07

THE DIVORCE LAWYER

~SIENNA~

The office was exactly what I needed.

It wasn't flashy. It was a boutique firm hidden into a quiet building with frosted glass and friendly furniture. The receptionist barely looked up when I walked in.

I sat in the waiting area, my bag heavy against my legs.

Inside, I had almost everything I needed. Marriage certificate. Bank statements. Investment records. Tax returns. Even the notes I'd taken about the affair three years ago.

The estate document was different. That stayed hidden in a side pocket.

"Ms. Vale?"

A woman stepped into the hallway. Rachel Morgan looked to be in her early forties, calm and direct. She wore a dark suit.

I followed her into a small, sunlit office. She gave a sign to a chair and sat across from me, opening a fresh file.

"What brings you in today?" she asked.

I didn't hesitate.

"I want a divorce."

Rachel didn't look surprised. She leaned back, her pen poised over the paper.

"Why now?"

I kept my answer simple.

"My husband had an affair three years ago. He lied about it, and his family helped cover for him."

Rachel's pen paused.

"Do you have evidence?"

"Some."

I opened my bag and pulled out the printed messages I'd brought with me. I slid them across the desk.

Rachel picked them up and read through the first few pages. I watched her expression change as she went through them.

"His mother knew?" she asked.

"Yes."

"And your husband admitted to the affair?"

"Eventually."

Rachel set the papers down. "Do you still want to save the marriage? Counseling? A trial separation?"

"No." My answer came without hesitation. "I'm done."

"Let's talk about the money," Rachel said, shifting the folder.

I walked her through the broad picture. The joint checking. The household expenses. My personal savings. The inheritance from my mother.

I told her about my car and the small investment accounts I'd managed to track down.

"Ethan uses our joint funds to pay for his family," I said, sliding the

transaction history across the desk. "He's been doing it for years. Victoria's mortgage, his sister's medical bills. It's all here."

Rachel scanned the pages, her brow furrowing slightly. She didn't promise me the moon. She didn't tell me I'd get every dollar back.

"These transactions matter," she said quietly. "But we need to be very careful. We have to distinguish marital property from separate property before we make a move."

I leaned forward, my heart thumping against my chest. "What can I move right now? I need to secure my assets."

Rachel looked up, her gaze sharp behind her glasses. "Before you move anything substantial, Sienna, I want you to stop."

I went still.

"Why?"

"Because divorce proceedings involve financial disclosure," Rachel explained. "Sudden transfers or large, unusual withdrawals right before filing can create massive problems in court. If it looks like you're hiding assets or emptying accounts, a judge won't be happy."

I thought about the $127,640 sitting in that dormant account. I thought about the supplies I needed to buy.

The food. The fuel. The gear.

I said nothing.

"Protecting your separate property is different from hiding marital property," Rachel continued. "We need a strategy, not a panic."

Rachel tapped her pen against the desk. "Why the sudden rush to separate everything? Usually, clients take more time to process the emotional side."

I looked at my hands. "I don't trust him anymore. I don't want him having access to a single cent of my mother's money."

It was the truth. It just wasn't the whole truth.

I didn't tell her about the sixty-day countdown. I didn't tell her about the freezing wind or the way Ethan had watched me die through a triple-paned window.

I didn't mention the spatial ability or the bunker.

"If you're serious about this," Rachel said, "don't give Ethan a reason to suspect you're moving assets. If he catches on too early, he could file first or freeze the accounts himself."

I nodded. A chill ran down my spine.

I had sixty days to prepare, and I needed to make every financial move carefully enough that Ethan couldn't use it against me.

Rachel pulled out a legal pad and started writing.

"Here is your checklist," she said. "One: Gather every financial record you can find. Two: Document the affair—any old texts or emails you still have. Three: Keep your personal inheritance in a separate account and do not blend it with joint funds."

I wrote it all down, my pulse thumping in my ears.

"Four: Avoid moving joint assets without my advice. Five: No large, unexplained withdrawals. And six: Keep copies of everything in a secure location outside your home."

I realized then that preparation wasn't just about stockpiling grain and batteries.

I had to prepare my legal life, too. I had two fronts now.

'Stay alive. Stay legally free.'

Rachel closed the folder and set it aside. The room felt smaller.

"There's one more thing I need to know," she said.

I waited, my fingers gripping my notebook.

"Does Ethan know you're considering divorce?"

The silence stretched out between us. I thought about that morning. I thought about the way Ethan had smiled at me over his coffee cup. He had touched my shoulder, acting like the perfect, exhausted husband.

He had no idea his world was already ending.

I slowly shook my head. "No."

Rachel studied me, her face unreadable. "Then keep it that way. Don't change your routine. Don't pick fights. Keep it exactly as it is until we are ready to file."

My stomach tightened.

I had been thinking about the divorce as my escape, but Ethan was still right there. He was sleeping in my bed. He was sharing my kitchen. He knew my every move.

And he had no idea I was already taking apart the life he thought he controlled.

"If Ethan doesn't know," Rachel said, her voice dropping, "don't give him a reason to find out before we have everything in place."

I closed my notebook and tucked it into my bag.

I thought about the money. I thought about the property document waiting on my laptop. I thought about the sixty days ticking away like a bomb.

The dangerous part wasn't leaving Ethan.

It was pretending I wasn't leaving him.

I looked at Rachel. "How soon can we file?"

"Soon," she said. "But first, I need you to understand exactly what happens once Ethan realizes you're serious."