Chapter 6 - The Settlement of Accounts
The mediation took place two weeks later in a neutral conference room at Victoria’s downtown office.
Jason looked like a ghost of the man who had stood at the altar under the oak tree. He was represented by a high-priced corporate defense attorney who spent the first twenty minutes looking through our financial exhibits with an expression of mounting horror as he realized just how airtight our case truly was.
There was no trial. There was no messy public courtroom drama.
Within three hours, the settlement agreement was finalized and signed in triplicate.
The terms were exact:
The marriage was annulled on grounds of fraudulent inducement, sparing us the lengthy statutory waiting period for a standard divorce.
The house on Oakridge Lane was ordered to be sold immediately, with one hundred percent of the initial one hundred and forty thousand dollar down payment returned directly to me off the top, plus fifty percent of the remaining equity and statutory interest.
Jason was ordered to reimburse all documented marital funds used for unauthorized travel and gifts.
A mutual, ironclad non-disclosure agreement was executed, barring both Jason and Amber from ever contacting me, mentioning my name, or referencing our relationship in any public or private forum, backed by a severe financial penalty of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per violation.
As I signed my name at the bottom of the final page, using a sleek gold fountain pen my father had given me for college graduation, I felt the last lingering ghost of the past three years dissolve into nothingness.
May you like
Victoria slid the folder closed with a crisp snap.
“Congratulations, Rachel,” she said, offering me a rare, genuine smile. “You are officially a free woman.”
