*thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. thank-you all so much.
JOHN:
I am enjoying a nice afternoon with my girlfriend. We did shopping for our son and were having such a great day until my phone starts to ring. I see that it is my attorney and answer the phone. "Hello?" I say as I answer the call.
"John, I think we have a problem," he says.
"What do you mean we have a problem? What type of problem?" I ask. I have no idea what he's talking about or what type of problem we could possibly have. Ashley signed the papers and all they have to do is go to court. There shouldn't be a problem.
"Well, apparently Ashley is petitioning to get the pre-nup thrown out the window," he says.
She can't do that. There is no way she can do that. "What? She can't do that!" I yell. I look at Natalie who is looking at me wondering what's going on. The point of the pre-nup was to keep Ashley from getting my money if we ever divorced. I don't see how she can petition to get it thrown out.
"John, if she has probable cause she can," he says. "And I believe she has probable cause."
"What probable cause does she have? Jealousy?" I find this all to be bullshit and I can feel my anger rising. Ashley just can't let me be happy. She has to keep making things harder and harder. Her claim for probable cause is absolutely ridiculous. She has none and I'm pretty sure jealousy doesn't count.
"John," he says as if he knows we've been defeated.
"What?" I snap.
"She is claiming you had an affair while you two were married. Is this true?"
I take a deep breath and I feel my heart jump into my throat. She wouldn't. She can't be trying to use this against me. She wouldn't do that. "An affair?" I ask as Natalie looks at me.
"Did you have an affair?" he asks.
I can't lie so I have to tell the truth and I say, "yes, I had an affair."
"John, how does she know?" Asks my attorney.
"I may have told her," I answer.
"John, that was a stupid thing to do because now she wants to petition the courts to get the pre-nup removed so she is entitled to half your money. She has a new list of demands and I find it quite ridiculous."
"What are her demands?" I ask.
"You're not going to like it," he says.
"What are her demands?" I ask again.
"Her first is they drop the pre-nup because you were unfaithful during your marriage making her entitled to half of your money. Her second is she wants the house, the cars and everything bought during your marriage and third she wants you to pay for her therapy."
"Therapy?" I ask. "What are you talking about?"
"She is saying she is in such emotional distress that she needs to get therapy."
"She's been in emotional distress for years," I say. I am beyond upset right now. I am going to fight this tooth and nail.
"Well, she's saying that your affair is the cause of her emotional distress," he says.
"What?" I ask. "How can I fight this?"
"I don't know, John, I have to come up with something. If she can prove you had an affair then she can very much win what she wants. She is going to run you dry if she proves this affair. Can it be proven, John?"
"Yes," I say. "It can be proven but I'm not going to allow it to be proven. I'm fighting this and it's not like she was faithful during our marriage. I know she cheated on me numerous times."
"Can you prove that, John?"
"No," I say, "but it's true."
"Unless these affairs can be proven it's all a matter of he said she said," he says.
"Okay," I say.
"But I'm going to do all that I can to make sure she doesn't win."
"Thank-you," I say.
"You're welcome," he says. "I'm sorry to deliver this bad news."
"It's okay. Have a good day."
"You too," he says before hanging up the phone as if I can have a good day after this news.
"What is going on, John?" asks Natalie as soon as I hang up the phone.
"I guess I better tell you now so that you're not surprised," I say.
"What?" she asks.
"Ashley is petitioning our pre-nup. She wants it voided because of my affair during our marriage."
"So she knows?"
"Yes," I say, "she knows.
"She can't win unless she proves it," she says.
"She can prove it," I say looking at her.
"How?"
"The baby," I say. "She can prove it with the baby."
"Our baby?"
"Yes," I say. "She can use our baby as proof." I hate saying it but it's true. She can use our baby as proof of my infidelity not that I would let her.
"So you're telling me that she can use our baby as proof of your infidelity?" she asks.
"Yes, but I'm not going to let it happen. I promise," I say reassuring her.
"John, it doesn't' matter! I told you that would happen. I knew what we did would have ill effects and here we are. What if she does use our son as a pawn in her sick pathetic game? You can't stop her if the courts order it. She can do what she wants. If she wants to use our son she can do it. You cannot stop her, John."
"I will not allow her to hurt our son or use him in any way," I say although I know she is right if she has it ordered by the court Ashley can do whatever she wants. I have no control over anything and I hate that the most. Ashley is out of her mind she has proven it and she is proving that she will do whatever it takes to destroy my happiness.
"You can't stop her," she says as she cries. "You know you can't stop her. I can't let her use my son as a pawn in her sick game. I don't want our son mixed up in her psycho behavior."
"Nat, I will do whatever I can to stop her from doing this. I promise," I say as I wrap my arms around her. I am going to do whatever it takes to stop Ashley from using our son as a pawn in her game of destruction. Ashley is the sickest person I have ever met in my life. I regret telling her about the baby. I should have left that information out because now I have Natalie, the baby and myself in a huge mess that I'm not sure I can clean up and I feel horrible.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for taking the time to read.