Chapter 6.
The lawyer’s tone shifted instantly. “While challenging, solutions can often be found.”
“Speak.”
“We could have Mr. Foret sign a power of attorney document. This would authorize his legal representative to appear at the courthouse and finalize the divorce proceedings on his behalf.”
Rosalind considered it. Signing one more document was easy. She’d tricked him once already. Doing it again shouldn’t be impossible.
“Understood. Draft the power of attorney. I’ll get his signature. Then you’ll accompany me to the courthouse…”
“Oh, no, no, that won’t work…”
His greed warred with her dwindling patience.“Rest assured. You’ll be well compensated upon success.”
“It’s not about the fee,” Ronan demurred, his voice strained. “Mr. Foret will discover the truth eventually. You can disappear after the divorce, but I still practice law in Houston! If he decides to retaliate, my small firm couldn’t withstand it…”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Hmm… Perhaps you know another lawyer you trust implicitly? Preferably one who wouldn’t mind handling this one last big case before relocating?”
An unscrupulous lawyer?
Rosalind didn’t move in those circles.
But she did know one lawyer who would likely relish the chance to see her marriage to Christopher end.
3:00 PM. The coffee shop.
Rosalind had waited two hours when he finally strolled in.
“Mr. Benitez. It’s been a while.”
The man was tall, nearly 6’2“, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit. A faint, mocking smirk played on his lips.
Eugene Benitez was Christopher’s closest friend since childhood. The third son of the prominent Benitez family
in La Porte.
While his two older brothers waged a bitter war over the family fortune, Eugene, too proud to dirty his hands, had distanced himself after graduating from Harvard Law School to forge his path as an attorney.
For reasons Rosalind had never understood, he’d despised her from the moment she and Christopher became serious. His hostility was palpable.
Unlike Christopher’s other friends, who readily called her “Mrs. Foret“, Eugene always addressed her with chilly formality: Ms. Johansen.
“Ms. Johansen. To what do I owe this surprise? I didn’t think we had anything left to discuss.”
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I came to offer my congratulations, Mr. Benitez, Rosalind stated calmly.
Eugene raised an eyebrow. “Congratulations? On what?”
On finally getting your wish.”
Rosalind pulled a stack of photos from her bag, images of Christopher and Latoya that the private investigator had
captured.
They were either holding hands, embracing, or kissing.
Eugene glanced at them and laughed. “Well, well. Christopher finally came to his senses. Life’s too short to stay stuck in a dead–end relationship.”
Over the years, Rosalind had grown accustomed to Eugene’s barbed comments and thinly veiled contempt.
“Dead–end relationship? Fine. Right now, he is the only one who could help me get free,” she thought.
He pushed the photos back towards her, leaning back with infuriating calm. “What, Ms. Johansen? Hoping I’ll talk sense into him? Make him mend his ways? You’ve come to the wrong man. I’ve spent years hoping for exactly this, the two of you drifting apart, sharing a bed but living separate lives.”
“I know,” Rosalind said. “Which is why, this time, our goals align.”
Eugene’s smirk sharpened.“Do enlighten me.”
“I will arrange for Christopher to sign a power of attorney document. It will authorize you as his legal representative. Then you will accompany me to the courthouse to finalize the divorce.”
* Chapter 7
Chapter 7.
