” I replied. “Emily’s been sucking money out of you for the past, what, ten years? It’s practically exploitation.” I took Robert’s hand, squeezing it tight. “I want to talk to your ex-wife. I want to confront her.”
His eyes went wide. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” I asked.
He squeezed his eyes shut. “I haven’t seen her in years. I don’t want to see her. I appreciate you looking into this for me, Brooke, but the last thing I want to do is stir up trouble.”
“I understand that,” I said, “and I wouldn’t ask unless I thought it was absolutely necessary. But it makes me angry to see that someone has wronged you. Put yourself in my position. Imagine if I had an ex-husband who was unfairly taking away half of my hard-earned income. You’d be upset, wouldn’t you?”
He nodded. I could tell that Robert was slowly coming around.
“Don’t you want a fresh start?” I asked. “You can begin a new life, without any ties to your ex-wife. Yes, she will always be the mother of your son. But imagine what you could do with the money. You could give it to Mike, or you could save it, so you never risk being homeless again. It doesn’t matter what you choose to do with the money, but it should be your decision. It’s rightfully yours.” I squeezed his hand again. “You helped me stand up to my family. I want to help you stand up to yours.”
He looked at me for a long time. “You really think this is the right thing to do?”
“Yes,” I said emphatically. “Even if you were a stranger, and I found out you were in this sort of situation, I’d feel the same way. It makes me angry to see someone give away so much money to someone who isn’t entitled to it.”
Now that I thought about it, it reminded me of my own family, asking me for money just to spend it the next day. Except, at least with me, I could choose whether to give money to them or not. Robert had signed an agreement. He’d have to give money to Emily for the rest of his life, whether he wanted to or not.
I had to do something about it.
“Okay,” Robert said, nodding slowly. “I trust you.”
“It’s what we need to do,” I promised him. “It’s time to set things straight.”