Chapter 6 - The Divorce Papers Were Not Clean
The divorce papers Alejandro forced onto my hospital bed had another
problem.
He had presented them as a complete agreement.
They were not.
Several schedules were missing.
Asset disclosures were incomplete.
And the document attempted to waive rights I had never discussed with
independent counsel.
Illinois divorce law did not magically make a pressured hospital
signature untouchable.
Sarah filed the appropriate challenge.
I did not assume we would win.
We documented.
Medical timing.
Medication records.
Witness statements.
The financial discrepancies.
The circumstances of presentation.
Alejandro’s lawyer withdrew within a week.
A new attorney appeared.
That told me Alejandro finally understood this was not a dinner-table
argument.
Claudia also retained separate counsel.
Good.
I did not want her depending on Alejandro for legal advice.
For the first time in nine years, the two people who betrayed me were no
longer coordinating comfortably.
But I resisted the temptation to enjoy it.
Sofia and Mateo were children.
Whatever Claudia had done to me, her children deserved stability.
Especially Sofia.
She was old enough to understand adults were suddenly whispering around
her.
I told Sarah one thing clearly.
“Nothing we file publicly should expose that little girl unnecessarily.”
Sarah nodded.
“Agreed.”
May you like
Alejandro had treated children as evidence of his masculinity.
I would not treat them as weapons in my divorce.
