Chapter 9: The Legal Trap
The legal trap was airtight.
Thomas had transferred every debt, every lawsuit, every unpaid tax into joint accounts the day after we married. Because the marriage was legal, I was now responsible for all of it.
The lawyer showed me the documents.
“You signed the marriage certificate,” he said. “In the eyes of the law, you accepted the joint liabilities.”
I stared at the papers.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
Lawsuits from old business partners.
Unpaid taxes.
All mine now.
Thomas had spent months making sure I could not escape.
The legal trap was perfect.
But I was not the girl he had known at seventeen.
I was the woman who had survived him.
I looked at the lawyer.
“I will fight this,” I said.
May you like
He smiled for the first time.
“Good,” he said. “Because Thomas didn’t plan for you to fight back.”
