Chapter 15 - The Divorce Table
Our mediation began in October.
By then, the criminal investigation around Mason and Charlotte was expanding.
Neither had gone to trial.
Both were negotiating through attorneys.
The divorce, however, could not remain frozen forever.
Gavin sat on one side of the table.
I sat on the other.
Nathan represented me.
Gavin had replaced his original attorney with Margaret Chen, a woman who seemed far less interested in intimidation than damage control.
Nathan began with the house.
The transfer to Northline Holdings was being unwound.
Gavin agreed that I could take the property or receive its equivalent value.
“I don’t want the house,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
Gavin most of all.
“You don’t?”
“No.”
I remembered the bedroom.
The folder across the bed.
Charlotte drinking my wine.
The belt in Gavin’s hand.
I never wanted to sleep under that roof again.
Nathan moved to investment accounts.
Then retirement funds.
Then marital appreciation in Gavin’s SwiftFreight shares.
The number was substantial.
Very substantial.
Gavin did not fight it.
That surprised Nathan.
Then came the hidden entities.
Anything proven to have contained marital assets would be included in the settlement calculation.
The alleged forty million dollars of debt was excluded pending investigation of the forged signatures.
Gavin agreed.
Finally Margaret placed one last proposal on the table.
A lump-sum settlement.
I read the number twice.
It would make me independently wealthy for the rest of my life.
Nathan leaned toward me.
“We can continue litigating.”
“I know.”
“You may recover more.”
“I know.”
Gavin looked exhausted.
“This isn’t hush money.”
I looked at him.
“Then there’s no confidentiality clause?”
“No.”
Nathan turned another page.
There was none.
No nondisparagement provision either.
No demand that I withdraw cooperation with investigators.
No restriction on discussing the circumstances of the divorce.
That mattered more than the number.
I set the papers down.
“Why?”
Gavin looked at me.
“Because the first time I offered you a divorce agreement, I was trying to punish you.”
He paused.
“I don’t want the last agreement between us to look anything like it.”
I studied his face.
There are moments when forgiveness becomes tempting because someone finally says the right thing.
But forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation.
I could acknowledge his remorse without returning to him.
I could accept a fair settlement without selling my silence.
I could leave without needing him destroyed.
May you like
I picked up the pen.
This time, before signing, I read every page.
