“Increase it.” I held his gaze steadily. “Make it two million a year. I can pay for it myself.”
“One million a year is already generous.”
“Not when you’re a billionaire. It’s not enough.”
“Two million a year for the first five is ten million dollars, Zach.”
“I’m aware, but again, I’ll cover it personally.”
Alex leaned back, his expression a little more careful now. “You’re setting a precedent here.”
“The only thing I’m doing is making sure she doesn’t have to worry,” I said simply. “Either increase it or I’ll just have another contract drafted as an amendment to this one before the first year is out. It’s up to you.”
He blew out a heavy breath through his nostrils but nodded. “That’s not necessary. We’ll up it to two million.”
Relieved, I flipped to another page, scanning before stopping again. “The future children clause needs to be struck out.”
“It’s standard.”
“Nothing about this is standard.”
His eyebrows pulled together slightly. “Zach, it outlines expectations and provides protection to both of you as well as whatever children?—”
“I said,strike it out.” I looked at him, hoping we’d still be on the same page if I just explained where I was coming from. “What if there are no more children, Alex? Her first marriage dissolved because the contract demanded a boy that never came. I won’t put that kind of stress on her again. She’s a person, not an incubator.”
“If there are no children, the clause becomes irrelevant.”
“It becomes pressure,” I said firmly. “Stress. Expectations. It’s her body and she’s already had two kids. I don’t even know if she wants more, and even if she does, I would make sure that they’re looked after. All of them. I don’t need a contract telling me to do it.”
“It’s not meant to add pressure. It’s just?—”
“Take it out. Fuck. Why are you fighting me on this?”
Alex held my gaze for another long second, then slid a pen out of his pocket, leaned forward, and struck through the clause in totality. “There. Are you happy now?”
“Yes,” I said. “Thank you.”
“Yep.” He set the pen down slowly and folded his arms on the table, eyes locked on mine. “You’re changing a lot.”
“I’m not going to make it harder for her than it already is,” I said. “I realize these are standard terms, but she just got out of a marriage in which she got fucked bytheirversion of standard terms. I don’t want her feeling like the contract is hanging over her head, Alex. We’re going to have a tough enough time of it, especially at the beginning, as it is.”
“Okay. Anything else?” he asked after searching my gaze for something he obviously hadn’t found. “I’ll need to get this back to the lawyers as soon as possible so we can have the revised document sent over to Simon.”
“There’s just one more thing.” I scanned down to the section I’d flagged mentally the first time through. “I want provisions added for Adeline’s girls.”
Alex’s brow lifted. “They’re not technically part of this agreement, but okay. What kind of provisions do you want added?”
“I’m already setting up trusts for them,” I said. “You can refer to those in here. I’ll have Jacque send over the details, but I also want to add education, health care, living expenses, and whatever else they might need. I want them protected and I want that money to be untouchable by anyone but them.”
“Alright,” he said finally. “We’ll draft it clean and strict. You’re worried about the father coming back for more if he finds out about it?”
I nodded. “He’s already drained Adeline’s trust. I want all this worded so that there can never be any claim made by anyone who isn’t Jennifer or Lauren Weatherby.”
“We can absolutely do that.” He made a note, then glanced back up at me. “Is that it?”
I looked at the contract one last time, then closed it and pushed it across the table toward him. “That’s it. Thanks, Alex.”
He took it, stacking the pages neatly before folding them and sliding them back into the envelope on the table. “I’ll have it finalized and sent over to Simon as soon as possible.”
