Chapter 7
It was 1:50 PM.
Summit Law Group was on the 23rd floor of an office building. The decor wasn't fancy, but it was clean and efficient.
The lawyer who greeted me was Andrew Foster.
He looked to be in his mid-thirties, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and not a hair was out of place.
He looked every bit the seasoned divorce lawyer.
He handed me a glass of water.
"Mr. Chapman, can you briefly tell me what's happened?" Andrew asked.
I laid out the whole story from start to finish.
I stayed calm without any extra emotion.
I told him how we'd been saving for five years, how I'd found only 1,100 dollars left in the account last night, and how the bank records showed over 570,000 dollars had been sent to Michael.
Andrew kept writing as I spoke. His pen scratched across the paper.
When I finished, he set his pen down.
"Mr. Chapman, your situation isn't uncommon in divorce cases, but the amount of money involved and how long this has been going on make it especially egregious," he said.
He adjusted his glasses.
He continued, "Legally speaking, you've got a few options.
"First, you can file for divorce. Since your wife seriously messed up. She secretly moved your shared money and might've cheated so you can argue that the party at fault should get little or even none of the marital assets.
"Second, you can sue Michael for unjust enrichment, demanding that he return every dollar Julia transferred to him. In court, if one spouse gives away shared assets to a third party without permission, the other spouse can get it all back.
"Third, you can seek compensation for emotional distress. If you can prove Julia and Michael had an improper relationship and the ectopic pregnancy you mentioned is a key piece of evidence. So you can include that in your lawsuit."
I nodded. "Do them al."
"Alright," Andrew said, closing his notebook. "I'll need you to help with a few things.
"First, go to the bank and get the original bank statements printed and stamped with the bank's official seal.
"Second, try to retrieve as much of the WeChat chat history and Alipay transaction records as possible. If she's already deleted them, we can ask the court to obtain them for us.
"Third, get copies of the medical records, surgery reports, and any other documents from the hospital stay for the ectopic pregnancy."
"Fourth," he said, looking at me, "if you can get direct evidence of communication between her and Michael like text messages, call logs, or testimony from a third party, that would be even better."
I paused, thinking it over.
"Emily," I said.
"Who's that?" Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's her sister. She knows what's going on."
Andrew nodded.
"If she's willing to testify, that'll tie everything together for us," he said.
I managed a wry smile. "She might not be willing,"
"That depends on how you talk to her," Andrew said, leaning back in his chair. "But in my experience, once things get to court, most family members end up coming clean to protect themselves. So don't stress about it."
I signed the retainer agreement.
The legal fees were 6,700 dollars.
I paid with my credit card. My credit limit was down to just a few hundred dollars.
As I walked out of the law firm, my phone buzzed with a text. It was from an unknown number.
He texted: [Mr. Chapman, this is Michael Harris. I know what's going on with Julia. I hope we can meet and talk. Maybe there's been a misunderstanding. Can you come to Southside Café at 7 tonight?]
I stood at the entrance of the office building and stared at the text.
A misunderstanding?
Over 570 thousand dollars.
Two years.
Dozens of transfers.
Every single one had a timestamp, a dollar amount, and the recipient.
And he calls that a misunderstanding?