“Rebecca,” Robert finally spoke up. “I want you to reconsider what we’ve discussed about going forward. If we don’t follow that path, you risk losing everything.”
“What does she have to do?” I asked curiously, though I already knew.
Rebecca laughed humorlessly. “He wants me to move my family, along with the whore nanny, to a new home in New Hampshire where we’ll play house until he can get my divorce settled.”
“Wow, that’s asking a lot.” Robert’s grip tightened on me momentarily. “What happens if you get a divorce here?”
She slid her thumb across the top of the glass, wiping off the lipstick mark that was left behind. “If I divorce here, I’ll lose half of everything, and I’ll have to pay him alimony.”
“Why would you pay him? Wouldn’t he be responsible for taking care of you?”
I already knew all this, but I wanted her to talk it out with me.
“My husband hasn’t worked in over a year. He took that time to ‘build a company’, which was actually him spending my money on the nanny. See, in your relationship, Robert has all the money and power, but in mine, I hold the keys to the family fortune. I’m the one that risks losing it all.”
I nodded and leaned back in my seat. “Wow, your husband sounds like a real douchebag.”
“That’s one way of putting it.”
“So, you’ve been out working, earning all the money, and he’s been spending that money on his whore.”
“Exactly.”
“I gotta say, I’m with Robert on this one.”
Her jaw clenched in anger. “You think I should give up my home, my life here, and move with him across the country? Do you know what that’ll do to me? To watch him with that woman, knowing that when I’m out building a new life, he’s fucking her?”
I grinned at her. “And while you’re building your new life, making even more money than he could ever dream of, Robert will be dismantling his life piece by piece. I have to say, I’m not very vengeful, but if my husband did that to me, I would want to make him suffer. I would want him to feel relaxed and comfortable, thinking that his life was going great. And then, just when he’s thinking he’s won, I would pull the rug out from under him and leave him with absolutely nothing.”
Robert picked up his drink and grinned. “Remind me to never piss you off once we’re married.”
“You’d better think about that now,” I smiled back.
“If I do that, I’d be taking my kids away from the only place they’ve ever known. I’d be relocating my business offices, starting fresh in a new city. That takes time and effort.”
“But you would have the money to do it,” Robert cut in. “If he takes half your assets, he not only takes the money, but the ability for you to make those decisions. He would sit on the board of your businesses unless you bought him out. You would lose complete control. If you don’t do this, he wins.”
“He wins anyway. He’ll spread lies to my children. He’ll turn them against me.”
“Not if you humiliate him,” I said ruefully.
“Anna-“
“Shush, Robert. The ladies are talking now,” I said dismissively. “Here’s the thing, if you don’t out him for who he is, your children will hear gossip and his version of the story their whole lives. But if you have proof of his cheating and leave him with nothing, they’ll know exactly who he is.”
“I can’t do that to them,” she said sadly. “You’re not a mother. You don’t understand. They’d hate me.”
“No, they’d respect you. Do you want your kids to know that your husband treated you like shit and that you were okay with it? Because frankly, if you don’t put a stop to this, if you let him tear you and your companies apart, it’s like telling your kids that what he did was okay. If I had children, I would want them to know that I didn’t let someone walk all over me, that I was strong enough to take what was rightfully mine and throw the trash out the door.”
I took a sip of my water and set it down almost too harshly. Frankly, I was pissed off on her behalf. I hated that he not only cheated on her, but that she knew what his next move would be. It was wrong.