The judge finally looked over his glasses and addressed me directly.
“Mrs. Davis, do you thoroughly comprehend the vast property rights you are relinquishing today?” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honor, I understand completely,” I answered clearly.
“And are you entering into this binding agreement entirely of your own free will?” he continued.
“Yes, Your Honor, I am,” I stated.
Mark was sitting next to his legal attorney, Lisa Brown. For the first time in several months, he looked genuinely relaxed and triumphant. He leaned back in his leather chair with the self-satisfied smile of a man who believed he had outsmarted everyone in the room.
I reached for the official pen and signed my final signature on the last page. Then I placed the pen back on the mahogany table. Mark offered a smug smile across the room.
However, his attorney did not smile at all. Lisa had begun reading through a thick bundle of papers attached near the back of the agreement. She turned one page, and then another, her eyes scanning the lines with rapidly growing urgency.
