Chapter 11 - THE LAW AND THE LEVERAGE
Realizing his marriage was beyond repair and his professional life was hanging by a thread,
Ethan finally retained a divorce attorney named Howard Vance.
Vance was a shark in a charcoal suit,
accustomed to handling messy high-net-worth dissolutions in Boston’s financial district.
On Monday morning,
Ethan sat in Vance’s plush leather consultation room,
recounting the sequence of events that led to his current nightmare.
Vance listened intently,
tapping a gold fountain pen against his mahogany desk before letting out a dry,
incredulous laugh.
“Let me get this straight,
Mr.
Sterling,
” Vance said,
adjusting his tortoiseshell glasses.
“Your wife leaves the marital home while thirty-four weeks pregnant,
taking her personal belongings and leaving you with a catalogued master directory of your entire life’s infrastructure?” “Yes,
” Ethan muttered,
rubbing his temples.
“And you haven't been able to access the business servers because she held all administrative credentials?” “Correct.
” Vance shook his head,
leaning back in his executive chair.
“Mr.
Sterling,
you didn't just lose a wife; you lost your operating system.
Furthermore,
under Massachusetts law,
given that you committed adultery,
abandoned joint household responsibilities,
and forced a minor child and a pregnant spouse into emotional distress,
your wife holds an ironclad position in any impending custody and property division proceedings.
” “Can’t we file for emergency visitation or compel her to return?” Ethan asked desperately.
“Compel a heavily pregnant woman to return to an adulterous spouse who neglected her?” Vance scoffed.
“Any judge in Suffolk County would laugh us out of the courtroom and order you to pay all her legal fees before you could even state your name.
Your best move right now is total,
unconditional surrender.
Offer her whatever settlement she asks for,
apologize publicly,
and pray she shows more mercy to you than you showed to her.
” The professional reality hit Ethan harder than any family reprimand.
May you like
He had spent years believing he was the architect of his own success,
only to discover he was merely a tenant in a life I had single-handedly constructed and maintained.
