Chapter 13 - Divorce Became Cleaner Once We Stopped Calling Every Dollar Moral
Christopher and I divorced.
Not immediately.
Seven months after the slap.
We tried:
three couples sessions
before I stopped.
Why?
Because I wanted to know whether the marriage was injured or:
finished.
The answer came during session four.
Our therapist asked:
“What would rebuilding trust require?”
I said:
“Separate accounts.”
“Full disclosure.”
“No money to Florence without agreement.”
“No business investment without agreement.”
“No violence ever.”
Christopher nodded to:
all.
Then said:
“And I need Sabrina to stop acting like earning more gives her veto power over everything.”
Fair.
I said:
“Okay.”
Then he added:
“And Mom still needs support.”
There.
Not:
maybe.
Still.
Permanent.
I realized we could negotiate:
amounts.
We could not agree on:
philosophy.
Christopher believed marriage meant I should participate in his lifelong obligation to:
Florence.
I believed marriage meant family obligations had to be:
mutually chosen.
Neither could live happily inside the other system.
So we stopped.
The financial settlement took:
months.
The CCH account was disclosed.
Remaining money accounted:
for.
Some transfers were treated as ordinary marital spending.
Some business-related transfers became part of negotiations over:
dissipation,
reimbursement,
division.
There was no courtroom scene where a judge handed me:
$96,320
and declared:
victory.
The final settlement reflected:
accounts,
assets,
debts,
business losses,
the separate bonus account I created,
the CCH funds,
our respective contributions.
Messy.
Fair enough.
The physical assault was handled separately.
Christopher admitted:
the slap.
He completed:
anger-management counseling
and entered a negotiated resolution without:
jail.
No second incident occurred.
That did not repair:
marriage.
Consequences do not have to be maximum to be:
May you like
real.
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