Chapter 10 - DEREK FACED THE HOUSE
The marital property mediation lasted eleven hours.
Derek wanted the house.
So did I.
For opposite reasons.
He saw it as proof of what he built.
I saw it as proof I survived.
By hour seven, the mediator asked me:
“Do you actually want to live there?”
I stopped.
No.
I liked the garden.
The kitchen.
The library.
But the hardwood floor in the living room would always contain one memory too many.
I had been defending possession because surrender felt like defeat.
Once I saw that, the solution became easier.
We sold.
The proceeds were divided according to the broader marital settlement after adjustments for disputed Holdings transactions and other claims.
My fifty-percent Holdings rights were recognized.
The forensic accounting valued the remaining legitimate assets.
Derek absorbed a larger share of liabilities associated with unauthorized transactions.
I received cash, retirement interests, and one rental property.
No one took everything from him.
No one gave everything to me.
The settlement reflected evidence, negotiation, risk, and law.
Callahan Ridge Consulting’s premarital component remained partly Derek’s separate property, while marital appreciation and compensation issues were resolved through expert valuation and settlement.
Complicated.
Expensive.
Real.
At the end, Rachel leaned back.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“Better answer.”
The divorce was scheduled for final hearing in six weeks.
Then Derek requested postponement.
Not to reconcile.
Because he had entered an intensive treatment program for abusive behavior and wanted time to review one provision concerning future communication.
My first instinct was rage.
Delay had been one of his control tactics.
Rachel asked:
“Do you object legally?”
I thought.
“No.”
“Then don’t turn every request into the old pattern.”
She was right.
Sometimes a delay is a delay.
Not manipulation.
May you like
We agreed to three weeks.
That distinction showed me I was changing too.
