Bound

2:

It usually took a more constricted space to make Severine claustrophobic, but the deposition room quickly became an exception. The bare walls with no windows, the clunky video camera pointing straight at her, and the dot of red light straining her vision; it all threatened to test the limits of her composure.

"How long have you been separated from your husband, Mrs. Powell?" the deliberately monotone voice coming from the small-mouthed attorney sitting across from her asked.
"It's Deleon," she corrected her last name.
"Is that your maiden name?" the young overly-eager shark looked down at the sheet of paper in front of him, scrunching his face in confusion.
"It's my mother's maiden name," Severine explained, and he let out a small exasperated sigh at the tangent she'd led him away on.

"Okay, Ms. Deleon," he conceded, getting back to his line of questioning. "How long have you and Mr. Powell been separated?"
"A year," Severine answered, shifting her eyes to the aforementioned Carter Powell, looking down at his folded hands, flanked by his obnoxious team of attorneys.

"Are you aware that Mr. Powell has amended the legal grounds stated on his petition for divorce? You both previously cited irreconcilable differences. But he is now seeking a fault divorce. Meaning that one party was at fault," he explained.
"I'm aware of what it means," her response was void of emotion.
"Alright. I understand that you cannot divulge too much about your field of work," he began as he placed another sheet of paper in front of him.
"I work for the FBI. That's about as much as I can divulge," she confirmed, leaning back into her chair.
"Do you think your line of work contributed to the breakdown of your marriage? The secretive and demanding nature of your job? Your inability to share with your husband what you spent most of your time doing?" The attorney's questions sounded like accusations.

"Carter knew I was a Federal Agent when we got married. He knew what that entailed," she responded calmly.
"Let's talk about your brother's case," he pivoted suddenly. "He was the victim of an armed robbery a year and a half ago. Mr. Powell states you believed without evidence that he died under mysterious circumstances. And that you became obsessed with trying to prove it."

Severine shifted uncomfortably, but forced a neutral expression despite the tightening knot in her stomach.

"You worked long hours? Longer than usual with your brother's case on your mind?" he prodded further.
"Yes," she swallowed, and then paused when a voice spoke up from the chair next to hers.

"Let's stick to the topic at hand, shall we? We're here to split assets, not split hairs on the breakdown of their marriage. This amendment is preposterous, and inflammatory. And you know it."
That eruption came from Poppy, who had smoothly transitioned from her day job into her occasional pastime. She was was not just a highly-demanded cyber security expert, but also a talented Attorney. More than that, she was Severine's closest friend and fiercest defender even outside of the deposition room.

"You can keep everything, Carter," Severine interrupted Poppy's tirade, cutting through the mediators in the room. "I'll take the blame if you can't be man enough to share it. Where do I sign? So that we can end this."
"The breakdown of our marriage was my fault. I was too wrapped up in my work to pay attention to my husband. I became obsessed with a dead-end case that was clearly just an unfortunate incident. That's why we're here, right? To get me to say those things out loud?" her jaw went rigid as she turned to the attorney in front of her. "I don't want anything from him. Just hurry this process up."
"Do you have everything you need?" she forced a flat smile, and tilted her head, looking straight into the camera lens as every suited lawyer at the other end of the table became tongue-tied for a response. Carter Powell didn't even have the gall to look up at her.

***

Jules was fighting his nervous habit of bouncing his leg as he sat in the uncomfortable chair in the waiting room. Just before he got up to start pacing again, he saw Dr. Lucas ambling down the hallway.