When mediation started again, Thomas asked to speak to me directly.
Amanda objected at first. But I told her I could handle it.
Thomas leaned in close to the camera.
“I made mistakes, Emma.”
It was the closest he’d come to an apology.
“Which ones?” I asked.
He looked surprised. “What?”
“Name them, Thomas.”
He glanced sideways at his lawyer.
“I should have defended you. At dinner.”
“Yes.”
“I shouldn’t have mentioned divorce.”
“You asked for one.”
“I was angry.”
“Brenda insulted me,” I said. “And you punished me for answering her.”
He looked down at the table.
“We can still fix this,” he said quietly.
My hand was resting on my stomach. I was twenty weeks by then. You could see it.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because we’re having a baby.”
“You haven’t asked about the baby once, Thomas,” I said. “Not one time. Without connecting it to money or the divorce.”
His face tightened.
“That’s not fair.”
“You called me after I left. And the first thing you worried about was Tyler’s tuition.”
“He’s a child.”
“So is ours,” I said.
For the first time in seven years, Thomas didn’t have an answer.
Craig Hollister asked for another private conference.
They didn’t come back that day.
The final settlement took weeks. Not hours.
There was no big dramatic instant victory. No gavel. No judge pointing at him and declaring him a liar.
Real consequences arrived through paperwork. Appraisals. Financial disclosures. Deadlines.
The Lakewood house was appraised at four hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
The source of the down payment was verified. Traced back to my separate account. Dollar for dollar.
The forty thousand dollars he’d sent to Brenda was charged against his share of the community estate.
Thomas withdrew his claim that he was the primary provider. Craig Hollister told him, Amanda later found out, that defending it in front of a Dallas County judge would be “professionally embarrassing.”
I received my fair share of the home’s equity. Plus a reimbursement for the separate-property money I’d put into it. Plus credit for the forty thousand.
And the final decree included a paragraph that Amanda wrote herself. Releasing me from any financial obligation, now or ever, to Brenda Price, Tyler Price, or Joan Carter.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
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