Chapter 8 - The Settlement Table
Six months after the reunion, Richard and I sat across from each other in a private mediation room.
He looked older.
His company had lost its line of credit after the bank discovered irregular financial statements. He sold his interest to his business partner to cover legal expenses and restitution.
Madison’s company had closed.
Several clients sued her for unreturned deposits. Under an agreement with prosecutors, she avoided incarceration by pleading guilty to financial offenses, paying restitution and accepting several years of supervised probation.
Richard faced separate charges related to the forged guarantee and fraudulent application.
His attorney advised him to settle the divorce before the criminal case moved further.
Eleanor waited in the hallway.
She had demanded to attend mediation until the mediator explained that she was not a party to the marriage.
For once, a closed door kept her out.
Richard stared at the settlement documents.
“You are keeping Hale Point.”
“Yes.”
“The Richmond house.”
“Yes.”
“Your company.”
“It was always my separate company.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“And I repay half the transferred money.”
“You repay the amount your attorney negotiated.”
“I will have almost nothing left.”
I looked at him carefully.
At the reunion, he had asked what would happen to his house, accounts and company.
He had never asked what his betrayal had done to me.
“You will have what remains after paying part of what you took.”
His jaw tightened.
“Madison was desperate.”
“So you sacrificed me.”
“I thought the loan would save her business.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I did not physically sign it.”
“You provided my documents and approved the application.”
He looked away.
“Madison copied the signature.”
“And you submitted it.”
Silence filled the room.
This time, his silence could not protect him.
Richard leaned back in his chair.
“I never thought you would leave.”
There it was.
Not I never thought I would hurt you.
Not I never thought I could betray you.
He had never believed I would leave.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you always fixed things.”
“I fixed problems. I was not supposed to fix your character.”
His eyes became wet.
“I did love you.”
“I believe you loved what I gave you.”
“That is not fair.”
“No. It is not.”
He flinched.
I continued.
“You let your daughter call me staff. You let your mother order me out of property I owned. Even before you opened the envelope, you had already decided who mattered.”
“I was trying to avoid conflict.”
“You were avoiding conflict with them by offering me as the sacrifice.”
The mediator quietly turned a page.
Richard signed the settlement.
Before leaving, he stopped beside my chair.
“Was there anything I could have said at the reunion?”
I considered the question.
“If you had defended me, I still would have filed for divorce.”
His face fell.
“But,” I added, “I might have remembered you as a man who failed financially and told the truth at the end.”
“What do you remember now?”
I closed the folder.
May you like
“A man who stayed silent until silence stopped benefiting him.”
He left without another word.
