Everything & More (Book 1 in the E.C.N Series)

Chapter 69 - Martha

Present Day...

Over these past 6 Months I think I've replayed those moments about a thousand times. Over analyzing the calls, reading into every single lie he told just to not be home. How much effort he went through to keep me from finding out while making me question myself.  Those moments ate away at me.  However they also gave me the courage to get a divorce attorney.

When I said goodbye to the drunken pity party that I was throwing for myself a few months ago, I sat up all night doing research. My husband was a lawyer himself and I didn't trust him anymore. All I saw was that he had an upper hand on me if this were to go south. So I wanted a lawyer of my own; I wanted the best of the best. The law firm: Freeman Hughes Law, happened  to be it.

After setting up a meeting I met with one of the Name partners, Georgia Freeman. I knew why a name partner was taking an interest in my case. It was because of Jonathan. Haufman & Levine Law Firm aka where Jonathan worked was Freeman Hughes Law's biggest competitor. I could tell she was a shark, a bad ass. Just someone you don't fuck with. Ms. Freeman wears stylish well colored pantsuits with red bottom black heels, her hair was done up in passion twists with a half up/half down look and her makeup was always flawless. Ms. Freeman just screamed powerhouse and so did the glint in her eye when she learned where my husband worked.

During our consultation meeting she listened to my story, nodded along and would occasionally ask a clarifying question to get more information on the situation. When I was done she asked how I wanted to proceed telling me that I had options.

"In the event that you may want a divorce there are two options. Option 1 Non-fault based divorce. Family Court can grant a divorce with a petition from either one of you. It will be filed over irreconcilable differences; this typically allows spouses to begin divorce proceedings in a more civilized manner as there are no drastic allegations involved. This option is actually preferred by most." She spoke with such certainty. She was walking talking encyclopedia of law. All I could do was stare and take in the information.

"Option 2 is the longer option and the one you qualify for. Fault-based Divorce. Due to your husband's indiscretion you are entitled to more of a portion of your marital assets. However it becomes difficult because you would need to supply evidence of the affair."

"Evidence?"

"Yes, there are different types of evidence that can be supplied. Such as witness statements, written communication; which would entail: text messages or emails between the two. There's also physical evidence, photos, recordings, anything and everything that shows that your husband undeniably stepped out on your marriage."

"Evidence" I said more firmly. I understood that I didn't have any tangible proof. The thong was gone but I still had those receipts. Being married to Jonathan long enough I knew those were just circumstantial. There is no concrete proof that he was cheating. All those receipts could be explained away as business meetings. I would have to hope that Jonathan would flat out admit to the affair. I wasn't stupid I knew there was no way in hell he was doing that.

Ms. Freeman's eyes softened, she could see me becoming overwhelmed with all this information. She spoke with a gentler tone I didn't think she was capable of but that's why she's good. She connects with her clients, sees the human behind the dollar sign. "I know it's a lot. That's why it's preferred to file non-fault based due to all these hoops you have to go through. Though if you have any undeniable evidence it will go a long way. At the end of the day I am here for whatever you want to do."

I knew what I wanted to do; I wanted this burden to be off my shoulders, I wanted for us to be able to move forward. Our marriage was over, we were different people now and staying married wasn't going to fix all that was broken. So I opted for the Non-fault Based Divorce.