Chapter 290 - Claimed By My Stepbrother (Cadell Security Series)
Seona’s POV
Insecurity rocks through me as I take in every part of the vivacious woman across from me. She obviously works out, most likely daily by the looks of her. Her body is strong yet feminine, curvy in that perfect hour glass style that men drool over. I glance down at myself, feeling self conscious all of a sudden, my flaws standing out like a neon sign as I slide my now sweaty palms over the denim of my jeans that look so unimpressive next to the lawyer in her thousand dollar suit.
Seona is talking, and I peek over to Mark who is listening intently, nodding along to her words from his seat beside me. Does he like more physically fit women? He does work out a lot, both at the gym and in his room. I know he does push ups and sit ups every day as I’ve walked past the bedroom door a couple of times when it was ajar and seen him.
‘What do you think Seona?’ Margo’s voice cuts through my self-depreciation, and I snap my attention to her as she looks at me quizzically.
‘Sorry what?’ I mumble, avoiding Mark’s concerned look beside me.
Margo smiles, ‘I said that we should file straight away, have the papers delivered by a service to your husband so he can’t say he didn’t get them.’ She tilts her head slightly, shrewdly studying me, ‘you have to wait sixty days after filing for the Divorce to finalise so the sooner we file the sooner you can be free of this asshole and move on with your life.’
Beside me, Mark jerks slightly, but when I look over at him, his face is impassive making me wonder if I imagined the movement.
I nod automatically, not really understanding what the lawyer is talking about, sixty days? Don’t you just fill in paperwork, sign and it’s done?
‘Now, there are two ways we can file’ Margo continues, placing her glass onto the table between us and picking up some paperwork that is stacked neatly to the side. ‘We can go for a no fault which means that you are just saying the marriage has broken down, or we file for an at fault divorce where we lay out just how the bastard has treated you over the years.’
My heart stutters, as the part of me that is still ashamed of what I let my husband do to me rears its head. Davis won’t be happy if I file about his behaviour, maybe he’ll be more amenable to let me go if I just do the no fault option.
‘No fault’ I mutter quickly, ‘I want to go the no fault route, so we can sign and get it over with.’
Margo pulls a face, holding my gaze as I squirm, have I let her down? Did she want me to go the other way?
‘I understand why you want to go that route’ the lawyer sighs sadly, ‘trust me, I know, but . . ‘ she glances at Mark who continues to be unreadable. ‘Seona, if we file under unreconcilable differences, the judge may order the two of you to attend mediation to try and work out the problems . . ‘
‘No!’ I practically shout, recoiling from the woman instinctively, ‘no! Please! I don’t want to be in a room with him, don’t make me do that.’
The familiar warmth of Mark’s hand envelopes my own, calming me immediately as Margo shakes her head firmly.
‘I will never allow that Seona’ she tells me, ‘that man will not be given any chance to confuse or hurt you again, not if I can help it, but it does mean that we need to file an at fault claim.’ She sighs understandingly, ‘I know you are scared, fearful of what he might do, but you have Hallick beside you. If I didn’t I would be nervous about your safety I can’t lie, but I trust Hallick, if he can’t keep you safe, no one can.’
I peek over at the soldier again, looking for something, anything in his face that will tell me what to do, but Mark refuses to meet my gaze.
‘I . . . I don’t want to make him angry’ I choke out, voicing for the first time, out loud that my husband scares me.
Margo rises from her chair, sweeping around the table to sit next to me, taking my free hand in her own and squeezing it.
‘I get it’ she tells me, a haunted look crossing her face that is so familiar because I’ve seen it every time I’ve looked in the mirror. ‘The problem is, if you don’t fight against him, he’ll always have a hold over you, power to try and worm his way back into your life.’
I nod because she’s right, and I know she’s right but knowing it and doing it are two separate battles. Even now, after all these weeks, that small voice whispers in my head, wondering if there is any way to avoid the conflict. What can I do to turn Davis back into who he was to begin with and then I don’t have to upset him.
I laugh brokenly at my own thought process, I’m sitting here trying to figure out how to change my husband back into the man before we got married to avoid upsetting him but being worried about upsetting him and what happens when I do is the problem. There is no fixing my marriage, the Davis I knew when we dated doesn’t exist anymore, if he ever did.
‘You deserve to be happy Seona’ Margo tells me gently, ‘we all deserve that. We deserve to be loved for who we are, by someone who builds us up instead of tearing us down.’
I nod, recognising that she’s parroting exactly what Mark said to me before. I deserve to be loved, cherished and respected and I don’t get any of that from Davis.
‘OK’ I whisper past the lump of fear in my throat, ‘let’s do it your way, file for . . .’ I swallow, forcing the words up and out, ‘file for divorce because of abuse.’
Margo beams at me triumphantly as the calloused fingers of the soldier tighten slightly around my own.
‘Wonderful’ the lawyer says, moving back to her seat across from me, ‘I’ll get the papers drawn up and sent over to Mr Thomas this week.’
Jotting down a note on one of the pieces of paper, Margo fixes me with another stern look.
‘Next, we need to decide what we are going for’ she tells me as I look back at her confused. ‘What we are going to ask for in the divorce’ the lawyer clarifies.
‘Oh, I don’t want . .’ I start immediately.
‘Honey?’ Margo cuts me off, frowning, ‘I know what you are about to say and I’m telling you, as your legal representative, that it is not in your best interest to say you don’t want anything. You haven’t worked for the entire length of your marriage, correct? She asks, pen poised over the paperwork.
I shake my head slowly, ‘well no, Davis wanted me to stay at home, he made enough to support us. He paid for everything, our house, the car, food, insurances . . ’
Margo nods, scribbling furiously, ‘OK, do you know about any pensions he may have?’ she asks, all business.
I shake my head, not aware of any of Davis’ finances, ‘I didn’t have access to the bank or his pay slips’ I mutter, ‘Davis gave me an allowance to buy groceries, he dealt with everything else. I . . I didn’t contribute at all to our household, so nothing belongs to me.’
The fiery woman pauses, her eyes lifting to meet mine as her lips thin, ‘do not confuse having no employment with a company for not contributing to the household Seona’ she growls. ‘You cooked, cleaned, washed, ironed, and everything else that is needed to run a household. You did these things so that Davis could work, that is how you pulled your weight in your marriage.’
Flustered, I try to argue, ‘I would have had to do that even if I had a job.’
The lawyer rolls her eyes, ‘Honey, if you worked full time, you would have expected your husband to do fifty percent of the household chores, as you should! If he didn’t want to do his share, he would have had to pay someone to do it, and you might want to work out how much it costs to outsource your home responsibilities. He paid you for your work by paying your half of the mortgage, your half of the car payments, your pension payments that have gone into his plan because you don’t have one. You are entitled to that money, it’s yours, you worked for it! Just because you didn’t see a wage from an employer doesn’t reduce your contribution to your family.’
My mouth falls open at her words, I’d never looked at it like that, just always felt like I was being taken care of, bringing nothing to the table, a train of thought that Davis encouraged me to have.
Margo points her pen at me, ‘we are going for fifty percent minimum’ she tells me firmly, ‘more if I can get the judge to see things my way. A little unorthodox, and it may not work as judges aren’t so keen to award it any more, but I’m also putting in a request for Alimony for you.’
A squeak of surprise leaves me, my eyes widening further, ‘a . . alimony?’ I stammer.
The lawyer nods grimly, ‘If I can get it, it will probably only be for a set amount of time, but it could really help you while you try to find some work to support yourself, pay for somewhere to live.’
‘I have my fudge’ I mutter weakly, ‘I have some money coming in.’
Margo smiles, ‘but does it bring in enough to pay for rent, food, power, a phone every month?’ she asks me gently.
I swallow, shaking my head in defeat, it brings in a few dollars a week, but nowhere near what I need to afford to live on my own, and at some point I will have to find somewhere to live. It suddenly hits me that I cannot keep living rent free in Mackenzie’s apartment, she must be losing quite a bit of money in rental income by me being there.
Looking up at Margo, I nod, ‘OK’ I agree resignedly, ‘do what you need to do.’
The lawyer raises an eyebrow, a dangerous smirk crawling across her face, ‘are you saying that I can try and get anything I can?’ she prompts, ‘I need you to actively tell me what you want me to do Seona.’
Sucking in a breath, I straighten up slightly, as I nod, ‘Yes’ I reply, my voice thankfully, strong, ‘please start my divorce proceedings due to abuse and claim for half of everything plus alimony payments.’
Margo, grins as she holds out a hand to me, ‘consider me hired, it will be a pleasure to help you screw your husband for everything he has.’