Chapter 6 - Melanie’s Defection
On a stormy Tuesday evening, my doorbell chimed. I checked the high-definition security camera app on my phone.
Standing on my porch, drenched in rain and holding a trash bag full of her clothes, was Melanie.
I unlocked the door but left the heavy security chain in place. "Melanie. What are you doing here?"
Melanie looked exhausted. The glamorous coworker who thought she was marrying a wealthy real estate executive looked broken and humiliated.
"Jessica... please," she wept, wiping rainwater from her face. "I have nowhere else to go. Mark lied to me about everything. Everything."
I unhooked the chain and stepped back, letting her into the entryway. "Talk."
Melanie dropped her trash bag onto the tile floor. "He told me you two were already divorced. He showed me fake court decree papers! He told me this house was his asset that he was letting you live in until the final settlement! I had no idea he was using his company card for the wedding... now his company is threatening to press felony fraud charges against both of us because my name is on the hotel receipts!"
"And what do you want from me?" I asked, completely unmovable.
"I want out," Melanie sobbed, pulling a stack of papers from her purse. "I found his real financial records hidden in his mother's basement where we’ve been staying on an air mattress. He has hidden bank accounts, unpaid tax liens, and he was planning to flee to another state as soon as he got money from you. I will give you everything. Every text, every document, every piece of evidence showing he duped both of us... if you help me get an annulment and convince his company not to sue me."
May you like
I looked at the weeping woman who had tried to steal my life. I felt no anger toward her anymore—only pity.
"Hand over the documents," I said quietly. "If they verify what I suspect, my lawyer will handle your annulment free of charge."
