Married Without Love

Chapter 37

Nathan p.o.v

"What do you mean, I can't get a divorce?" I asked the scared figure of my lawyer, incredulously. I must have appeared really frightening if the usually self confident and composed man was shaken and trembling. I knew I felt rage and fury. How couldn't I, after what i've just been told?

"The c-clause in the marriage contract s-says..."

"Yes, I know what it says Mr Murray!" I yelled. "It was your job to warn me before I signed the damn contract, not after!"

"Sir, you signed the contract without even letting me get to it first," he defended himself. "I presumed that you would have read it yourself."

"I never anticipated grandpa would do such a thing," I was still in disbelief at what my grandfather had done to trap me in this marriage forever. "So... So if I go ahead and divorce her, then it would all be for nothing. I stand to lose everything I have, all my life's work, my inheritance to her."

"Not everything... But a lot."

"Yeah, and that lot is...a lot. Much more than what I married her for. My shares, property, investments, assets, but most of all, I would lose half my company to her. If I file for divorce, then in settlement I have to cede half my rights to the company. Absolutely brilliant!"

"Yes, and you won't get anything from her unless she files for divorce," he explained.

"And why would she want to divorce me when she has so much to lose? It isn't like she is in a hurry to marry someone else. But I am. All she has to do is be patient and wait for me to get impatient. Then I'll file for divorce and she'll be free and all the more richer." I sat down.

"If you make it so that she is forced to divorce you, like push her to file for divorce?"

"What are you suggesting Murray? That I assault and abuse my wife?" I asked angrily.

"No, no, never sir," he quickly jumped to clarify. "Just make the conditions so that she can't tolerate the marriage."

"But that would be unfair to her, to lose her money because I want to marry someone else," I said after thinking for a while.

A gloomy silence descended over the room as both my lawyer and me fell into deep thought.

"There is a way, though I'm not sure if you'll like it," Mr Murray said after a while had passed.

"I'll be the judge of that."

"The contract states that, you could get a divorce with minimal loss, if...well, if you and Ms Anderson had a child together. Then instead of having to give her half of everything, most of it would be in your child's name, and you'd both be responsible for the pooled assets."

"What are you suggesting now? That I have a child with her to save my money? And whoever made such a bizzare contract? Where even is the sense in that?"

Murray just shrugged as I contemplated the idea.

"So will you try to have a child?" He asked.

"Do you know my wife well Mr Murray?" I answered him with a question. "She would never agree to it, not that I blame her. What if we adopt? I could always take full custody after I marry Hannah, if Hailey feels she'll be burdened by a child she doesn't want."

"I'm afraid that the wording of the contract makes doing so impossible as it says 'birth a child' so no you can't adopt."

"So that means if I want to be free of her, I have to put a child in her first and build a permanent link between us." I said in distaste at the idea of forcing a child into the mix.