Karen stopped the car in front of the manse. She looked at Will and smiled a small and fragile smile. She looked into his eyes and almost cried.

"I love you, Karen."

"I love you too, honey." She said before looking at her home. She made sure nobody was looking and kissed him tenderly. She pulled away with a sense of sorrow and got out of the car. Rosario was there in a flash to get her bags and Will drove to his home across town.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The evening brought loneliness to both of them. Will was at his home trying to tell all the funny stories from his trip without giving anything away. Karen was at her home, trying her best to avoid Stan.

He hadn't been drinking, but he seemed like he had something on his mind. He seemed distant and cold. She decided to ask him about it. He was still her husband after all.

"Stanley, are you alright? You seem kind of sad or something." She asked, wondering if her return was the reason for his sadness.

"I'm fine." He said shortly.

"Are you sure, honey? You know you can talk to me about anything." She said as she put her hand on his shoulder. She instantly regretted it because he turned on his heel and backhanded her across the face. She immediately tasted blood and kept her eyes from his.

"I don't want to talk. Get that through your thick, drug addicted head!" he shouted as he left the library.

Karen had been hit before, obviously, but this time felt different. It seemed more personal. He hadn't been drinking. He never showed anything, but affection towards her when he was sober. What was going on? Was this her big sign to get out?

She let her thoughts roll around in her head until she felt a hand on her arm. She turned sharply to come face to face with Rosario. She had a look on her face of sheer horror. She had always suspected, but she had never seen him hit her until now.

"Miss Karen, you have to get away from him." She said. Karen gave her a dirty look and pulled her arm away, building up her walls.

"Rosie, let me let you in on a little secret. My life is none of your business, okay. You clean up after me and that is all you do. So before you start judging me, why don't you shut your yappity-yap and get me a drink." She said harshly.

"Yes Miss Karen." She said sadly as she left to get a drink.

Karen knew that it was wrong to snap at Rosario for something like that. She was only trying to help. When she returned with her drink, Karen rushed behind her and shut the door.

"Rosie, I'm sorry." She said, looking her maid in the eyes and taking her drink. Rosario was shocked. She had never heard Karen apologize for anything.

"Miss Karen, how long are you going to let this happen? You need to leave him." She said, soothingly. This was an odd conversation for them. They hardly ever spoke with sincerity.

"Honey, I don't want you to worry, okay. Will is writing me up some divorce papers when he goes back to work on Monday."

"Mr. Stan had a woman friend here the other night. He doesn't know, but I kept the security tape."

"What?" Karen asked, shocked. "He's cheating on me?"

"I also have the tape of the night before you left." She said. Karen looked at her with a shocked expression on her face. She shook it off and took a drink of her martini.

"Thanks, honey. I'll take them to Will when I go over there tonight."

"You're going to visit him tonight?"

"Yeah, I have to go over a few papers with him." She replied, finishing off the first drink she had had in a while. "Stan might stay in the guest room. I don't know."

"Would you like another drink?"

"Of course I would. I don't pay you so you can sit around and chit-chat all day." She said as she went to open the door.

"Shut you're drunken trap." Rosario replied as she began to leave.

"Rosie." Karen called after her. "Thanks." She smiled and let the maid finish her work. She couldn't wait to see Will.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was around eleven o'clock when Will heard a knock on his door. He opened it to reveal Karen. She smiled as he invited her in.

"Where's Grace?" she asked, hoping they could have some time alone.

"She's asleep. What brings you here?" he asked, smiling. His smile faded when he saw a small bruise forming on her jawbone. He reached his hand up to examine her face.

"I'm okay, honey. But I have something for you that might make our case a little easier." She said, pulling a couple of video tapes out of her purse. "Rosie stole them from Security Guard."

"This is it, then. We have tapes. You could get more than half. He has nothing against you." He said as he hugged her. Once he pulled away he looked into her eyes. "How long do you have?"

"A couple of hours." She replied. "Stan thinks I went out for a few drinks."

He smiled at her beautiful hazel eyes and grabbed her hand. He placed the video tapes on the coffee table and they walked hand in hand to his bedroom, where they silently made love.

An hour and a half later, Karen was almost asleep in Will's embrace. He wasn't sure what happened before she came over, but she was so passionate when they made love. He had to think that there was some connection.

"Karen, what happened this time?" He asked, looking into her eyes. She looked away.

"I don't know. Usually I can see it coming, but I didn't even have a clue this time. He hadn't even had a drink." She said, in a daze.

"What do you mean?"

"He never does it when he's sober. This was different." She said. Will could tell that she felt more violated than usual so he decided to change the subject.

"You know, I never thought in a million years that I'd be here with you." He said. She knew he was trying to change the subject so she smiled.

"Emotionally or just in bed?" she asked while giggling a little bit.

"Both." He said, "But I'm glad it all happened."

"When did we get to talking so mushy?" She asked. "I can remember a time in my life when you hated me."

"I never hated you. I just didn't understand you. But I do now."

"Good." She sat up and looked at his clock. "I have to go, honey." She said, getting up and beginning to get dressed. Will put his boxers and pajama pants on while she finished dressing.

Once she was fully clothed, he peaked out his bedroom door to make sure that Grace wasn't awake. Then he walked her to the front door and kissed her on the lips.

"I love you." He whispered, making sure nobody could hear him, but her.

"I love you too. Call me." She said and then she walked out the door and into the elevator. Once in the elevator, she turned back and smiled at him. They waved to one another as the doors closed.

Karen went back to her penthouse and crawled into her empty bed. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Will, on the other hand, picked the video tapes up off of the table and looked at them. He knew he should watch them, as her lawyer, but he felt wrong. He felt that as her lover, it wasn't something he should be seeing.

After battling with himself he finally realized that he needed to see the tapes. He walked over to the television and popped the first one in the VCR. He expected to see Stan and Karen, but instead, it was Stan and another woman. The tape showed them walking into the bedroom. He kissed her and they walked over to where the bed was. The camera didn't show the bed, he expected it wouldn't, but it showed the woman leaving the room a few hours later.

He switched the tapes and pushed play. This one showed Karen packing for their trip. Stan walked in and began to harass her. He heard the words and saw the love of his life being thrown around like she was worthless. He heard Stan call her a whore and a bitch. He listened to him tell her she was nothing. He then saw him throw her to the ground and kick her out of his way before exiting the room.

He noticed that Karen didn't move for a while and he reminded himself that this was in the past. Karen had just left his home and she was fine. Then he saw her slowly get up and walk out of camera range. After another moment she walked into the bathroom with a liquor bottle in her hand. The tape stopped there and he knew that this was all that they needed in court.

He didn't tell Karen, but this kind of thing could take at least a month to prepare. Stan had so many assets and businesses that it would take weeks to get it all straightened out. He knew that she could hold on. She was a strong woman.