Page 19 of The Wife Stalker

I wasn’t even aware I was shrieking until my mother yelled to me from her bed.

“Joanna! What’s wrong?”

I stumbled into the living room, my chest heaving with sobs, and thrust the paper toward her. “He’s done with me. And I apparently made it easier on him by being the one to leave.”

She threw the paper at me and scowled. “Are you trying to blame me? I can’t help it if I fell. That bastard was through withyou before you ever packed up and left. He’s probably shacking up with that blond bimbo right now.”

“Stop, Mom. That’s enough!” I regretted ever saying a word to her about Piper. I ran to my bedroom and called his cell.

“Joanna?”

“How could you do this to me?” I choked out.

“You got the papers, then?” His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

“You can’t do this. I won’t let you. Please, Leo.”

“I’ve told you, Joanna, you’ve forced my hand. This is the only way that you’ll realize I’m not going to change my mind. It’s best for all parties involved if we all move forward.”

All parties involved?Did he think I was stupid? “I won’t sign the papers. I’ll fight you!”

“If you do, I’ll keep this thing hung up in court until you don’t have a penny left. I’ve been very generous with the settlement, and I was happy to do it. But if you don’t sign, I’ll make sure you end up with nothing.”

“Stelli and Evie will be devastated. How can you do this to them?”

“This is just about you and me. You’ll still see the children. I would never try to keep you from them.” His voice softened as he spoke, but I knew that once he moved Piper in, he’d try to edge me out. If I signed the papers, I’d have nothing to tie him to me anymore, no leverage to keep him from making a life with her.

I hung up and called Janice, a friend from my book club who was a family law attorney. We spoke for a long time, me railing against Leo and her trying to talk me down. She encouraged me to take the settlement, convincing me that a long, drawn-out fight was good for no one. He was offering me a lot of money, money I needed. I had given up my dreams of becoming an attorney and had spent the years supporting Leo. Now I found myself withno job, and no real prospects, given my responsibilities to my mother. I’d heard of so many women who’d been screwed over by the men in their lives, women who’d been married for years and ended up broke after all their legal fees, while their ex-husbands drove around in luxury cars and took expensive vacations. I had to think of my future. And I had to think of what was best for the children. So I took Janice’s advice and signed them. Sobbing, I texted Celeste to see if she could fit me in, but she couldn’t see me until the following day.

My mind was racing the next day as I drove over and waited outside Celeste’s office. I looked up as her door opened and she beckoned me in, her shiny blond bob swinging back and forth, and looking younger than the thirty-four years my googling had informed me of. She was one of those people who looked perpetually content. Maybe it was because she realized her life was pretty good compared to her patients’ crappy existences.

“Hello, Joanna. Please come in.”

Her office was modern, all sharp corners and clean edges. A boxy gray sofa with stiff and unyielding cushions was where I spent my time, while she sat in a sleek red chair that looked just as uncomfortable. The walls were the one soothing element in the office, a warm burnt orange that made you want to curl up with a blanket and a good book.

“You sounded upset in your message. Has something happened?” she asked, settling into her chair, pad on her lap and pen in hand.

“Leo served me with divorce papers yesterday. He’s making it look likeIabandonedhimby moving out, even though he’s the one who encouraged me to go and take care of my mother.”

She looked perplexed. “How can he do that?”

“He’s a lawyer, and a damn good one. He knows practicallyevery judge in the state. He wants a fast divorce, uncontested, and offered me a lot of money to sign.”

She leaned back in her chair and waited for me to go on.

I wiped a tear from my cheek and grabbed a tissue from the box in front of me. “I refused when I first saw the papers, but he threatened me. Said he’d get everything held up in court and I wouldn’t see a dime.”

“Couldn’t your attorney do anything?”

I shook my head. “I don’t have one, but I spoke to a lawyer friend who told me Leo could do that if he wanted. She offered to help me. She’d seen women married to millionaires who couldn’t afford groceries because the men had tied the money up until the final settlement. I have to take care of my mother. I don’t have a job. All the bank accounts are in his name...”

“What are you going to do?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I signed them. I’m hoping he’ll come to his senses and realize that this crazy affair with Piper is nothing more than a midlife crisis, an antidote to his depression. What else can I do?”

“What about the children?”

“I could have fought to have them with me, but I don’t want them around my mother. I’ve told you what my childhood was like, all the negativity and manipulation. I won’t let her do that to Stelli and Evie. Besides, there are only two bedrooms at her house. The custody can be reassessed once I have my own place, which I can’t get until my mother’s recovered, anyway.”

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