Chapter 14 - Luke files for divorce first
Luke filed first.
Two weeks after the assault.
Petition for divorce.
He alleged:
Incompatibility.
Financial misconduct.
Abandonment.
He did not allege I caused the fracture.
Smart.
He sought:
Exclusive possession of the house.
Allocation of marital debts.
Return of funds I transferred.
Protection of Bennett Residential Group as separate business property.
Normal divorce claims mixed with extraordinary context.
My attorney explained:
“Divorce court will not simply give you his company because he hurt you.”
“I don’t want his company.”
“Good.”
“I want my retirement left alone.”
“Then we trace.”
Law is boring where anger wants poetry.
We traced.
My retirement.
His business.
Marital appreciation.
Debts.
My grandmother’s inheritance.
House contributions.
No $50 million surprise.
No giant secret trust.
Just a six-year marriage whose finances had become entangled enough to require spreadsheets.
Luke’s business was worth less than he claimed before the assault and more than he claimed after.
May you like
Predictable.
Experts eventually found a middle.
