Mediation could be hell, and this case looked headed for the courtroom. Grateful her boss dismissed her to begin drafting a sure-to-be-denied settlement offer, Jessica escaped the tension in the boardroom and hid in her cubicle just around the corner. Over the past eighteen months, she’d seen a lifetime’s worth of divorce cases. She’d put a bullet through her brain before she’d go through that.

​

Not that she’d ever divorce Angus. Her life had changed two years ago when she decided to clean up her act, marry her best friend, and become a lawyer. Angus kept her sane, even though her supposed dream job began and ended with arguments between people who used to love each other. She’d expected a legal career helping women out of tough situations, something she’d experienced. Instead, the boring business contracts and mind-numbing divorce cases made her head hurt. She shoved away the thread of doubt about her current life choices.

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This case, not her new life, was the problem. The couple she'd just left in the conference room took spite to a whole new level. She opened the fat file folder. Wealthy and with three kids, they had a humongous house overlooking El Paso and a seething hate for each other. Perhaps not unwarranted, since the husband evidently couldn’t keep it in his pants and had impregnated one of the wife’s tennis partners.

The wife had cowered in the boardroom, makeup-less and with red-rimmed eyes. She was easy to feel sorry for, although the lack of foundation exposed flawless skin and a perfection that seemed surgically enhanced. As did the breasts on a frame that looked far too light to support them.

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“You!” Suddenly, the wife hovered over Jessica as if she’d jumped out of her thoughts.