I have news about the divorce proceedings. Go ahead. Rachel's attorney is pushing back on the amended agreement. They're claiming the reimbursement clause for fertility treatments is punitive and not based in legal precedent. It's based on fraud.
She lied about trying to conceive while actively preventing conception. I agree and I think we can argue that successfully, but be prepared. This might go to mediation. Rachel's not going to just accept your terms without a fight. Fine, let her fight it.
I have evidence. I know you do. But evidence cuts both ways, James. She could argue emotional distress. Could claim your behavior after discovering the affair was psychologically harmful.
Could paint you as vindictive. Let her try. Sandra sighed. I'm saying this as your lawyer and your friend. At some point, you need to decide if being right is worth the cost of proving it.
Divorce mediation can get ugly and expensive fast. Are you prepared for that? I thought about the question she'd asked. The cost of being right. The price of truth.
Yes, I said. Finally, I'm prepared. Okay, then we'll prepare. To prepare for mediation. I'll file the motion next week. " After we hung up, I sat in my kitchen and thought about what was coming.
More lawyers, more meetings, more careful recitations of betrayal, more documented evidence of more public airing of private pain. Rachel wanted to fight. Wanted to make this difficult. Wanted to punish me for refusing to quietly accept her narrative. Fine, I could fight.
I'd gotten good at it over the past few weeks. My phone buzzed again. David heard about the HR meeting. How'd it go? It went.
Rachel's probably getting fired. And you feel I tried to identify the emotion. Satisfaction, guilt, relief. It was all tangled together. Impossible to separate.