The Marriage Act(46)
‘You’re lying. You wouldn’t have done that.’
He made a helpless gesture with his hands. ‘I’m afraid I did. You can look at the documents yourself. I’ve gone old school and printed them out and left them on your bedside cabinet for some night-time reading.’
A panicked Corrine ran through the house and up the stairs until she reached her bedroom. There, where he said they’d be, were dozens of sheets of paper secured in a binder. Sticky labels highlighted and confirmed what he had just informed her. Bile rose up into her throat.
‘Why would you do that to me?’ she yelled as she returned to the kitchen.
‘It’s nothing personal, it’s business. There are clauses that suggest it’s in my best interest for us to remain in a partnership. And if you knew the sums I’ve invested in my projects, you wouldn’t be arguing with me.’
Corrine trembled with rage and steadied herself with a hand on the counter.
‘Excuse me,’ asked one of the women carrying an Audite box, ‘where would you like this fitting?’
‘Get out!’ Corrine screamed at the startled woman. ‘Mitchell, you can’t enjoy living like this? You can’t honestly tell me you’re happy with the way things are between us?’
Mitchell placed his palm on the centre of his chest. ‘Hand on heart, I do not give two shits about the way things are between us. You have your life, I have mine. I don’t care that we no longer meet in the middle. But I will not lose out financially because your nest is about to empty and you’ve got nothing better to do. Go and find a hobby if you’re that starved of attention.’
Corrine opened her mouth to tell him that she did have a life beyond those four walls and that it was a life he couldn’t conceive of, where people worked together for a greater good and not for themselves. But she held back, afraid of how he might use it to his advantage.
‘I signed that document under false pretences,’ she said. ‘My lawyer will get me out of it.’
‘The three-month statute of limitations for an annulment has already expired.’
‘But what you did was illegal!’
‘So take me to court. I’ll deny it, you’ll fight it, it’ll be your word against mine. We can tie each other up in legal proceedings for years before you get your precious divorce and, by then, I’ll have what I want regardless.’
‘I’ll start calling you every name under the sun every minute of every day into those fucking Audites until they start Levelling us up.’
‘Your love for freedom of speech will do you no favours. You’ll be labelled a Hostile Spouse and, if we reach Level Three at the Family Court, the division of assets and property will be heavily weighted in my favour as you’ll be seen as making no effort to repair our relationship. You’ll be left with nothing but a pot to piss in. And that’s only if I say you can have one.’
‘I hate you,’ she growled.
‘Careful now, stress can cause strokes in women of your age. And I took the liberty of checking the Safe Passage box on our marriage upgrade so that if something does happen, God forbid, I’ll make sure you don’t suffer. For long.’
Mitchell offered her a wink before he shuffled away. He didn’t flinch when the boxed Audite she hurled at him smashed against the wall and fell to the floor.
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35
Arthur
Arthur was sitting in his lounge armchair, hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles paled. His teeth were gritted behind the thinnest of smiles.
On the television screen in front of him, an enthusiastic young man typed notes into a tablet. If he called Arthur ‘bruv’, ‘matey’ or ‘buddy’ one more time, Arthur thought he might fake a heart attack and put an end to this charade. Alas his traitorous Smart watch would likely prove him perfectly healthy.
‘All righty, so now I have the facts, that’s the boring bit out of the way,’ Jax chirped. ‘So let’s get on with the good stuff and find you a lady!’
Arthur shuddered. But his thin smile remained as he offered a barely perceptible nod.
He had followed his solicitor’s advice and joined the Government-approved Perfect Companion matchmaking service. Each prospective member faced an in-depth interview before joining. Arthur had already faced a barrage of questions that morning.
‘First of all, Match Your DNA is the fastest way of finding love,’ Jax continued. ‘Have you signed up to that yet?’