Chapter 8 - The Final Settlement
The divorce proceedings were finalized six months later.
Because of the overwhelming evidence of infidelity, theft, and child endangerment, Marcus Vance didn't just win; he annihilated the opposition.
Julian was ordered to pay back every cent he had siphoned from Maya’s college fund. Because he had no assets and had been fired from his mid-level marketing job due to the scandal of his arrest at the hospital, his wages from his new job—working the graveyard shift at a regional warehouse—were garnished aggressively.
I sat in Marcus’s office on a bright spring morning, signing the final decree.
"He tried to contest the alimony," Marcus chuckled, handing me a heavy Montblanc pen. "But once I reminded his public defender about the pending CPS charges, he signed so fast he nearly tore the paper."
"Thank you, Marcus," I said, putting my signature on the bottom line. "For everything."
"You did the hard part, Evelyn," Marcus smiled. "Most people let emotion ruin their strategy. You treated it like a triage."
As I walked out of the law firm and into the bright sunlight, I took a deep breath of the crisp air. For the first time in years, my shoulders didn't ache. My chest didn't feel tight. The constant, low-level anxiety of trying to keep a broken family afloat was gone.
May you like
I got into my car and drove to the hospital. But I didn't turn into the employee parking garage. I parked in the visitor lot.
Today wasn't a workday. Today was a celebration.
