Apparently, this past year had been tough on everyone. I wasn’t the only one struggling to find my footing.
“How did it go today?” she asked, finally glancing at me after rinsing another plate. “Your meeting with the lawyers was this afternoon, right?”
I reached for a glass and poured myself some wine, then sank down on one of the barstools feeling a hundred years older than I actually was. “It was today, but I sort of wish it hadn’t been.”
“That bad, huh?”
I shook my head. “It was worse.”
She frowned. “What happened?”
“Louis is threatening to fight for full custody.” The words nearly choked me on the way out, stealing my breath and feelinglike they’d scorched my internal organs to dust. “He’s going to fight for them, Amber.”
She turned to face me fully now, drying her hands on a dish towel as her eyes filled with disbelief. “What? Why? He doesn’t evenlikethem.”
“I know, but that doesn’t matter,” I said past the giant lump forming in my throat. “He’ll still fight me for them if I don’t sign over what’s left of my trust fund.”
She frowned at me. “What do you meanwhat’s left of it?”
I took a swig of my wine, my entire being deflating as I thought back to what I’d been told in that meeting. “I found out today that he’s been leeching off it for years. I had no idea, but apparently, over half of the original amount is already gone. Now he wants what’s left.”
“You’re kidding.”
I shook my head, suddenly feeling so drained and so stupid that I could barely breathe. “He handled all our finances. I never even thought to look into it because I didn’t know any better and I didn’t want to be that nagging wife who was always asking questions.”
“God, Adeline. I’m so sorry.”
I took another, much larger sip of my wine, but it wasn’t numbing me nearly fast enough. I wasn’t sure there was enough wine in the entire world to dull this pain. “Apparently, a few hundred thousand dollars is all he wants. He was never really around for the girls.”
“What a prick.”
I lifted my glass in a silent toast of agreement. “I just feel like such an idiot. I should’ve seen this coming, you know? Once Lu was born, he totally checked out. He wanted a boy and he went out and found himself someone who could give him that.”
Amber’s eyes narrowed to slits, her cheeks even flushing with rage. “He’s the scum of the earth.”
I huffed out a soft, humorless laugh. “He might be, but he has bulldogs for lawyers and they’re coming for everything I’ve got left. Including the girls if I don’t willingly give it up.”
She crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “So what are you going to do?”
I looked at her, swallowing past the ever-growing lump in my throat and past all the bitterness and resentment in my soul. “Honestly? I’m done fighting. As long as I have my girls, I’m fine.”
“Adeline—”
“I mean it,” I said a little more firmly. “I’m tired, Amber. I don’t have it in me to drag this out for more months or maybe even years. Whatever it’ll turn into if I don’t give in.”
She shook her head. “They’re not going to take them from you. You’re a dedicated, amazing mother.”
“I want to believe that, but belief doesn’t hold much weight against money, influence, and a last name that carries more power than mine does right now. It’s just not a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Yeah, I hear you.” Amber spun around and washed the last two plates, then dried her hands and glanced at the clock.
She’d tasted some of this herself when her parents had lost everything, the only difference being that she’d been a kid who hadn’t needed to worry about losing her own kids. I knew she still understood better than most, though. This was exactly why she didn’t trust old money families—or really anyone who wielded any sort of power simply because they’d been born lucky.
“I’m going to turn in,” she said once she’d hung up the dish towel. “I have big plans for the girls tomorrow.”
I managed a small smile. “Should I be worried about these plans?”
“Only if you don’t want me running Lu ragged so she’s nicer to everyone.”
