Acts of Desperation(60)
“Ok, hon,” he said, his weakened voice straining to speak.
As soon as the door clicked shut, I asked, “Did he just call you hon?”
“Shh…let’s talk down here,” she said, grabbing my arm and leading me down the hallway.
We stopped at the lounge and sat in our normal seats by a set of windows that looked out onto a grassy area littered with geese.
“What the heck is going on? Why was Jax here?”
“He did us a favor.”
“Us?” I asked.
“Me and Anders.”
“What kind of favor?”
“Don’t be mad at him. I asked him not to discuss anything with you because I knew what you’d say and you’d try to stop me.”
My heart started to race. “What did you do Sarah?”
“Anders and I got divorced today. He brought a judge by and we had an unconventional divorce proceeding in Anders’s room. It’s official, we’re divorced,” she said, avoiding eye contact.
My mouth hung open. “That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. No. You’re kidding.” I started laughing, convinced she was joking. I even thought about looking for Ashton Kutcher again.
“See, I knew you wouldn’t understand.” She looked away from me and smirked. “And you would have tried to talk me out of it.”
“You’re damn right I would have and so would any other lawyer! Why? You just screwed yourself out of any kind of money that you could have had for you and the boys! Sarah everything he has would have been yours. Why would you do this?”
“Sember you don’t know….you don’t get it. He doesn’t have anything. You saw the financial reports he gave to the judge,” she said.
“Yeah and it was full of lies and you know it. You know he’s got money hidden! You could have been taken care of for the rest of your life and you just pissed it all away!” I said.
“Would you be quiet?” She turned her head and looked around. “I did not! We’ve been talking a lot over the last couple of weeks. You don’t understand. He said he’s been drinking and gambling a lot since his dad died. He admitted that he pretty much unraveled and ruined everything he had that was good in his life. He’s lost everything. Me, the boys…and there’s no extra money.”
“And you believe that?” I asked.
“I do. He’s dying. Why would he keep lying now?”
“Because he’s mentally ill. And, a liar. Just because he’s dying doesn’t change that. Are you forgetting everything he’s done? What about his business?”
“I haven’t forgotten about anything. He is his business and it’s worth nothing without him, you know that.”
“He has money in some business accounts somewhere.” She only shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the thought. “And his house?”
“He barely has any equity since he’s only lived there a short time. There’s nothing to have. Nothing.”
“So then why even get divorced? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“He said he wanted to give me the peace and closure that I deserve. I know it’s hard to understand, but I think he’s finally realized how horrible he’s been to me and the boys. He seemed so desperate and sorry. He said he owes me. It’s his last wish. How could I deny him that?”
“It should have been easy after everything he’s done.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well anyway, we asked Jax to draw up new documents.”
“And he went along with this?” I was completely and utterly baffled.
“Yes. After Anders’s funeral is paid for, the remainder of his estate will be divided it up between the boys and put into a trust. It’s probably only going to be a few thousand each when all is said and done. He said he wanted to leave the boys with something…to take care of them still after he’s gone.”
“Well that’s great but what about now and the next fifteen years while you raise two boys on a teacher’s salary by yourself? Have you thought about that?”
“Of course I have. People do it all the time. It’ll be tough but I’ll figure it out. Mom and dad can help. I’ll need to start tutoring and maybe get a second job over the weekends, but we’ll make it.”
“I-I can’t let you do this. You’re exhausted and you’ve let him manipulate your mind,” I said, shaking my head. Maybe if I drove quickly enough, I could get to the courthouse and stop the papers—or at least try. This was going to be the biggest mistake of her life. I had to save her from herself, defend her when she didn’t know she needed defending. I knew in my heart that Anders was hiding something and I couldn’t let him get away with it.
“You can’t stop it. It’s done. The judge already left and he said he’d file the papers immediately.”
“I’m sorry Sarah but I have to go,” I said and got up to leave. She grabbed my arm to stop me, but I shook her off and kept on walking.
I had to find Jax. If I could convince him, he could call the judge and maybe stop the papers. I called his phone and after I was sent directly to voicemail, I called the office. Dee told me that he’d been working from home the whole week so I drove like a complete maniac and within minutes, pulled up in front of his brownstone.