Acts of Desperation(56)
He looked up and told whomever he was talking to that he’d call them right back. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“Sarah just told me the ruling.”
“Yeah, it was a disappointing outcome,” he said.
“No kidding. And you told her to meet with Anders to strike up a deal? Why?” I asked.
He got up from his chair and met me in the middle of the room then crossed his arms. “Look, Anders is in a unique position to manipulate his financial statements to get them to say whatever he wants. He’s got a clever accountant, and he’s working within the parameters of the law. If we take this to trial, it could take months and cost the firm tens of thousands of dollars with no certain outcome.”
“Cost the firm tens of thousands of dollars. This is boiling down to money for you?” I said.
“Just wait a second—”
“No, you wait a second. This is my sister and my family. There are two little boys here that we’re fighting for and you’re encouraging her to make a deal with the devil. Take this thing to trial if that’s what it takes. There has to be more you can do. You’re all just giving up. Go through Anders’s business records with a fine tooth comb. He’s hiding his money, I know it. I’ll pay for the investigation if money is the issue for you,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Hold on here, this isn’t just about money. I’ve sat here and talked this through with your sister. I’d be willing to do anything to help your family but you need to realize that I’m her attorney and the advice I gave her was sound and in line with what she wants. She wants this to end, and it’s what she chose to do. I’m just supporting that.”
“You’re supporting yourself,” I said and began walking out. I stopped at the door. “You know how you said that you needed some time to sort your feelings out about us? Well take all the time you need because there isn’t an us anymore.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Over the next week, there was a lot of legal drama. My case against John had reached its conclusion. He admitted fully to his crime and was sentenced to five years in prison; I could officially close that chapter and move forward with my life. There was also a lot of back and forth between Sarah, Anders, and Jax. Sarah gave me periodic updates on what was happening behind the scenes, since I was too angry and refused to talk to Jax about it.
Sarah and Anders had met over the weekend, and they inched closer to a final agreement. She offered Anders shared custody and hoped that he wouldn’t be able to follow through on the time commitment. She didn’t want to subject the kids to anymore of his mental abuse than was absolutely necessary, but she said she felt stuck. It was a gamble, but she was only following her lawyer’s advice. After Sarah made her offer, Anders did become slightly more agreeable on the financial side, and by midweek, Sarah thought they’d reached a settlement that she wasn’t one hundred percent happy with but one she could live with. A final meeting had been scheduled for that Friday. Both Sarah and Anders were coming in to sign the papers then Jax was going to request a date to go before the judge for the final divorce hearing.
The days leading up to the signing were stressful for Sarah; she was sure Anders would back out at the last moment or screw things up in some way, but when Friday arrived, they both walked into the Alexander, Richards, and Williams offices together.
When I saw them walking down the hall, I couldn’t stomach looking at Anders’s smug face. I spoke with Sarah off to the side for a second before they went into Jax’s office.
“Are you sure you’re ok with this? If you sign the papers, it’s final. There’s no going back,” I said.
“Sem, I’m sure. The money we agreed on is more than the judge awarded me. It’s not great, but I can live with it. It’ll be tough to get by, but I’ll just have to start tutoring and cut some of their activities after school. I can’t take this anymore. I need my life back,” she said.
“But you know he’s hiding his money. You know it. He can afford so much more.”
“Trust me I know. I saw all the huge checks he got in the mail when we were still together and what we had in our bank account. He’s got a ton of money somewhere but Jax said it’s a matter of finding it, and I don’t want to invest anymore of my life pursuing it. It could take years. The kids are young, and I don’t want to waste any more of their lives fighting a battle I may never win. They deserve to have a happy childhood, and now I can build one knowing what I’ll have.”
I still thought Jax could have persuaded her to pursue an investigation into Anders’s business, but the situation was what it was. As much as I hated that I’d have to watch my sister struggle over the coming years knowing Anders’s pockets were getting fat, in the end she was in the position she wanted to be in, and I suppose I needed to come to terms with it as well.
“Ok,” I said finally. “Good luck. I’ll see you when you come out.”
Sarah smiled nervously and went down to meet Anders in Jax’s office. The signing of the papers hadn’t taken long at all and a short time later I looked up to see Anders walking past my office. He was wiping down his sweaty forehead again and turned to look at me. I gasped; he looked awful. His skin had yellowed, and he was even thinner than he’d been at the financial trial. But still, with as awful as it looked like he felt, he still managed to smile at me arrogantly silently acknowledging his victory. I hoped that deep down the guilt from what he was doing was eating away at him from the inside out.