Chapter 9
But by then, I understood that I couldn't negotiate someone into loving me properly.
“I want the divorce handled fairly,” I said. “I want the agreements honored. And I want you to stop contacting me outside the legal process.”
“You're really going to throw away eight years?”
I closed my eyes.
“No, Carter. I'm going to stop throwing away the rest of my life.”
I ended the call.
It was the last personal conversation we ever had.
The investigation eventually confirmed serious concerns about the proposed restructuring. The reviewers found that the transaction, as drafted, would have transferred substantial economic value away from the existing company without adequate protections for its shareholders.
They also found communications indicating that Carter had been advised to obtain the necessary approvals before proceeding.
He had chosen not to wait.
The board removed him from responsibility for the restructuring and appointed an independent committee to oversee the company's finances and governance. Carter retained his ownership interest, but his authority was reduced while the company addressed the findings.
There were consequences, but they were not the dramatic, instantaneous collapse Patricia had once laughed at the idea of me causing.
Hale Development continued operating. Its employees kept their jobs, its projects moved forward under new oversight, and its shareholders received the protections they were contractually entitled to.
That mattered to me.
I had never wanted innocent people to lose their livelihoods because my marriage had failed.
I wanted accountability, not destruction.
And for the first time in a long time, the difference felt important.
---
The final divorce negotiations took place in a conference room overlooking the city.
Carter arrived with two attorneys.
I arrived with Rebecca.
He looked tired.
His suit was expensive, his watch was the same one he had worn to our wedding, and his expression was still guarded. But the effortless superiority that once filled every room he entered had disappeared.
The first settlement proposal from his lawyers was generous in some respects and insulting in others.
It offered me a cash payment in exchange for releasing certain claims and waiving future objections to the disputed corporate transactions.
Rebecca rejected it.
The second proposal attempted to characterize my contribution to the company's rescue as a personal favor rather than an investment.
Rebecca rejected that too.
By the third meeting, Carter's attorneys had stopped pretending the signed agreements were optional.
The final settlement recognized the separate property held by my trust, preserved its contractual equity rights, and divided the marital assets according to the applicable agreements and law. The house and other disputed property were addressed through a negotiated arrangement, with appropriate credits and obligations accounted for.