Ethan called to pressure me. Later Laura came to June’s house, speaking in the careful tone of someone sent to negotiate. Both of them urged me to stop. Both of them said they were thinking of the family.
But by then discovery had already started.
Six weeks later, Anna handed me the evidence in a thick envelope. Walter’s LLC had been formed months before the divorce filing. At first that seemed merely strategic.
Then came the emails—messages between Walter and his attorney dating back to January, eight months before he filed.
In one of them, Walter wrote plainly: “I want to be sure the property is outside the marital estate before I file. Denise says the market is peaking and I want to move quickly.”
I read that line in Anna’s office and felt something inside me settle into steel.
Anna moved fast. She asked the court to void the settlement and freeze any sale or transfer of the LLC’s assets. The injunction was granted. Walter could not sell the house.
He sent messages through the children, then settlement offers through his attorneys.