It's been exactly two months since I updated. Anyway thanks to those who continue to read and review. It means a lot to see how much you guys and girl and people (as Julie said) still enjoy this story.

Chapter 56: D-I-V-O-R-C-E

A few days after he had pulled her from her life in California, Bombay stopped by with a tall, dark-skinned woman in a powerful-looking business suit. "Lizzy, this is Beth Carmicheal. She will be working on your divorce. Beth, this is Lizzy Jacobs," Bombay said, motioning to the younger woman as she stood nervously in the entryway of her brother's home.

Beth smiled softly. "I would say it's a pleasure to meet you but, typically, when I meet people, they're in the worst place of their lives, so I save the pleasure till the end. I am a divorce attorney with a focus on domestic violence victims," Beth said. The woman moved slowly and didn't reach out for Lizzy. Lizzy didn't want to admit that meant a lot to her. It wasn't that she was afraid of people now, she was just careful when it came to people moving towards her.

"You do what my dad does," Lizzy said softly.

"Exactly. And she's here to help," Bombay said.

"Should we go into the dining room? I'm sure it'll help to have a firm surface to write on," Lizzy suggested.

"Certainly. Mr. Bombay has told me a little about your case but the more I know, the better I can sort things out and the tighter I can make this decree so there are no loopholes," Beth told her as they followed her into the dining room. Lizzy waited until they both took seats before she took one a few spots down from Bombay.

"Remember, since we are both working this case, confidentiality and privilege still apply. I can't tell anyone unless it's illegal, you hurt someone, or we're in public. Since Matt and Star left, you have the expectation of privacy," Bombay told her.

"This isn't going to be pretty and you're not going to like it but maybe you should know," Lizzy said, avoiding looking at both of them. This was going to be one of the hardest things she ever did but she figured she had to start somewhere.

"The more you tell us, the better our strategy is moving forward," Beth said.

Lizzy sighed and spilled 99% of her story since she graduated high school. "And then I ended up here," Lizzy finished.

"That is very clear domestic violence. I only handle divorce law so I cannot file the charges to put him in prison for that but I will do my best on a restraining order. I usually work with the prosecutor to provide evidence for criminal charges to be filed."

"Judge granted an emergency restraining order and we have a court date next week for a temporary one," Bombay said.

"Alright. So, let's go through the questions I always start with. You've given me more than enough reasons for the divorce but now I need to know things about the marriage itself and about what you want from the divorce."

"I just want out of it."

"Ok. First, how long have you been married?"

"Three years."

"Was the marriage consummated?"

"You mean did we ... do it?" she asked softly. Beth nodded. "Yes. He made me, even when I didn't want to." Beth frown and Bombay shifted uncomfortably. Both of them knew what that was really called and neither of them liked that the woman had to go through that, and it was most likely more than once.

"I'm going to go ahead and put this out there. I apologize for everything you have been through. No woman, no person should ever have to go through that. Now, kids?"

She looked between Beth and Bombay. She fell back into her old routine of talking specifically about him and keeping herself mostly out of it. "We ... Lex is infertile. He can't have kids." She put her left arm on the table. She pulled the sleeve up to her elbow then traced the top most scar about two and a half inches down from her elbow. "When I told him, he did this with a straight razor. Just until it bled. It would heal overnight and he'd do it again. After about a week, he held a lighter to it until I screamed. All because I told him that."

"Pets?"

"No. My dad got me a dog but he—she still lives with my dad."

"Cars?"

"His was a gift from his grandfather in his name; my father has mine in Ohio since I wouldn't come home after Lex proposed and the title is in Dad's name."

"The house. Do you own, rent, or lease?"

"Also his, left to him after his mom died two years ago."

"Bank accounts, any joint accounts?"

"No."

"Did you bring in any money during the marriage?"

"No. Wait, brought in how?" Because technically she was making money during the marriage just not from a traditional sense and it would kill her if she had to give some of that money to Lex who was making all the money from working.

"Through work. Any job or business?"

"No. I was working hard on my P.T. for my shoulder that he told me not to worry about working. Four months in, he told me that working would take me away from the house and he didn't need that."

"Do you want spousal support?"

"Like, money from him?" Beth nodded. "No! That would be blood money. I just want to go and be done with him."

"That money could help you start over," Bombay interjected after being quiet during the rest of the questioning.

Lizzy looked at him and something inside of her just snapped. "I'm staying with my brother who makes hundreds of thousands playing pro-hockey, my dad is a big-time lawyer, I've got two brothers who play pro-baseball, and there's that thing from senior year. I don't want anything from him. I just want to be done with him and him in jail, but that's probably too much to ask for," Lizzy answered. Then she remembered that outbursts like that usually led to her getting hurt so she retreated into herself and waited for the fallout. It never came. Beth looked at Bombay who sat back, then the woman went on.

They went over a few other specialized questions before Beth scanned through her notes. "I think that does it. Is there anything you can think of specifically that you want out of the marriage that you'd be heartbroken if he got?"

"No."

"Nothing?"

"I can't think of ... wait. Yes." Lizzy swallowed. There were three things really that they hadn't touched on that she thought the attorney should probably know about.

"Ok," Beth's pen poised over her notepad, ready for whatever Lizzy said next.

"My paternal grandfather, Nono Jacobs, played pro-ball when my dad and aunt were kids. He was very good at it. He died when I was 12. He left me, my brothers, and my cousin each a trust fund to become ours when we each turned 21. I turned 21 last year."

"Did you put any of that money into an account that also had his name on it?" Beth asked.

Lizzy glanced at Bombay who didn't look surprised by that revelation. Maybe Charlie had told him about the trust fund. Though she would have been the last to receive hers, even if she had been on speaking terms with her grandmother, she was still the youngest of all the siblings and cousin by three days, she had known about it since Matt had received his. "I don't even know how to access that money. I would have to talk to my dad or grandma and I haven't seen either in over a year." It was more like two and a half. He hadn't let her go home for the last two Christmases. If she remembered correctly, Matt had received his directly deposited into his bank account having been 22 when their grandfather had died. Chris and Seth hadn't told her how they got theirs as it was supposed to be a surprise for each kid on their 21st birthday. Matt had told her shortly after he had bought her brand-new skates shortly before their championship game and had gifted Charlie a new hockey stick.

"Alright, well, that money is a gift and if it's only in your name, it's not community property. That's how they deal with property acquired during the marriage in California. So he can't touch it," Beth said.

She wondered if that only applied to money she was gifted while she was in California. It'd be terrible if he got any of the money she got while she was out of the state or if other states had different rules based on where the fund was set up at. "And it doesn't matter where the trust fund was set up, say New York or Minnesota or Ohio or Texas?" She threw in New York and Ohio just to be on the safe side as the two trusts had been set up in Minnesota and Texas though she had currently only brought up the one in Minnesota.

"Nope. A trust fund is a trust fund. Where it's set up is only important to how it's set up and the laws regarding leaving it to someone."

"Ok. What about how much is in there, like say $25,000 or higher?"

"No. Again, it's a gift and the gift only matters if you put the money in a joint account. Wait, how much higher?"

"I got it when I was 18, I'll be 22 ... so roughly about $40,000. Though the entire trust is worth six mil."

"Who was your grandfather? Never mind that's not important, the answer is: no, it doesn't matter. Wait. You said you got the trust fund at 21 not 18. Changing your story will make it easier for the defense to tear you apart."

"Sorry, I was clarifying in my head because—" 'People don't care about reasons. Just shut up and say you're sorry.' That was always what Lex had told her anytime she tried to explain herself. "I'm sorry, that's not important. The trust fund I got from my grandfather was given to me at 21 and it is $25,000." Lizzy said, lowering her head.

"If you want to tell her about the other trust, it might help," Bombay said gently.

Lizzy looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Whatever you have won't change my rate and I'm not billing you. It will only be brought up if he contests the divorce and the judge makes me reveal it," Beth added.

Lizzy stared down at her fingernails and picked at the pinky one, though carefully so she didn't damage it. Lex always hated when she broke her nails or damaged the manicure he reluctantly paid for. His wife had to uphold certain looks and that was more important than whether she liked it or not. Back in high school, she kept her nails cut short as her hockey, baseball, and batting gloves required a close cut so she wasn't bending them and getting hurt. Plus, she was never the girly type who cared about what her nails looked like.

"Lizzy?" Bombay asked softly.

"Mr. Bombay," Beth warned.

Lizzy took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "My grandfather left me a trust fund that I got when I turned 21 worth $25,000." She stopped and took another breath. "There is another trust fund I got two or three months after my 18th birthday worth six million. The man who left it to me was an art critic who I met in a park when I was 13. I painted his picture for my state fair art show and won fourth prize for it. I barely knew the guy but his attorney said it was legal. He lived in Texas. That one I get $1,000 a month since then but it goes into an account that I don't touch since before Lex and I were together."

"Ok. Again, trusts, if set up properly, are gifts which the state only considers community property if they go into a joint account or are used to pay for things that are community property."

Lizzy nodded and looked at the pair again. This was the final thing she need to be honest about. She wasn't sure what would happen if she wasn't honest about it and she didn't really want that. This, however, was going to be the hardest thing she have to tell them because she had only told two other people in her life and while it had worked out great with them, she wasn't so sure this was going to do the same. Maybe Bombay wouldn't judge her, but maybe he would and she couldn't get hurt by that again. She really didn't know who to trust anymore.

"Is there something else?" Bombay asked. He recognized the look on the girl's face and knew she wanted to say something but, for what seemed like the first time, was hesitant to say it. "It's ok. No judgement here and anything you tell me, I can't tell anyone else. Not your brothers, not your aunt, not your cousin. Lizzy, I can't even tell your dad. If those bottom two scars are from you hurting yourself or you wrecked a car or you crossed some line you shouldn't have, if it's in the past, I can't tell anyone. The only thing I am allowed to discuss is if you are going to hurt yourself or someone else or you are going to commit a crime and that is only after I try to talk you out of it. The same applies to Ms. Carmichael here. I can't even tell Casey. Not even if she were to beg or threaten me. I can't do it, Lizzy. And most importantly, I can only tell them about those two things after I tell you I'm going to and only to the extent to prevent whatever it is that you tell me. Whatever else you say stays right here."

"Ok," Lizzy sighed heavily. "There is one other thing. Please, don't judge me. I know it's wrong and I shouldn't have done it but I felt really low and got just drunk enough that I didn't really care." She tugged on her pinky finger as she stared at the palm of her hand.

"We all have our—" Beth started but Lizzy held up a finger.

"No, not you," Lizzy shook her head and looked over at her former coach. "Bombay, I … I know you expect better."

"Only murder would make me think twice about you," Bombay said.

She stopped and stared at him, completely ignoring the other lawyer at the moment. She blinked a few times before she asked, "Really? Not even infidelity?"

"You cheated on your husband?" Bombay asked.

"Yes," Lizzy whispered.

"For the record it's not illegal in California," Beth said softly.

"No. Given what you've already told me about that man, I don't blame you and I don't judge you for that. I won't say that he deserved it, but I don't think of you badly for it."

"Ok. But I think you both need to know what happened and this is the part where Lex cannot and I stress that, he cannot find this out." Lizzy folded her hands on the table in front of her and stared at them. "March 23rd, 2001. Matt told me he was in town and wanted to take me to a hockey game. Showed up on my doorstep and wouldn't take no for an answer. You know Matt. Anyway, Lex didn't want to go so we went without him. I don't know why we didn't just go see the San Jose Sharks but somehow, we ended up down in Long Beach and saw an Ice Dogs game. WCHL. I ran into Russ at the concession stand. He told me that his hockey buddies were throwing a party after their game the following night and how it would be a good time to catch up with him and Luis and any Duck who made it out for spring break. When I told Matt about it, he said I should go and he'd tell Lex that we had decided to make a weekend of it. Well, one thing led to another and I learned my lesson about trusting punch at a college party." Lizzy took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Beth and Bombay watched her carefully but Lizzy didn't go on.

"Again, it's not illegal and in the grand scheme of things, sometimes things happen," Beth said.

"Technically underage drinking is illegal but since no one got caught, no one is going to say anything," Bombay said. "But that's not everything?" he prompted.

"That's not all that happened, correct," Lizzy said.

"Okay, go on," Beth said.

Lizzy looked across the room wondering if she had the strength to tell them what else she did. Her eyes landed on the TV stand where she spotted a picture. She held up a finger and crossed over to the TV in the living room and picked up the picture. She walked back over to her chair and stared at the photo.

"In August, Ben showed up and demanded I come to Memphis with him where he was playing for the Redbirds Triple A baseball team. Lex told me I could go for a week. The day after I got there Val had to rush me to the hospital because I hadn't really eaten in three days. The doctors there ran a bunch of tests. Turns out I was pregnant. Five months." Lizzy stroked the photo with her thumb.

"You said you didn't have kids," Beth said.

"I said, he couldn't have kids," Lizzy answered, emphasizing both he and couldn't. "There's a difference. The only time I slept with someone who wasn't Lex, I got pregnant ... despite protection. Ben came home from his game that night and found out that Lex had told me since I had ruined one of his favorite shirts I wasn't allowed to eat. Besides, I was getting too fat since my pants were too tight according to Lex. Ben would have flown right back to Cali if Val hadn't told him I was pregnant. They demanded I stay." Lizzy shrugged. "It took a lot of convincing but I didn't really want to take a baby back to that situation. I knew he was bad for me but … I still loved him. Over the next four months, Ben and Val put Lex off of making me come home and I put on some healthy weight again. Just before Christmas I had a little girl. She was beautiful but she doesn't look a whole lot like me." Lizzy handed the photo of the little girl in a striped dress holding out a sucker to Bombay.

"Ria? I've met her. She's absolutely darling," Bombay said. "She's ..." The wheels turned quickly in his mind. "Who all knows?"

"You, Ben, Val. That's it," Lizzy said. "I think she takes after her dad. I was sober enough to consent but drunk enough to not care about his name. After she was born, Ben talked to a lawyer friend of his and he said the safest way to protect her is to not name a father, put my maiden name on her birth certificate, and immediately do some kind of paperwork to give Ben and Val legal guardianship or something like that."

"It's what I would have suggested too if I was looking to get disbarred. Especially, since you didn't mention anything about a father in all that," Beth told her.

Lizzy folded in on herself and could feel the tears coming. Bombay's heart went out to her. "Since your name was still Lizzy Jacobs on your driver's license and it hadn't expired, they had no reason to think it wasn't your legal name. Without a paternity test there is only an assumption of fatherhood and who knows the law better in Tennessee than an actual lawyer?" Bombay said. "Since he isn't the father on record, and she has a doctor's test to prove he can't have kids, does she really have to tell him about Ria?"

"Maybe not. It's possible we can get him to sign the divorce decree without telling him about it or him reading the entire thing. It could be sketchy but I am willing to do my best to get him to agree," Beth agreed. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"I can't think of anything else," Lizzy said. This time she really couldn't.

As Ms. Carmichael worked on her divorce decree over the next two weeks, and Bombay worked with the San Jose police and prosecutor, Lizzy did her best to not worry about what was going on or if Lex would be coming after her. After the judge had granted the temporary restraining order, she thought back over the last two weeks. Something Matt had said stuck with her. One morning around nine am, Lizzy entered the kitchen to find Matt making waffles. "Morning, Liz, would you like some chocolate chip waffles?" Matt asked.

"If it's not too much trouble," Lizzy said.

Matt pulled a towel off the plate next to the waffle iron and handed it to her. "Never too much trouble for you. Syrup's on the table. Orange juice and apple juice too." On the plate was two chocolate chip waffles. It was almost as if he knew she'd say yes.

"Thank you." She sat down at the table and ate her breakfast quietly as Matt and Star made soft conversation.

"You look deep in thought over there, are you alright?" Matt asked.

"I was just—" she cut herself off. "Never mind." It wasn't that important. When she looked at him, he didn't seem irritated or annoyed by her attempted ask, though Lex definitely would have been. She cut herself off because she didn't want to bother them with it by asking for something super expensive.

"No, it's ok. You can tell us if you want or if it's something one of us needs to leave for, say the word and we're out," Matt said. Star nodded.

"No, it's ..." Lizzy toyed with her fork. "I don't want to be a burden to you guys and I promise I'll pay you back, but if I could get a ticket to Minneapolis, I could be out of your hair for a few days." She avoided looking at them just in case they did get angry about it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Matt reached towards her but Star quickly took his hand. "We both love having you here and neither one of us think you're a burden," Matt told her.

"That's right. I love getting to learn more about you," Star added. "Dean's stories do not do you justice."

"Oh, thank you." Lizzy knew that Portman spoke highly of her, she just hadn't realized that included around his sister's best friend.

"And there is no need to pay me back. I told you I'd buy you a plane ticket if you wanted one," Matt said gently. "Do you mind if I ask why Minnesota?" Matt flinched but Lizzy wasn't sure why. "If you don't want to tell us, that's fine, but I'm here to listen without judgment."

"You told me they, uh our brothers, would understand divorce despite the fact that I think the four of you are still on your first marriages. Aunt Casey though, she's been divorced twice and maybe she'll understand."

"Of course. I don't know why I didn't think of that in the first place. Aunt Casey would be absolutely amazing to talk to. Why don't you go—" Matt cut himself off. "I'll have a ticket waiting when you get a—" Again, he stopped mid-sentence but this time Lizzy saw why. Star had squeezed his hand. Why she wasn't sure until Matt spoke again. "How would you put that so it doesn't sound like a demand?" She watched him but he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was looking at his wife.

Star smiled softly at Lizzy. "Matt will call our travel agent and a ticket will be ready for you when you're ready to go," Star said.

Lizzy thought over their behavior and realized they were going out of their way to be different from Lex. "He never demanded things of me. Not flat out. Not typically anyway. Especially not in front of other people. He always tried to make it sound more like a suggestion. That or an expectation of something I should just know but even when he framed it as a suggestion it came off as an insistent suggestion. 'Why don't you …', 'Maybe you should …', 'Be a peach and maybe …' Coming from you, it sounds more like a trade off: 'I'll do this if you do that' and I know you don't mean it the same way. It doesn't even sound the same coming from you so I don't take it the same way. I know you don't mean to hurt me and you aren't asking me anything you wouldn't be willing to do yourself."

"We would never want to control you or make you feel like you don't belong here. This should feel like your home too," Star said.

Lizzy stared in shock. 'Stop staring, you look like a stupid fish.' Lex's words resounded in her head. She shook it to clear them. "I don't understand why ... how ... it's like you know what to say to make me feel good about everything."

"My best friend spent almost a year with a man who did his best to demean and belittle her. He couldn't stand when she came off looking better than him. I ..." Star trailed off and looked down. She sighed heavily and Lizzy knew something was up. "I called her. I didn't tell her it was you and I only gave her the broadest strokes of what we know and she told me that the best way to help you is to do the opposite of what he did and to just be an ear when you want to talk. She told me that actions speak louder than words but there are times where words are comforting too. We're trying our best not to make promises we can't keep and to never make you feel like you have to do something we are just as capable of doing," Star explained.

It didn't even take Lizzy half a second to figure out who Star meant. "You mean Lissy?" Portman's older sister had been in a terrible relationship with a man who had been almost as bad as Lex but for different reasons while Lizzy and Portman had been in tenth grade. Luckily, it had ended before she had married the man.

"Yes. I'm ..." Star glanced at Matt. "I apologize if that makes you feel like I broke your trust. I just wanted to help."

Lizzy swallowed then nodded. On one hand, it did hurt that someone was talking about her behind her back but on the other, she understood they were just trying to help. Or at the very least, trying not to make it worse. "I appreciate that. I'm not sure how I feel about it but I understand where you're coming from."

"I should get on that phone call," Matt said. Matt stood and left the room leaving his dishes on the table.

"Well, that's rude," Lizzy muttered. Star pressed her lips together as if holding in a laugh.

"He cooked so I load the dishwasher, but you do have a point. The least he could have done was put them on the counter."

"Let me, please," Lizzy said. Star nodded and Lizzy cleared the table.

At the airport, Matt walked her to the check-in counter and got her ticket. They stepped away from the counter and headed for security. He stopped just before they reached it. "This is as far as I can go. They changed security after 9/11," Matt told her.

"Right, I was with Ben in Memphis when it happened." Lizzy swallowed nervously then shifted from one foot to the other. Her brother was being more tolerant than she deserved. And more understanding. "Matt, I wanna thank you. You've been much more gracious than I deserve."

"You deserve so much more than I can give you. This is an open-ended ticket. Means that the return trip is already paid for and you can return any time. Just go to the check-in desk and show the ticket and they'll get you on the soonest flight with an open seat."

"Thank you."

Matt stared at her then reached forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her into a hug. "You take care of yourself now, ok? I'll see you when you get back," he said. Initially the hug surprised her, he hadn't reached out and touched her since she had started staying with him, but the warmth and feeling in the hug made her sink into it. Just as she was starting to relish the hug and really sink into it, Matt jerked away from her. "Oh my God, I am so sorry. I totally forgot. Please, forgive me. I apologize. Star and Lissy both warned me. I was not trying to hurt you, I promise. Or to take away your agency or make you think you owe me something. That is not—"

"Matt," she tried to interrupt his rambling.

"—what I meant at all. I was just—"

"Matt!"

"You're my baby sister and—"

"Matt."

"I feel like I haven't hugged you in three years and—"

"Matthew Anthony!" she snapped.

He stopped and stared at her. "Uh." He ran a hand through his blond hair. "I ... ok." He smirked.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just been so long since you've snapped like that and, for a second, you kinda reminded me of Mom. She'd always try to look so stern when I was in trouble but her eyes would be so filled with love that I never felt quite as bad as she probably wanted me to."

"What did you mean Star and Lissy warned you?"

"Like Star told you at breakfast, she called Lissy and told her the broad strokes that Gordon told us. You were getting divorced from a manipulative and controlling man who may have also physically hurt you. Star never mentioned your name but she did say we wanted to know the best way to be there for you. Lissy did tell us to do the opposite of what he did and to be an ear without judgment if you wanted to talk. She also explained what she meant by the opposite. If he scared you, make you feel safe. If he starved you or made you feel like you ate too much, make sure you have access to food whenever you want it. If he demeans you, build or help you build yourself confidence back up. But above all, if he did physically hurt you, let you come to me. You need to be the one to initiate touch because me touching you could trigger a flashback to him hurting you and I don't ever want you to think that a touch from me will ever end in pain."

"That's why you haven't hugged me and why Star grabbed your hand at breakfast, when I first asked about the ticket."

Matt smiled softly at his little sister. "Ben's always told me I'm the most physically affectionate of our brothers, especially towards you and I never really believed him until these last two weeks or so. Every time I've started to reach out to wrap an arm around you or hug you or even just clap you on the shoulder, Star's always grabbed my hand or leg or even just cleared her throat and I realize what I'm doing." He reached towards her then withdrew his hand. "See? I don't want my sister to be afraid of me. I wanna make sure she knows she can trust me. And I don't like not being able to hug you."

"I miss hugs too," she said softly. "Every time I just tried to get a hug, he'd shove me away or try to turn it into something more and it never felt quite right."

"I hope my hug didn't feel that way."

"May I have another just to be sure?"

"Any time." He stepped back up to her and gently wrapped his arms around her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him, both being careful of her still slightly bruised ribs. He held on to her until she pulled back.

"Safe, warm, right."

"I'm glad. Now, go on, you don't want to miss your flight," Matt told her.

"Ok. I'll see you when I get back," Lizzy agreed. She swallowed then turned and made her way through security, putting on a brave face.