“Right now, he filed on the grounds of irreconcilable differences,” Jerome explained. “He wants a quick, clean split before the probate concludes. He thinks he can lock you out, get his decree, and then collect the check.”

I looked at the gold pen in Jerome’s hand.

“We can’t let him do that,” I said.

“No,” Jerome said. “We can’t. But you have to be very careful.”

He sat back and crossed his legs.

“If he suspects we know about this clause, he will change his strategy. He might try to reconcile with you temporarily just to get the money, and then dump you the day after the funds clear.”

The thought of Scott touching me again made my stomach turn.

“I can’t pretend to love him,” I said.

“You don’t have to,” Jerome said. “But you do have to delay the divorce.”

“Delay it?” Rachel asked.

“Yes,” Jerome said. “We need to drag this out. We must refuse to sign the final court-filed decree.”

He looked at me with a serious expression.

“We will make excuses, request more financial disclosures, and slow the legal gears to a crawl.”