Chapter 8: Servant in Her Own Home
306 words
The kitchen smelled of seared meat and garlic butter. I stood at the stove, flipping a ribeye steak exactly how Tiffany liked it—medium-rare, dripping in fat. My stomach roared with hunger, but my dinner sat on a paper towel near the sink: two slices of dry toast.
Richard and Tiffany sat at the island. Tiffany was picking at her cuticles, looking bored. Richard was tapping a pen against a thick document.
"Smells okay, I guess," Tiffany sniffed. "A little smoky. Did you burn the edges?"
"It's seared," I said, sliding the plate in front of her. She didn't say thank you.
Richard cleared his throat. "Sit down, Loretta. Not there—stand. We need to handle business."
He pushed the document toward me. Expedited Dissolution of Marriage.
"I’m doing you a favor," Richard said, his voice oily with false benevolence. "Accountants are expensive. Lawyers are thieves. I drafted this myself. It’s a clean break. You walk away, I walk away. No alimony, no spousal support, no fighting."
I looked at the paper. My eyes snagged on a paragraph near the bottom: Clause 4b: Each party retains sole ownership of any debts, liabilities, or receivables currently held in their individual names.
"Receivables?" I asked, my pulse quickening.
Richard scoffed. "It’s just legal jargon, Loretta. It means you keep your student loans or whatever debt you’re hiding, and I keep my... business assets. It protects you."
He was lying. He wanted to dump his maxed-out credit cards on me. But he didn't know about Vance. If I signed this, and then cashed the check... the check would be a 'receivable' in my name.
"I need to read it," I said quietly.
Richard slammed his hand on the counter, making Tiffany jump. "There's nothing to read! You sign it, or you get nothing!"
End of Chapter 8
