Chapter 2
At seven in the evening, I returned to Maplewood Estates, Michael's family home.
The door code was still the same.
When I opened the door, I found the living room packed with people.
Evelyn, Sophia, a few of the Grant family relatives, and the woman from the photo were all there.
Her name was Jessica Lane, the CFO at Michael's company.
She was wearing my slippers and sitting right in my spot.
Wedding invitations and brochures for high-end wedding venues were strewn across the coffee table.
As soon as Michael saw me, he kicked an empty suitcase to my feet.
"Perfect timing. Pack up your stuff and get out," he said.
Evelyn shot me a frosty look. "You can take your clothes, but leave the jewelry. Michael paid for all of that," she said.
Sophia folded her arms across her chest. "Cheryl, don't make a scene. Whatever bond you shared with my brother ended long ago. Jessie is pregnant, and you need to act reasonably."
I glanced at Jessica's belly.
She stroked her stomach, unable to hide her smug smile.
"Sorry, Cheryl. Michael told me you two were done a long time ago. He simply never found a proper moment to break the news to you," Jessica said.
"That was why you guys tricked me into signing the divorce papers?" I asked, my voice cold.
Michael's face darkened. "Tricked you? You signed everything yourself, and you handled all the paperwork."
"You told me those papers were for tax-filing purposes."
"You chose not to read them. That falls on you."
Relatives seated in the living room let out mocking laughs.
"Cheryl's so naive."
"She lived off Michael for eight years. How is she supposed to survive now that they are apart?"
"Life grows difficult for a woman who holds too firmly to her own opinions."
I didn't waste my breath arguing with them.
I quietly turned on my phone's voice recorder and set it face down on the entryway cabinet.
No one noticed a thing.
Evelyn pointed toward the master bedroom. "Your old clothes are already packed away. Keep your hands off the bed and other cabinets. Jessie will be moving in shortly."
I walked into the master bedroom.
My clothes had been shoved into a few trash bags and tossed in the closet.
The photo frame on the dresser had already been replaced. Now, it was a picture of Michael with his arm around Jessica, against the backdrop of a tropical island sunset.
The timestamp on the image went back nine months.
I pulled open the bottom drawer of the desk.
The property documents were nowhere to be found.
Michael was leaning in the doorway, arms crossed. "What are you looking for?"
"The property deed," I said.
"This is my house. It has nothing to do with you."
"Don't forget who paid the down payment."
He snorted. "That 250 thousand dollars your aunt gave us counted as a spousal gift for the two of us. The divorce agreement lays out plainly that the house belongs to me."
"And the mortgage?"
"We paid it off together after we got married. You gave up your share."
I nodded. "Have you finished making your points?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Just to confirm a few facts."
I headed to the storage room and pulled out the old file box Helen had given me years ago.
They had no clue Helen kept receipts for everything.
The 250-thousand-dollar transfer had a note, marking the funds as a gift exclusively for Cheryl Mitchell to purchase a premarital residence.
My name also appeared as the purchasing party on the original home-buying contract.
We had signed the contract two months before our wedding date simply to qualify for a more favorable mortgage under his name. His name had only been added to the title afterward.
Andrew had already reviewed these materials and confirmed they supplied enough grounds to challenge the property division laid out in our divorce agreement.
I packed the files into my bag and grabbed the old computer from the study.
Jessica blocked the doorway. "That's Michael's computer. You can't take it," she said.
"The purchase record lists my name as the buyer," I shot back.
"There's company data on it."
I paused, raising an eyebrow.
Michael shot her a deadly glare.
Jessica realized she'd spilled something she shouldn't have.
"What company data?" I asked.
"Nothing," Michael said quickly, stepping forward. "Put it down."
"And what if I refuse?"
He lunged for it, but I sidestepped easily.
At that moment, Andrew entered the apartment accompanied by two of his staff members.
"Mr. Grant, you might want to think twice before doing anything," he said. "There are cameras in the hallway, and we're recording everything."
Michael's hand froze in mid-air.
"You even brought a lawyer?" he snapped at me.
"Of course. I'm not leaving anything to chance when it comes to getting my stuff back," I said.
Evelyn stormed over. "What do you mean, your stuff? You've lived off our family for eight years, and you never had a kid with Michael, and now you have the nerve to come after our assets?"
I looked her dead in the eye. "For the past eight years, the 9,000 dollars a month for living expenses came from my aunt. I paid the mortgage, and I covered your medical bills."
"That's not true."
"The bank records will tell the truth."
Evelyn's face went pale. She knew I had the receipts.
I didn't bother to push it further.
Today wasn't about fighting. It was about getting the evidence.
As I reached the door, Michael called out to me, "Cheryl, don't think hiring a lawyer will scare me. The divorce agreement is already in effect. You're not getting a single cent."
"Is that so?" I replied.
"Tomorrow, Jessie and I are getting our marriage certificate. From now on, this house is the marital home for her and me. Don't come back here and cause trouble."
I turned and looked him straight in the eye. "I wish you both happiness with your marriage."
Jessica laughed out loud.
The Grant family relatives all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking I'd finally given up.
I picked up the computer and walked out the door without looking back.
Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Sophia came running out and demanded, "What about the 60 thousand dollars for my car?"
I pressed the close button as I said flatly, "Go ask your new sister-in-law for it."
Once Andrew and I got back to the law firm, the tech guy fired up the old computer.
Michael's cloud account was still synced, so every contract, email, and bank transfer was right there.
Andrew opened a folder marked "Pre-Marital Arrangements."
The first file was a private deal between Michael and Jessica.
The second showed him moving our joint savings around.
The third was a real estate contract for a house in Jessica's name.
It cost three million, but the money had come straight out of our shared bank account.
Andrew kept scrolling until he suddenly stopped.
He pointed to a company fund transfer slip.
Jessica had signed it, and Michael had given the final approval for 16 million dollars.
Andrew looked at me and said, "This is much more than a divorce property dispute now."