That morning Susan looked at herself in the mirror, she put on makeup and styled her hair after picking out a formal outfit for the occasion: white closed stiletto heels with a seven centimeter high heel, matching old rose-colored pants and blazer, a white blouse, and a matching handbag. She would never give the impression of being defeated, especially not by a man. She took the damn folder and headed to her appointment with Robert Adler.
Robert Adler was arranging documents for his upcoming meeting. He was curious about the future ex-Mrs. Cooper due to the charming references he had received about her from Steve.
After parking the car, Susan looked at the immense building from the sidewalk. She entered the building, her trembling hands pressed the button to the floor she needed to go to, and she prayed not to run into David.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Susan entered the reception of the law firm. The ochre-colored carpet, high-backed white leather armchairs, and a small curvy-shaped counter caught her attention. She approached the counter.
"Good morning, madam," the receptionist said.
"Good morning, I'm Susan Cooper, and I have a meeting with Mr. Adler," she replied.
The receptionist typed on her computer.
"Please have a seat, they'll call you soon," Susan was about to sit down when a young woman next to her called out, "Mrs. Cooper, please follow me. I am Mr. Adler's secretary."
Susan greeted her and followed the woman. Robert was putting a book back on the shelf when his secretary opened the door.
"Good morning," Susan greeted when entering his office.
He was taken aback for some reason, expecting a different woman.
"Good morning, Mrs. Cooper, please have a seat," he said.
Susan sat on the comfortable chair and placed the folder on the glass table.
"Mrs. Cooper, I want to make it clear that this is an informal meeting. We will only discuss what my client is offering. If you agree, I will submit the application," he said.
"Very well, please tell me what your client's conditions are," Susan responded.
"Firstly, my client prefers a mutual divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. No one is at fault. Mr. Cooper will return the inheritance from your parents, which has been under his administration all these years. There will be an audit to prove that no misuse of that money has occurred. Additionally, he will allow you to keep the house and all the furniture. I understand there are two cars as well. Furthermore, he offers the following sums, which you can see in this paragraph," Robert said, opening the folder. "One is a monthly allowance considering that you have never worked, and the other is a percentage of his assets. In both cases, he will not offer anything beyond that."
Susan looked at the paper, knowing that David wouldn't make things easy for her, but realizing how petty he was shocked her.
"So, you're telling me that after 25 years, this is what my husband thinks I deserve?"
"I know, Mrs. Cooper, and believe me, I have talked to him. That's why I suggested that you seek someone to advise you."
"I don't need advice, I'm not foolish, and I know what I am entitled to. What will happen to our daughters? Even though Ava works, we always send her money, and Amelie is in college."
"Legally, both of them are adults, and he is not obligated to support them. He offered nothing for them."
"Legally! And what about morally? Tell your client that I will give him the message directly," Susan responded.
She stormed out of that office and headed two floors down to the reception area.
"Good morning, I want to see my husband," she said.
"The sir is busy," the receptionist said, feeling uneasy.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him being free," Susan said and headed to the office.
The secretary tried to stop her, but it was impossible.
In the office, David was with Chloe. She was sitting on the desk with a miniskirt that left little to the imagination, and she was running her hand through David's hair. The scene seemed grotesque and repulsive to Susan.
"Get out of here, I need to talk to my husband," Susan told Chloe.
"He is no longer your husband, and you don't give me orders. If you want to talk to him, do it, but I'm staying here," Chloe shouted back.
"But don't be ridiculous, even if you don't like it, you are just the mistress, legally I am still his wife, so you leave this office immediately," Susan warned.
David looked at his wife, he had never seen her so enraged.
"Chloe, please leave us alone, it will only take a minute," he said. She left the office, angry that David hadn't supported her. "We are at my workplace, Susan, and I will ask you to talk to my lawyer in the future," David warned.
"The problem is that I can't yell at your lawyer, because he is just doing his job. I spent twenty-five years of my life serving you, and not only are you stingy with me, but you are also stingy with our daughters. I will be clear with you and say it only once, I will not sign the divorce," Susan stated.
"I won't give you any more money, I am the one who went to work," David replied.
"I cooked for you, cleaned up after you, took care of you when you were sick, took care of your parents, and I still do, because you didn't bother to make sure their nurse gets paid on time. She looked at him, realizing he had forgotten about the damn nurse. And I'm not here for myself because you being stingy with me is nothing new. I'm here for our daughters, but you didn't consider them in your agreement," she said.
"They are adults now, and if they can disrespect me, they can also pay for their own things. Amelie can work, she is of age, I was working and studying at her age," David argued.
"Your parents didn't have the means to pay for your education, but you do. Ava was of age, yet you paid for her education, and until last month we sent her money for her expenses. We were supposed to buy her a small apartment so she wouldn't have to pay rent anymore. And now you don't even want to pay for Amelie's education because you're not being sincere. You just want to punish them because they sided with me. Let's get to the point, I will only give you the divorce if you include our daughters. Otherwise, I will sue you for infidelity and take half of everything. Think about it, at least you still have a chance to fix things with your daughters unless losing them is what you want," Susan threatened.
"Of course not, they are my daughters, I love them. Susan, I didn't want to hurt you, I just didn't want to continue this marriage and I didn't know how to say it," he responded.
"It's ironic, imagine if instead of having Susan as a wife, you had a David. A David who was always late, putting work first because it was for the well-being of the family, always on the phone calling here and there. But when I called you or was waiting for you and you were running late, you couldn't let me know. Imagine being sick and having to get up and iron a shirt. Maybe I forgot to wear miniskirts to seduce you at work, but in everything else, I never failed you," she said.
"You never complained," he reproached.
"No, you're right, because I tried to focus on the good things you had, seeing the wonderful and hardworking man who proved to my father that he was valuable, seeing how you achieved every professional goal or when you taught our daughters how to ride a bike or took them trick-or-treating. But be sure that with this David, I wouldn't have shared even a year of my life," she told him, grabbed her purse, and headed towards the door when he spoke to her.
"Okay, Susan, go to the lawyer, I will continue covering our daughters' expenses," he said. Susan looked at him.
"Goodbye, David," she said and closed the door.
As Susan exited the office, she ran into Chloe again.
Chloe went back into the office, visibly upset.
David picked up his phone and called his lawyer.
Give him what he asks for, I will include an apartment for each of my daughters, Amelie's will be delivered when she finishes her career, which I will continue to pay for along with her expenses. He said Susan had already chosen the apartment for Ava. Chloe couldn't believe what she was hearing. When he ended the call, she confronted him.
"On top of coming in here giving orders, treating me like trash, and considering how your daughters treated me, you give them money."
"It would have been worse if we went to court, she would have gotten it anyway, not to mention the scandal. Instead, in a few months, we will get married, but as of today, this chapter is over."
Susan returned to Robert's office, and he received her right away.
"I have to admit, you are very good at negotiating," he told her. She smiled at him.
"Although it may not seem like it, David was always a fair man. I think the situation overwhelmed him a bit."
He smiled at her; without a doubt, she was an exceptional woman trying to soften the image of her ex-husband.
"Mr. Cooper ordered me to include two apartments; he said you have the information about his oldest daughter, but Amelie's will be delivered when she finishes her career, which he will continue to pay for," Robert informed her.
"That sounds perfect; I will send you the information later," she replied.
After reaching an agreement, Susan said her goodbyes.
"I look forward to your call, Mr. Adler," she told him.
"As soon as I draft the new agreement, I will send it to you, Mrs. Cooper," he replied, shaking her hand.
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