“Wait, you can’t just get it annulled?”
“In the State of Nevada, there are all sorts of weird stipulations for what constitutes an annulment. None of which cover getting drunk and consenting,” I said.
“You could argue you weren’t in a coherent state of mind.”
“Which would mean arguing it in court.”
“Ah.”
“Exactly.”
“So, what does that mean for what you guys own? And stuff like that?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, in a divorce, don’t you have to split everything down the middle?”
“What?”
“Yeah. I mean, I guess if it’s uncontested you might be able to draw your own boundaries. But it’s not like you guys had a, you know, prenup or something,” she said.
Holy shit. I hadn’t thought about that.
“I can see the panic. Don’t panic. Let me look it up. Hold on. Don’t blow a gasket just yet,” Jessica said.
I felt my heart rate surging as she pulled out her phone. Was there really a possibility that Everett could get half of the youth center? Own half of my future? Forever? I felt sick. It felt as if I was going to throw up. My vision tunneled as my back hit the wall again, and my knees started to grow weak.
“No! No, no, no. Okay. Listen to this. You ready?” Jessica asked.
I nodded my head as I swallowed the bile rising up the back of my throat.
“Uncontested divorces are only suggested in a scenario when the couple in question can work things out on their own. Custodial agreements, the spitting of properties, and alimony payments, to name a few. In an uncontested divorce, the couple is in complete control of how things are split, with a magistrate then coming behind them and confirming the rules and regulations the couple set forth before making the divorce decree official.”
“That sounds promising,” I said.
“It means you and Everett can walk away with everything intact. You ‘split property’ like it’s supposed to be. His business, and your business, and nothing else,” she said.
I nodded my head as my heart rate settled back down.
“I don’t know what I’d do if that man took half of my youth center.”
“Andrea.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“It’s going to be okay.”
I looked into Jessica’s eyes as she stuffed her phone back into her pocket.
“How could this have happened?” I asked.
Tears sprang to my eyes as Jessica wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in for a hug.
“I don’t know. But we’ll get you out of it, okay?” she asked.
“This wasn’t how I envisioned getting married.”
“I know.”