Chapter 6.

    Thewyer’s tone shifted instantly. “While challenging, solutions can often be found.”

    “Speak.”

    “We could have Mr. Foret sign a power of attorney document. This would authorize his legal representative to appear at the courthouse and finalize the divorce proceedings on his behalf.”

    Rosalind considered it. Signing one more document was easy. She’d tricked him once already. Doing it again shouldn’t be impossible.

    “Understood. Draft the power of attorney. I’ll get his signature. Then you’ll apany me to the courthouse…”

    “Oh, no, no, that won’t work…”

    His greed warred with her dwindling patience.“Rest assured. You’ll be wellpensated upon sess.”

    “It’s not about the fee,” Ronan demurred, his voice strained. “Mr. Foret will discover the truth eventually. You can disappear after the divorce, but I still practicew in Houston! If he decides to retaliate, my small firm couldn’t withstand it…”

    “Then what do you suggest?”

    “Hmm… Perhaps you know anotherwyer you trust implicitly? Preferably one who wouldn’t mind handling this onest big case before relocating?”

    An unscrupulouswyer?

    Rosalind didn’t move in those circles.

    But she did know onewyer who would likely relish the chance to see her marriage to Christopher end.

    3:00 PM. The coffee shop.

    Rosalind had waited two hours when he finally strolled in.

    “Mr. Benitez. It’s been a while.”

    The man was tall, nearly 6’2“, dressed in an impably tailored suit. A faint, mocking smirk yed on his lips.

    Eugene Benitez was Christopher’s closest friend since childhood. The third son of the prominent Benitez family

    in La Porte.

    While his two older brothers waged a bitter war over the family fortune, Eugene, too proud to dirty his hands, had distanced himself after graduating from Harvard Law School to forge his path as an attorney.

    For reasons Rosalind had never understood, he’d despised her from the moment she and Christopher became serious. His hostility was palpable.

    Unlike Christopher’s other friends, who readily called her “Mrs. Foret“, Eugene always addressed her with chilly formality: Ms. Johansen.

    “Ms. Johansen. To what do I owe this surprise? I didn’t think we had anything left to discuss.”

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    I came to offer my congrattions, Mr. Benitez, Rosalind stated calmly.

    Eugene raised an eyebrow. “Congrattions? On what?”

    On finally getting your wish.”

    Rosalind pulled a stack of photos from her bag, images of Christopher and Latoya that the private investigator ihad /i

    captured.

    They were either holding hands, embracing, or kissing.

    Eugene nced at them andughed. “Well, well. Christopher finally came to his senses. Life’s too short to stay stuck in a dead–end rtionship.”

    Over the years, Rosalind had grown ustomed to Eugene’s barbedments and thinly veiled contempt.

    “Dead–end rtionship? Fine. Right now, he is the only one who could help me get free,” she thought.

    He pushed the photos back towards her, leaning back with infuriating calm. “What, Ms. Johansen? Hoping I’ll italk /isense into him? Make him mend his ways? You’vee to the wrong man. I’ve spent years hoping for exactly this, the two of you drifting apart, sharing a bed but living separate lives.”

    “I know,” Rosalind said. “Which is why, this time, our goals align.”

    Eugene’s smirk sharpened.“Do enlighten me.”

    “I will arrange for Christopher to sign a power of attorney document. It will authorize you ias /ihis ilegal /irepresentative. Then you will apany me to the courthouse to finalize the divorce.”

    * Chapter 7

    bChapter /bb7/b.