Kate shook her head and tossed her phone away.
In the background, it landed with a clatter on a flatter surface.
“Sorry, work is never-ending. Okay, so first of all, it’s nice to meet you. Liam has told us all a lot about you.”
Amy blinked. “Us?”
“We have a group of friends who hang out regularly,” Kate replied with a small smile. “Anyway, he’s brought me up to speed about everything, and don’t worry, I think you’ve got a good chance at winning.”
Amy leaned back against the couch and frowned. “Winning?”
Kate leaned forward and picked up a cream-colored file. She paused and flipped it open. “Yes, it says here that your ex has filed for divorce, and, no surprise there, he wants to keep everything. In his motion, he argues he should keep everything since he was the primary breadwinner.”
Amy ran a hand over her face, a low pounding beginning in the back of her skull. “Yes, but that’s only because we both agreed I needed to be there for the kids since he has a busy career.”
Kate picked up a pen and jotted something down. “So, you’re the one who tidied up the house and took care of the kids?”
“In the beginning, I did everything,” Amy replied with a slight shake of her head. “But after the kids got older and moved out, Eric started to criticize everything I did all the time until I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Kate frowned. “What did you do?”
Amy ignored the pounding in her ears. “I told him he should hire someone to take care of the cleaning or do it himself. Obviously, he hired someone.”
Kate lowered the file and looked directly at the screen, her dark eyes tightening around the edges. “Mrs. Taylor—”
“I never took my husband’s last name,” Amy interrupted with a grimace. She paused and had to swallow several times before her tongue no longer felt heavy and awkward. “My last name is Gruntle, but please call me Amy.”
Kate exhaled and set down the clipboard. “Amy, look, I get the feeling that you’re the kind of woman who doesn’t like to beat around the bush.”
Unease crept up Amy’s spine and settled in the center of her stomach. “I’m not.”
“Eric isn’t going to hesitate to reveal every secret you told him; every last piece of dirty laundry is going to be aired out for the court to see. I’ve dealt with men like him before, the kind who believe they own the world… He’s not going to let up easily.”
Amy’s throat turned dry, and her stomach dipped. “I am not going to stoop to his level. I don’t even want anything.”
Kate gave a quick nod. “I understand that, but we do have to fight back, or you might end up owing him money.”
Amy’s mouth fell open, her heart hammering louder now. A flush rose up her neck and crawled across her cheeks. “Owehimmoney? But everything I have right now is my savings frombefore we got married and a little bit of money from the odd job here and there. Eric doesn’t know anything about that.”
He couldn’t. Not with how careful she’d been to only take on online consulting jobs at the behest of Lily. Even though the amount of money she’d made wasn’t much, it was still better than having to rely on Eric for the rest of her life.
“His lawyer probably did some digging,” Kate replied, pausing to pull out a swivel chair. She sat down and inched closer to the screen. “The next step is filing to dismiss his motion and filing our own.”
Amy studied the screen, a small kernel of hope taking root inside of her. “And I can say whatever I want? Just like he did.”
“You get a platform too, yes. Do you have anything in particular you want?”
Amy cleared her throat and let her hands fall to her sides. She dug her nails into her palms, hard enough to leave marks. “I just want to be free to move on with my life; that’s all.”
Kate glanced at something offscreen and then looked back at Amy. “I understand. I’ll draft up a motion, and I’ll be in touch to go over it with you. None of this is going to be easy, but I promise you’re in good hands.”
Some of the knots around Amy’s stomach loosened. “Okay, good.”
Kate straightened her back. “I’ll talk to you soon, Amy. Take care.”
Amy cleared her throat and uncurled her hands. “You too.”
As soon as the screen turned blank, Amy’s phone rang. She fished it out of her pocket and held it up to her face. “Lucas, hi. I was just going to call you.”
