‘That’s not what I was thinking. You know you still have . . .options,don’t you?’ she began cautiously. ‘They’re not particularly ethical. But they are, nevertheless, options.’
‘Such as?’
‘There are . . . people . . . in the FFA who have connections, if you get what I’m saying.’
‘I don’t think I do.’
‘Options that can solve a problem like your husband.’
‘You mean have him killed?’
Yan shook her head vigorously. ‘Oh God no, no, not those kind of options! Ones that require a level of deceit but that can lead to a fast-tracked divorce and that won’t penalize you.’
‘Like what?’
‘A serious deception like drug or gambling addiction, an untreatable STI he’s passed on, prison, a degenerative neurological condition . . . or if you accused him of being violent towards you. There are safeguarding measures in place in cases of spousal abuse that will Level you straight up to a Family Court. If the magistrates side with you, your marriage could be over within a fortnight.’
‘But Mitchell has never been aggressive towards me.’
‘But they don’t know that.’
Corrine shook her head. ‘I can’t lie.’
‘Did Mitchell listen to his conscience when he misled you into divorcing and marrying him again? Why should there be one rule for him and another for you?’
‘No, it wouldn’t be right to abuse a law designed to protect vulnerable people.’
‘I did say it was unethical,’ Yan added.
Corrine picked her phone from her pocket and flicked through a photo album. She found a selfie from when she had slipped on ice and bruised her arms and shoulders last winter. And more recently, there was a picture of the bruising around her mouth and swollen lips following the altercation at MP Eleanor Harrison’s apartment. She closed the screen and shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, it’s just not me.’
‘I understand,’ said Yan. ‘But if I was asking you for advice, what would you tell me to do?’
‘Whatever you can to leave that marriage.’
‘Exactly. So I guess it depends on just how much you hate your husband.’
Corrine hated her husband. And she hated hima lot.
40
Jeffrey
‘When do you think your relationship began to veer off-course?’ asked Jeffrey.
‘It hasn’t,’ groaned Noah and poured himself and Luca another coffee from the machine. He didn’t offer Jeffrey one. ‘And I don’t know why you keep saying it has.’
‘For argument’s sake, let’s say that your Audite has picked up on issues the two of you may not realize you have. I want to get to the bottom of what made it come to that conclusion. You received your Level One warning three months ago, is that correct?’
‘Yes,’ they said together.
‘You moved into this house a week after you married. So minus the six-month newlyweds’ grace period, it’s likely problems came to a head after you came here. So perhaps the house has come at your relationship’s expense?’
‘We couldn’t have afforded it if we hadn’t got married,’ said Noah. ‘A junior doctor’s salary isn’t going to make me rich and Luca is hardly going to earn his fortune in events catering.’
Jeffrey noted Luca flinch at the dismissal.
‘But our relationship is fine,’ Noah continued, oblivious. ‘You said it yourself the day you met us, it was probably the system misunderstanding the nature of how we are with one another.’
