Chapter 19 - DIVORCING A CONVICTED MAN
My divorce took eighteen months after Luke’s plea.
Criminal conviction simplified some facts.
Not every asset.
We owned:
A house.
Investment accounts.
Retirement funds.
Mercer shares in Luke’s name.
A consulting company.
Some money connected to unlawful corporate transactions required tracing.
The house had been bought with clean marital income.
I received my share through equitable distribution.
I sold it.
Too many rooms contained Luke.
Too many baby items had been prepared there with a man planning another family.
Eli asked:
“Do we have to move?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I want a different house.”
“Because Dad?”
“Partly.”
He nodded.
We bought nothing immediately.
Rented.
Three bedrooms.
Small yard.
Close to school.
No family office.
No Mercer driver.
No staff.
I learned how much invisible labor Mercer money had removed.
Grocery delivery.
House maintenance.
Scheduling.
Then I learned I preferred inconvenience to surveillance.
The divorce decree protected my separate assets.
Luke’s Mercer inheritance remained largely his subject to restitution and criminal orders.
I did not automatically get half of inherited family shares.
No fairy-tale transfer.
Child support for June and Eli was structured through clean assets and court-supervised accounts.
Rose’s support handled separately.
I returned to work.
Before pregnancy, I had been an interior architect.
I took eight months postpartum leave instead of the planned four.
Trauma.
Therapy.
C-section recovery.
June.
Eli.
No apology.
My first project back was a pediatric library.
I almost quit after seeing a hospital bassinet illustration in the design package.
I stepped outside.
Breathed.
Returned.
That became the rhythm.
May you like
Not cured.
Returning.
