Chapter 3

"Where's your representation, Mrs. Hudson?"

The man across the table was middle-aged, in a dark expensive suit, undoubtedly Mark's lawyer. Mark sat beside him, staring at me, his face unreadable.

"I don't have one. I only have this."

I lifted the legal pad I'd bought at a store an hour earlier. It made a sound when I dropped it on the table.

It wasn't for lack of trying. I'd called eleven firms. Nine said no, and two wanted a retainer that was more than everything I had. They all gave me the same reason: my reputation was finished, and taking me on against the head of Jupiter Inc. was more risk than my money was worth.

"Right, then. Shall we?"

Mark was pleasant about all of it. That's the part people don't understand. Nobody raised their voice. Everyone was very pleasant.

"Marital home. Titled solely to Mr. Hudson before the marriage," the lawyer said.

"That's fine," I replied.

"Vehicles the same."

"Okay."

"Kenmore was purchased during the marriage, but under the prenuptial schedule it's categorised as —"

"Alright. I just want it looked after properly."

The lawyer looked up.

I'd come in planning to fight about Kenmore. There was a garden there I'd spent years on. I knew every plant in it. I'd almost thought of them as my children.

But somewhere in the second page I'd looked across at Mark and realised there was a restless energy coming off him. He kept glancing over between items, and at me.

He wanted me to argue. He was waiting for a reaction. He needed me to be unreasonable, because he wanted to gloat about taking everything from me, and my anger was the part that would make it taste sweet. Make it taste like winning.

So I gave him nothing.

"Support is set against the schedule, which as I'm sure you recall —"

"Okay."

Mark put his pen down.

"You don't want to see the number?"

"Not really," I said flatly.

"It isn't a good number, Sarah."

"What do you want me to say? Is there anything I can actually do about it, if you're going to fight me on all of it? You set the number."

He didn't say anything.

It was the only thing that felt good all morning, watching him not know what to do with me.

"Last one," the lawyer said, after ten minutes of working down the list. "Mutual non-disclosure. Standard. The settlement's contingent on it."

I opened it. Nine pages. I read all of them slowly, which took a while. Everything looked fine except clause six, which I read three times.

The Recipient, on behalf of herself and any existing or future issue of the marriage, waives, releases and forever discharges any claim, demand or action against the Estate.

"What's this clause six? There aren't any children."

"It's boilerplate." He didn't look up from his phone. "It's in all of these."

"But —"

"It doesn't matter," Mark said. "There aren't any children. Like you said."

The carelessness in his voice made my blood boil, but I steadied myself and didn't give it to him. I put my hand out for the pen and signed.

"Thank you," the lawyer said, and turned the page.

Mark gave me a curious look before he glanced away.

Under the table I took a photograph of clause six with the brightness all the way down.

***

The lawyer put the papers in his briefcase. He shook Mark's hand, then offered me his.

"You've been remarkably civil this morning, Mrs. Hudson. It's rare for a woman in your position to keep her composure."

I looked at the hand and scoffed.

"Why would I play a game that was rigged against me from the start?"

I said it to him and looked at Mark.

The lawyer didn't answer. He nodded and left the room.

Mark came around the table. The restless energy had gone out of him, which confused me.

"Sarah —"

The door banged open.

A woman came through it, younger than me, and had her arms around his neck before he'd finished turning. "Baby! I missed you!"

Mark's whole face opened into a smile.

He kissed her. Properly, in front of me, and somewhere in the middle of it he cut a quick glance my way. Another chance to gloat and to show that he had won.

The woman turned and gave me a small mean smile.

"Look who's here. I didn't notice you. We haven't met, have we? I'm Pepper."

She offered me her hand. I stared at it and did nothing.

"Suit yourself." She took it back and looked at me sideways. "I have to say — for a woman who's always so polite and demure in public, I was very much surprised by that tape. The moves and the things you said in that video…" She giggled. "I had no idea you had such a raunchy side."

"Why are you pretending you don't know it wasn't me? Didn't your new boyfriend tell you? I know that you two have been planning how to get rid of me for months."

Mark and Pepper laughed at each other.

"Goodness me. I don't know what you're talking about, Sarah." Pepper put a hand on her chest. "And I'd really rather not report you to the authorities for making up something like that."

I looked at Mark.

"Is this the kind of woman you're replacing me with? Really?"

Pepper's face soured.

"It's none of your business, Sarah," Mark said. "You should be worrying about your own life and how you're going to move forward, given the state of everything."

"Right."

I picked up my legal pad and walked out with the dignity I had left.