‘Well. You were married to a millionaire, who turned out to be a narcissistic scumbag. In a regular divorce litigation, you would easily be able to walk away with at least half of what he had – properties, cars, money… even his wardrobe, if you so wished to.’
‘Nelson isn’t as wealthy as you might think,’ Sam quickly added.
‘Maybe not when compared to some of the fortunes around Woburn,’ Oakfield accepted it. ‘But he was still pretty wealthy by most people’s standards. Just the house that you lived in together is worth what – five… six mil?’
Sam’s reply was a shy movement, trying to tuck a lock of bristly hair behind her right ear.
‘So, this is what I’m trying to tell you,’ Oakfield carried on. ‘If this was a normal divorce case – you and your husband deciding that it just wasn’t working out anymore and it was time for both of you to go your separate ways – any a-dime-an-hour lawyer could’ve gotten you fifty percent of everything.’ He dipped his head sideways and gave Sam a wink that came across a lot slimier than he would’ve wanted. ‘But now, your soon-to-be ex-husband is an adulterous and convicted “wife-beater” – someone who caused you a world of pain, both physically and psychologically.’ Oakfield shook his head, as he took another long drag of his cigarette. ‘You can’t put a priceon what he did to you, Sam. You can’t put a price on how much he made you suffer, and a good divorce lawyer knows that.’ He lifted his finger at Sam to halt her before she could say anything. ‘A great divorce lawyer, like Kristin, can bleed that motherfucker dry. You can walk away with everything, Sam, leaving behind nothing but a huge “fuck you, Nelson”.’
Sam’s anxious gaze darted away for a split second before coming back to Oakfield. ‘I don’t want to bleed him dry. That’s just going to make him even angrier. All I want is to get my life back, you know? I want to be able to wake up and not feel scared from the moment I open my eyes. I don’t want money, especially his money.’ Sam’s voice faltered, as tears began welling up in her eyes.
Oakfield stubbed out his cigarette. ‘Do you intend to move on with your life in Woburn? Do you have friends and family there?’
‘God, no.’ Sam chuckled the words at Oakfield. ‘I have maybe a couple of people I can call friends, but that’s all. Nelson was way too controlling to allow me to have friends of my own.’
‘Where are you from… originally?’
‘Missouri, but I ain’t going back there either.’
Oakfield detected a different kind of pain in the curves of Sam’s words. Something that hinted that maybe her relationship with her family wasn’t a great one. He decided not to ask.
‘Do you have some place in mind? Some place you’d like to go to start over?’
Sam’s headshake was a tense one. ‘Maybe this whole thing was a mistake, you know? I shouldn’t have done this. I should’ve just packed what I had and left. I shouldn’t have taken him to court. Now, Nelson will come for me. I know he will. Maybe not now… maybe not in a year… or two… or five, but he’ll come for me, and when he does, he won’t just slap me about and handcuff me to the pipework.’
‘He might come for you, sure,’ Oakfield agreed, to Sam’s surprise, but it was what he said next that really seemed to catch her attention. ‘But he won’t be able to do anything if he can’t find you, will he?’
Sam used a paper napkin to dab the tears from her cheeks. ‘What do you mean?’
Oakfield finished his Scotch and signaled the waitress for a new one. ‘Would you like another Cosmo?’
‘No, I’m OK for now, thank you. What are you talking about? Nelson not finding me?’
Oakfield lit up a new cigarette. ‘Like I said, your soon-to-be ex-husband is now a convicted wife-beater… not to mention a cheater, and that will only make things easier for you.’
‘How so?’
‘Two reasons. One – it will completely expedite the divorce process,’ Oakfield explained. ‘I’ll be surprised if Kristin doesn’t have everything finalized a week after sentencing.’
Sam’s eyebrows arched, but in a positive way.
‘And two,’ Oakfield continued. ‘That little threatening stunt that Nelson pulled at the end.’ He lifted a finger for emphasis. ‘Right in front of Judge Reeves, will give Kristin plenty of grounds to initiate a process for an identity change.’
‘Excuse me?’ Sam’s head angled slightly to the left.
‘Sam, you’re still so young. You have your whole life ahead of you. Please don’t allow the two years that you spent with that scumbag to destroy the rest of your life.’
‘I’m thirty-four years old,’ Sam said back, as if thirty-four was the age of ancient gods. ‘I’m not that young.’
Oakfield threw his head back as he laughed. ‘Trust me, Sam, you’re still so very young.’
The waitress brought Oakfield a new Scotch on the rocks.
‘You said that all you wanted was to put this whole thing behind you and move on with your life, right?’
Sam nodded, as she also finished her cigarette.
‘Well, believe it or not, this is the perfect opportunity,’ Oakfield explained, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. ‘I know that this is a cliché sentence, used by many lawyers, but in your case, this is one hundred percent true.’