Battle of Marriage: Leave Me, Leave the Wealth

My name was Maria Hunter, and I was a technical secretary and had been married to my husband, Scott Shepard, for three years. We were a model couple in public and very sweet in private.

Our family of three would travel abroad every year. Even during the toughest three years, we'd go to the neighboring city to relax.

Scott and I had thirteen special anniversaries every year. Every time I forgot any of these special days, he'd surprise me.

Scott's family was not well off, but thanks to my father and older brother, last year, Scott's startup received a big round of funding. His career took a qualitative leap during the downturn.

The success in his career made him closer to me, but I was not in good health and had little energy left for family life besides work.

We didn't have any kids, and my older brother, Jack Hunter, sent us his youngest son, Shawn Hunter, who became part of our family. With him, Scott would treat me even more affectionately.

Shawn was only two years old, chubby, and cute. Every time Scott saw him, Scott pestered me to have our own child. A year ago, we started preparing for a school district house for our future child.

I handed over all my savings to Scott.

Every day, besides being busy with work, he brought a pastry home when he finished work. I was very content with my life.

But on the day of our wedding anniversary, a piece of video news was posted in the company's chat group, which was a rumor about my extramarital affair. After seeing it, Scott became furious and wanted to divorce me, and he asked me to leave with nothing.

I realized that Scott was not who I thought he was. He had already started plotting against me.

My house and savings were all under the name of Scott's parents. At that time, he already had an illegitimate child.

The house and savings were all prepared for his illegitimate child.

My fatherinlaw, Neil Shepard, and my motherinlaw, Nancy Twitty, thought that I had poor health and would not care about the existence of this illegitimate child. They brought the child to our house, and Neil said, "He's Scott's child. And you have poor health. Why don't you acknowledge the boy and be his mom?"

Nancy was afraid that I would not agree, so she said persuasively, "You have been married to Scott for three years and have not given birth to a child. We are really worried. But it's OK now since you've got Shawn and this boy. After all, this boy is Scott's own son. Neil and I have no objections!"

The appearance of this boy disrupted my peaceful and happy life. I sat quietly on the sofa opposite Neil and Nancy, calmly looking at this threeyearold child, and everything became clear.

I didn't cry, but I was desperate. Scott would still see that girl named Zera Burrows, which was the reason why I had been disgusted by him and didn't let him touch me all these years.

Seeing that I didn't say anything, Neil and Nancy called Scott back home. As soon as he came home, he hugged his threeyearold child and coldly said to me, "Now that you know everything, I'm not afraid of you making a fuss. Your family's company is not as good as before and needs me to survive. Since I can ruin your reputation in your company, I can also make you divorce as I want."

The expressions of Neil and Nancy changed again and again. Scott continued, "After I divorce you, I will marry Zera. I only have one son, and he is in my arms!"

I laughed out loud and said, "Scott, if you really have money, why would you want my house and savings? You know how your company is doing!"

Scott, Neil, and Nancy all looked embarrassed. I said, "We can get a divorce, but I want everyone to give up on you!"

Scott narrowed his eyes and said, "I will use all your money to support my son! What are you gonna do?"

I grabbed his collar and said, "I want you to leave with nothing!"

Since things had become nasty, I was no longer afraid of anything. I'd win everything back.

I consulted a legal advisor, who was also my best friend, Mona Payne. She said, "Scott is such a scumbag. It never occurred to me he was this despicable. Doesn't he know your parents' places are worth tens of millions of dollars?"

He knew, of course, but my parents didn't approve of my marriage to Scott and wouldn't give me these houses.

But Scott was over the line. He spread rumors about me in my company. So, I wouldn't let him off.

Mona was the first to step up.

She sneered and flipped through the cooperation contracts that Scott submitted to her. Scott was indeed a shameless scumbag. Not only did he bully me, but he also added three imparity clauses to the contract for Mona. He wanted to hurt the interests of my closest friends and family.

He was so bold and ignorant.

Mona looked angrily at the contracts given by several friends of Scott.

The imparity clauses were in all of them.

She sat on the sofa in pain because of her stomachache, and I opened a bottle of water and handed it to her. I said, "I have read all these contracts. These are all minor orders. You can turn them all down. I will ask Jack to give you a big order that will be enough for a year's profit."

Mona recovered and immediately asked the secretary to make a call. "Mr. Shepard, cooperation won't be necessary."

Scott knew that my family was involved in this, and Mona rejected all the cooperation contracts from him and his friends. What surprised him, even more, was that Mona persuaded all the members of the Seattle Bar Association to raise the fees for Scott and his friends' legal advice and judicial cooperation business services to 600%. I looked at the conditions of service and added another. The service fee for companies that proposed the imparity clauses would be increased by ten times.

Scott was shocked. The best lawyers in Seattle and the rest of the country had joined Mona's association.

He was so angry that he wanted to kill me.

But it was just the beginning.

The stock price of the Shepard Group plummeted due to negative news, and the Seattle Bar Association increased the service fees by ten times. Seeing that, I felt a little relieved, but when I saw Shawn secretly crying because there were no pastries bought by Scott after dinner, I was sad again. I hugged Shawn and said, "Shawn, he is not your father. Shall I take you to see your father?"

Although Shawn was only two years old, he understood a lot. He hugged me and cried, saying, "Mommy, can we not separate? Does Daddy really not want us anymore?"

His crying brought me back to the warm home of the past. I held him tightly and said, "OK. I'll take you to buy you some snacks, OK?"

Mona learned about Shawn. She told me to stay calm. Since Scott didn't get what he wanted, his counterattack had just started. He just wanted more money.

Scott proposed to divorce me on the grounds that after three years, I still couldn't be pregnant. He said so in front of Jack during a business party.

Jack called me and said, "Scott is over the line. Divorce! Sign the divorce agreement right now!"

Under Jack's urging, I drove back to the house I once called home with the divorce agreement. There was no one in the house, all the plants withered, and the air was filled with the smell of cigarettes. I opened the window and ventilated for two hours. Then Scott appeared in front of me, holding his and Zera's child.

Zera followed behind Scott and walked in slowly.

Zera was from another country. She had been in America for six years. Scott liked her very much when he first saw her.

But after he met me, he stopped contacting Zera for a year.

When Zera saw me, she gently took the child in Scott's hands and carefully went to the kitchen to prepare food for Scott and the child.

Scott watched their backs as they walked away, smiling happily. Then he looked at my pale face and sneered, "I can only be a real man when I'm with Zera. Although you can earn more money than her and are more capable than her, you can never give me the happiness I need!"

Instead of getting angry, I mocked and laughed, "Is this why you used my money to support another woman and have an illegitimate child?"

Scott laughed heartily, saying, "Your money is the only reason why I respect you!"

"I don't need your respect! Now that you've taken my money, remember to give me interest! Don't you know that roses with thorns are poisonous?" Scott's face turned ugly. He lowered his head absentmindedly and fiddled with the ashtray. I continued while suppressing my anger, "Don't make me look down on you! The vice president of the prestigious Shepard Group actually relies on his exwife to support his mistress? Don't you have any shame?"

It seemed that I hit a nerve with Scott. He couldn't utter a word for a moment. Meanwhile, Zera walked into the living room, holding a water bottle, with the little one panting behind her. When they approached Scott, the little one hugged his thigh.

Scott's momentary fierceness softened. "Isn't my son adorable? You have no idea how happy it is to have your own child."

Zera understood what he meant and snuggled up to him again, blushing. He saw my pale face and laughed heartily, saying, "I've lost a lot of money these days because of you! I won't give back the money you gave me easily! I've supported you all these years. Consider it my subsidy! We will divorce. And forget about getting a penny from me!"

"You're despicable!" Hearing him say that, I became calm instead. "It seems that the small company of yours isn't profitable. Or why would you hold onto my savings? You parasite! Unfortunately, I won't pity you!"

I threw the divorce agreement in front of Scott. I still insisted on making him leave with nothing.

Scott looked at me with hatred, his eyes red. He said, "We'll sign when the division of the property is clear. You foolish woman! All the savings and houses in your name belong to my family now! You can't take a penny away!"

I tore up the divorce agreement and said, "OK. We won't get divorced until the property division is clear. You cheated on me during the marriage, and I will make the entire Shepard Group pay for your ruthlessness!"

Scott was angry and wanted to hit me. He was a man with a tendency towards domestic violence. We had been married for three years, and I had suffered. I didn't expect him to reveal his true colors again for the postdivorce property.

The counterattack was so satisfying!

But this time, he couldn't do whatever he wanted. Jack pushed open the door and appeared in front of Scott and me.

Jack saw the pieces of divorce agreements all over the floor and asked impatiently, "What's going on?"

Scott sneered and said, "She doesn't want a divorce? She can't give birth, OK?"

I held back my tears and said to Jack, "He bought a house in a good school district with all my savings and registered it under his parents' name. It's for his illegitimate child with Zera!"

Upon hearing this, Jack became furious and grabbed Scott by the collar, coldly saying, "Sign the divorce agreement. You will leave with nothing!"