Chapter 13 - The Marriage We Still Had
A strange legal fact remained:
Elise and I were married.
Neither of us had filed for divorce.
Why?
Because every time the subject came up, another emergency interrupted.
Eventually Rebecca asked:
“Do you want to remain married?”
Elise looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
Then my lawyer asked me separately.
“I want her back.”
That was true.
“Does she?”
“No idea.”
“Then do not turn legal status into pressure.”
Good.
We signed a temporary separation agreement covering finances and parenting.
No child-support drama.
Both wealthy enough.
Aria schedule.
Healthcare decisions joint.
No romantic assumptions.
Then Elise moved some belongings into her townhouse permanently.
Not returning to our bedroom.
Good.
Then we began marriage counseling at Elise’s request.
Not reconciliation therapy.
Decision therapy.
Could relationship survive?
We explored.
First session:
Therapist asked:
“What did Vivienne take from marriage?”
Elise answered:
“Choice.”
I answered:
“Trust in my own judgment.”
Then therapist asked:
“What did Dominic do?”
Elise:
“He dismissed my concerns before crash.”
Me:
“Yes.”
Then:
“He stopped searching.”
I flinched.
“I searched eighteen months.”
“You stopped believing.”
Different.
Then:
“He fell in love with her.”
Silence.
Therapist:
“Was that betrayal if he believed you were dead?”
Elise cried.
“I don’t know.”
Good.
No easy moral.
Then my turn.
“Elise hid from me voluntarily at first.”
“Yes.”
“She believed I might take Aria.”
“Yes.”
“That hurts.”
“I know.”
Both.
Then no resolution.
Real therapy.
Then Vivienne’s defense wanted records from our counseling?
Privileged.
Protected.
Good.
Then major case.
Prosecutors offered Vivienne plea:
Guilty to identity misuse and obstruction.
Dismiss coercion-related count.
Financial-adviser violations resolved partly criminal/civil.
Sentencing open with cap around three years? Could be.
Vivienne refused.
Why?
She would not plead guilty to intentionally keeping Elise away.
She insisted Elise’s choices mattered too.
Trial.
Then Cross Harbor regulator settlement separately:
Firm paid civil penalty.
Vivienne’s advisory license suspended pending criminal outcome.
Clients given notice.
Independent manager.
Then child assault probation began.
No contact with Aria.
Then Vivienne sent no letters.
Good.
Then Elise made progress walking without cane indoors.
Not miracle.
Leg nerve damage permanent enough she still used cane long distances.
She hated it.
Aria decorated it with stickers.
Elise pretended outrage.
Then one evening Aria fell asleep on our couch during Elise visit.
Elise looked at me.
“Can I stay until she wakes?”
“Yes.”
Hours.
We sat in kitchen.
No lawyers.
Then:
“Did you ever take my ring off?”
I stared.
“You mean mine?”
My wedding band.
I still wore it for months after disappearance.
Then stopped.
When?
“About a year.”
Elise nodded.
“Before Vivienne?”
“Yes.”
Truth.
Then:
“I don’t know why that helps.”
“I don’t either.”
Then she asked:
“Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“Good.”
No symbolic putting back.
Then:
“Dominic.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to spend rest of my life making decisions based on what Vivienne stole.”
I waited.
“That includes whether I stay married to you.”
Good.
She was reclaiming.
Then:
“I need time.”
“You have it.”
No deadline.
Then she smiled slightly.
“You’re getting better at that.”
Maybe.
The trial was still months away.
May you like
Our marriage could wait.
The first thing that had to stop was adults treating urgency as ownership.
