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"What a show off."
She finally smiles. "Mr. Lawrence--"
"You can call me Luke."
"Okay, Luke. I want to take care of this quietly and quickly."
"California is a community property state. You're entitled to half of his assets."
"I don't care about the money."
"Mrs. Pike."
"You can call me Kate," she says.
She's hooked. She's going to sign a retainer at the end of this meeting. I almost hate how easy it is to charm these women. All I do is listen to them, remind them they're valuable human beings, and they're hooked. They'll sign anything I put in front of them. All it takes is fifteen minutes of care and attention and they trust me.
"Okay, Kate. I understand your position. Your husband provided for you. It was a sacrifice, but it's the smallest sacrifice he could offer. It's only money. You've given up years of your life. How long have you been married?"
"Twenty years."
I lean in towards her so she can feel the full weight of my words. "I'm sure men have been interested in you."
She nods.
"But you were faithful, because of your vows."
"Yes," she says.
"You could have lived somewhere less awful than Los Angeles."
She laughs. "I wanted to stay in New York."
"And you gave up your career to raise your daughter. Isn't that right?"
Finally, Kate gives me a real smile. "She's fifteen. She's such a sweet girl. I know she's old enough to decide if she'd rather live with me or her father, but I want full custody."
"We'll get it."
Her face brightens. I see this a lot--she's mostly concerned with her daughter. It's sweet, yes, but she's leaving too much on the table. We can get custody and get half his assets.
"I don't want to push him, Mr. Lawrence... Luke. I just want to be done with it."
"Then let me take it from here. I'll make sure you and your daughter never have to worry about money again."
"But he won't... he has so many lawyers."
I offer Kate my hand. "Yes, but your lawyer is better."
She smiles. "Okay."
"Trust me. Your daughter is going to be so proud of you for standing up for yourself."
I show her our standard retainer, and she signs without hesitation.
***
Ryan calls me into his office as soon as I arrive at work. Unfortunately I still work with him. I tried to leave. The Monday after Alyssa left Ryan for me, I asked him to dissolve the partnership.
