I Stopped Outside The Bedroom When I Heard My Cheating Wife Scream: “Have Me, Brad, Have Me!”

But she hadn’t put a penny or a drop of sweat into my business. How could it ever be justified that she gets any of this, especially when it comes to cheating? What sane court could justify that? “I agree, but that’s the way things are these days.” Dad said. “Women can betray your trust all they want, and it doesn’t matter in the eyes of the law.

All that matters is what they see as a fair distribution of the common property.” Dad and I discussed various legal options to protect the business. “You know, son, I have connections with a few good lawyers who might be able to help.” he suggested that I replied. “The idea has a certain appeal, but I’d need to be careful about how I proceed.

I can’t let emotion drive this decision.” We quickly focused on legal solutions. It was all about strategy and protecting what I had built. Mom suggested another option. “She seems so sweet. Is there any chance of reconciliation? Maybe with a nice, strong postnuptial agreement to protect you?” “Hell, no.” I exclaimed.

“Once a traitor, always a traitor. I trusted her completely, and she chose to betray me in the worst possible way. That kind of trust will never be returned, at least not completely. I will always wonder what she is doing. You can’t live like that.” “That’s what I thought.” Mom said. “I know it’s not ideal, but I was just looking for a way you could protect what’s yours. But no, you’re right.

I couldn’t imagine living like that.” Ultimately, I decided to contact an attorney to learn my options. Dad gave me the business card of the company he used for his business, a firm called Morgan Fisher Associates. “For lawyers, they are surprisingly decent people. They have never let me down.” Dad said.

I felt terrible about returning to this cheating woman. When my mother invited me to stay the night, I didn’t want to be a burden, but Dad pointed out that I needed to step away from it all to cool down so I wouldn’t do something really stupid. As always, my parents were right. I called home and made up a lame excuse about having a plumbing emergency that would probably keep me up late into the night.

“Looks like it’ll be pretty late, so I’ll probably just spend the night at my parents’. Anyway, I have to go. The lady of the house is already looking at me sideways.” I said before hanging up. This last statement was indeed mostly true. The owner of the house, my mother, actually looked at my phone with reproach.

I wondered for a moment if Emily had noticed that I hadn’t said my usual “I love you” to her before ending the call. Although I didn’t care anymore. We sat a little longer. Dad and I drank a couple of beers and talked about my options and what I could do moving forward. We discussed a few ideas that I could bring up with the lawyer.

Over the next few days, I worked as usual. If necessary, I went home, but generally tried to come up with any excuse to stay with my parents. Wouldn’t you know it, Dad somehow injured his leg, and they needed my help on the farm. I couldn’t tell if Emily was upset about this or not. Perhaps this gave her a chance to see Brad some more in what used to be my marital bed.

My only concern was that she wouldn’t get suspicious, but most likely, the self-centered woman wouldn’t notice anything unusual. I called the lawyers while I was on break on Tuesday morning. One of their divorce lawyers had an appointment for Thursday morning. I had work scheduled at the time, but Jack agreed he would pick it up between jobs. Good man. I’ll have to repay him.

Thursday morning arrived, and I found myself sitting at the incredibly large oak table of one Rachel Goldman. She looked at me, and I could tell she wasn’t impressed. Given the way I was dressed, she probably decided I couldn’t afford her. However, she had the best reputation in the firm and was probably smart enough to know that looks weren’t everything.

Truth be told, she was probably right. I probably couldn’t afford her fee, especially if Emily did what we expected and fought the divorce. I told her the story and was not surprised when she detailed how financially crippled I would be. The surprise came when I learned that, practically speaking, I would probably have to sell my business or otherwise liquidate it.

Even worse was the new scheme that the courts had come up with. It seems that many business owners had managed to sell their businesses for next to nothing on paper. Enough complaints were received that it was decided the court had sole authority to decide what a business was worth, and they were almost always overly generous in their assessments.

There was a famous local case, a really nasty scam, where a local restaurateur honestly tried to sell his restaurant for as much as he could, but could only get $1,500. His wife, who apparently had never met a person she didn’t like, preferably several, had a real shark of a lawyer who pulled out some history about how 20 years ago this restaurant was doing very well and therefore was worth a lot.

The court agreed and estimated its value to be closer to $2 million. Half of that amount left the man still owing half a million out of pocket, money he didn’t have. The poor guy was found 6 months later. It seems he decided to test whether his ceiling could support his body weight. To be fair, the ex never saw her money, but the main thing is that a precedent was set.

I asked the lawyer the obvious question. “Emily has never put an ounce of sweat or a dime into my business. Jack and I built everything in it with our own hands. Doesn’t that matter?” “Not at all.” Rachel answered. “The legal theory is that by staying home and taking care of the household, it allows you to work without having to worry about doing household chores.

It’s funny because she never lifted a finger for this. As far as I can tell, her job is to spend as much of my money on expensive clothes and jewelry as possible. It still doesn’t matter to the court. In fact, they have so many divorce cases that they simply decide to split everything in half and give the non-earning spouse, usually the wife, alimony so she can maintain her standard of living.” It made my brain stop.

Standard of living? “I’m guessing if you’re willing to end your marriage over cheating, you’re also willing to give up your standard of living. Also, what does this term even mean? As Chris Rock said, when you go to a restaurant you’re used to eating. When you leave, you don’t eat anymore. They don’t owe you steak.

” My lawyer continued. “The only mitigating factor when it comes to your business is that the court may decide that each partner is entitled to half. So Jack will get half, and Emily can only claim half of your share.” “Fine. How about we rewrite the business so that Jack is the sole owner and I’m just an employee.

” I knew that Jack would play fair with me. Once this unpleasant matter was over, we would return to a full and equal partnership. It was worth a try, I thought. “You can try, but the courts are not stupid. You’ll likely have to continue like this for at least 2 years to show that you didn’t do it just to avoid payments. Even then, a good lawyer might argue that Emily is still entitled to compensation for the years you owned the business.

” So essentially, I was faced with a choice. I either pay Emily some arbitrary amount set by a court that may not be particularly favorable to me, or continue the charade of our marriage for a few more years in the hope of maintaining my business and not giving away so much money. But even that is not guaranteed, right? “About that.

” Rachel said. “Yes, everyone has their own idea of what is fair, and that’s what the courts have determined.” I was furious. “How does it work that she cheats on me, conspires with her lover to get as much out of me as possible, and she also gets paid for it?” My stubbornness came into play. I just refused to imagine these two getting rewarded for their bad behavior.

I thanked Rachel and said that I would get back to her after thinking about it a little. Besides, I had to go to work that afternoon. Rachel reminded me that it wouldn’t get better if I waited. The choice would simply be between bad and very bad. She also warned me not to do anything stupid like having a baby with Emily.

She also said that although this initial consultation was free, if I wanted to continue, I would have to leave a deposit. Even a short phone call with a simple question that takes 10 seconds of her time counts as an hour of work. Damn, where can I get money for a deposit? Did I really want to leave her? I called my dad to ask for advice and he told me that I would be wise to leave a deposit.

He also told me that I would be doing this at my own expense. They themselves were having financial difficulties. I called Jack and he said pretty much the same thing, leave a deposit. He offered to borrow it from our business. I’m not 100% sure this is completely legal, but if we can resolve this within a few months, we can probably sweep this under the rug.

If not, it may help show that the business is not doing so well and we won’t lose as much. Maybe we can even somehow justify this as protecting the business. So, I used a business credit card to leave a significant deposit for Rachel. They say that clients get what they pay for in legal representation and I could only hope that this would be true in my case.

I spent the next few weeks in a fog. What could I do? I thought about making Emily and Brad disappear, but I knew I would be number one on the list of suspects. Even if the authorities could never prove anything, the accusations would haunt me for the rest of my life. Just hoping she would suddenly die of a heart attack seemed unlikely at best.

Maybe I could arrange it, but modern forensic scientists are very discerning and would be suspicious if an otherwise healthy 30-year-old woman suddenly develop serious heart problems. Hell, I’d rather win the lottery than avoid suspicion. Wait, didn’t I buy a lottery ticket a couple of weeks ago? It might be worth checking out that I was half watching TV and half distracted when a story on the news caught my attention.

In local news, the winner of this month’s $12 million Lotto America jackpot has yet to come forward. Lottery officials say the ticket was purchased at a Valero store near the town of Oakridge. Officials say the winner is expected to come forward within 180 days. Otherwise, the winnings will be lost forever.

I took out my ticket and checked the numbers from the winning drawing. All the numbers matched. I had $12 million in my hands. Well, not exactly $12 million. After paying taxes and receiving a lump sum payment, the true amount would be closer to $5 million. That’s still a lot. Maybe I could push through a quick divorce, pay Emily whatever she needs, and then cash the ticket.

Of course, she couldn’t claim what was paid out after the divorce, right? Rachel quickly explained to me that it doesn’t matter. As long as you get paid, it matters when you bought your ticket. No matter how you slice it, you clearly bought it while you were married, so she will be entitled to her half in addition to everything else. But it was my money that bought the ticket.

Doesn’t that mean anything? Unfortunately, no. Any money you have while married is considered marital property. So, the ticket you purchased is also marital property. Look, I understand that you don’t like the idea of paying your wife anything and it will only make her even richer, but at least this way you’ll still get something.

It’s still rewarding bad behavior. I understand where you’re coming from, but what matters is what the law says, not what’s right. Hey, I got an idea. What if I give her the entire ticket in exchange for a divorce? She will give up all claims to everything else, no house, no business, no child support. Essentially, this will be a lump sum payment and it will only cost me $5 million.

Yes, she will get money and she will still be rewarded for bad behavior, but at least this way it will be mostly other people’s money, not mine, and I might be able to keep my business. You can try. The only way to know for sure is to suggest it. She and Brad might be so blinded by greed and desire that they’ll just jump at the offer.

She thought for a moment as if something had occurred to her. Let me look at this ticket again. I showed her the ticket. She looked at it and smiled. What? I asked. I think I have a better idea. She began to explain the details of her plan. This could actually work, I thought, although I would have to rely on some luck.

Armed with a plan and some documents, I headed home. I walked in and was only slightly surprised to find Emily with Brad in a compromising situation. This time I also had to be at work. Never want to miss an opportunity. I pulled Brad out by his greasy hair. I felt an irresistible urge to immediately disinfect my hands, preferably with a gas torch.

Hey, what the hell, dude? He yelled. Don’t you know that it’s considered impolite to touch someone else’s wife until there’s a divorce? Hey, dude. I stopped talking and kicked him below the belt. No, you have no right to touch my wife in my house on my furniture and think you have something to say. You have nothing I want to hear.

Be a good boy and get out of my house. I escorted him to the door. I may have accidentally missed the doorway a couple of times while trying to escort him out of my house. I always laughed when Al Bundy did that with the Kelly boys. Having solved this problem, I turned my attention to Emily. Sorry, I she started with the usual cheater’s excuses.

Stop it before you embarrass yourself. First of all, I know all the excuses and lies and I’m just not interested. Secondly, I don’t care what you say. This marriage is over. Thirdly, I already know the truth. She decided to become evil. Damn it, you think you know. I cut her off telling her what I heard on that fateful day when I discovered their betrayal.

Too bad I was too busy with work to see what was really going on. I could have dumped you a lot sooner and saved myself a lot of money and pain. You guys are all so stupid. All you think about is one thing. Brad and I will tear you apart and there’s nothing you can do about it. Hire the best lawyer. It will only cost you more.

Actually, I’m glad that you know now. I don’t have to pretend anymore. God, how could you be so stupid as to think that someone like me would date your ugly, red-headed self? I was not going to give in to her provocations. This seemed to confuse her somehow, almost as if she was starting to feel like she was losing control.

Are you done insulting me? Great, now I have an offer for you. As you know, you are counting on what you can get from my business. You contributed nothing, but somehow you think you deserve a payout. I’m damned if I pay you so you can run off with Brad. I continued. This is what I’m holding in my hands, a winning lottery ticket.

I don’t know if you saw the news, but the winning ticket was sold here a month ago and the winner hasn’t come forward yet. The ticket was sold at the Valero gas station down the street and guess what? That’s where I bought this ticket. The numbers matched exactly. I saw her eyes light up with greed. Can I see? Wait a minute, I’m not done yet.

I also have a packet of divorce papers. You will only see this ticket if you agree to the terms in the papers. We are lucky to live in a state where if both parties agree that the marriage is impossible to save and agree to the division of property, the divorce can end quickly. I handed her the package. Read it, but the gist is this, we agree on a quick divorce.

You keep all your personal belongings, including jewelry and clothes. I already checked this out to see if I could at least get half the value of these things since it was my money that paid for it all. Surprisingly, this was considered personal property, not marital property, and therefore it all belonged to her. The Cadillac, I continued. You keep the Cadillac.

She interrupted me. By the way, there was some strange smell coming from it lately and I can’t figure out what’s wrong. The service department can’t figure it out either. I tried to look surprised. Hm, maybe the ventilation system needs cleaning. I’ve heard when they start getting dirty, strange smells can develop.

I may or may not have made several additional service visits over the past few weeks. I held back a grin as I said, you keep the Cadillac. I also relinquish all rights to this winning lottery ticket in your favor. As you know, the winning lottery ticket is worth $12 million. The lump sum payment after taxes will be approximately $5 million.

Your share would be $2.5 million, so in essence, you get an additional $2.5 million. She looked at me with bewilderment. What’s in it for you? Simple. By accepting this ticket, you agree to a quick, uncontested divorce. You sign a quick claim deed to the house, making it exclusively mine. You forever renounce any claim to anything from my business, including money, equipment, and income.

You waive any claim to any of my personal property. You agree that after the divorce, we will never contact each other and that you will never come within 1,000 yards of my property or my parents’ property. If you see me outside, you should turn around and leave without trying to talk to me. In short, I want this marriage to end as quickly as possible and prefer not to get into a fight over what my assets are really worth.

By signing this ticket over to you, you will get what you want, money, and I will get what I want, namely to keep my business intact and not have problems with you in the future. In fact, I added, I wanted to add a clause where you had to move as far away as possible, but Rachel reminded me that I have no right to tell anyone where to live without a restraining order, for which I would have to show cause.

Even the parts about not approaching or contacting my parents, my property, or me were reduced to a simple request. You waive any right to sue me in the future for any reason. Why this no contact and no claim clause? Just to protect me. I don’t need you and Brad to blow your money and suddenly decide you’re entitled to more and sue.

I have a hard time imagining any court in the country would actually award you anything, but I don’t want to waste my time and money defending against even absurd lawsuits. This was not entirely true. My lawyer indicated to me that if she could find a good enough lawyer, she might challenge the part about the waiver of claims against my business.

And if it somehow worked, the penalties could ruin both Jack and me. The no contact clause was not impenetrable, but she would have to get a very good lawyer to break it. In any case, it was another layer to my defense. I saw the gears beginning to turn in her head. Maybe I should call a lawyer.

I wasn’t surprised by this, although I hoped she wouldn’t do it. Well, of course you can, but why spend all that money to be told that this is the best offer you can get. My lawyer has already done all the hard work. Why don’t you save the money and leave with as much as possible? I’ll tell you what, let me sweeten the deal a little more.

I’ll pay the taxes on your share of the lottery winnings. My lawyer realized that I might need to strengthen the deal and suggested this as an addition. Taxes on millions of dollars are not small. As I had hoped, her greed got the better of her. Okay, but first, can I see the ticket? My lawyer advised me to keep the ticket with me until the divorce is finalized.

Once the divorce is finalized, I will give it to you. But you know what? I can show it to you now. I held the ticket by the bottom and showed her the jackpot numbers, which all matched. Her eyes widened. So, you’re not kidding me. All I have to do is agree to a quick divorce and you hand over this ticket to me and pay all the taxes on the winnings.

Don’t forget the rest of what we agreed on, I said. Yeah, yeah. Like I need this crappy house. She couldn’t resist the opportunity to throw some more shade. How the hell is this important? Once the house is all mine and I keep more of my income, this place will be a real beauty. It’s a shame you’ll never see this. Your loss.