Chapter Four - Consequences
NOTE FROM AUTHOR: This is the fourth of five chapters in the sad story of Jim and Cheryl. It's longer than the rest but it has a lot of loose ends to tie up. I hope you have enjoyed the story. It is of course fully fictional and in places a bit outlandish but after all, this is Literotica. Right?
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Apparently the first thing Cheryl did was contact Ted Grantham to tell him what I had done and how I had gone about it. He fed her some line of crap that I could never get away with it and if she would follow his advice she would be able to take me to the cleaners in a divorce proceeding. At some point, she asked him about the porn website. Again he fed her another bunch of lies saying that he had no idea what she was talking about.
I hadn't bothered to tell her that my attorney and her team had already tracked the money back to none other than Ted Grantham. Not only that, but all correspondence and payments went through his Simpson Technologies office. A point of fact that was going to make me a very wealthy man.
On Sunday, I explained to Mark and Lynn that their mother and I had separated and were going to be getting a divorce. I expected a lot of theatrics but interestingly enough, there were only a couple questions about where they were going to live and what I was going to do next. The more we talked, it came out that both of them knew their mom must have been having an affair of some sort.
It seems that the two youngsters had been comparing notes and talking about it over the past couple of years. They pieced together multiple damaging phone conversations that they had overheard. At first, they assumed that I must have been aware of her cheating and just wasn't doing anything about it for their sakes. They assumed I knew since it was so obvious to them. They both begged that they be able to stay with me no matter what happened.
That following week, Cheryl left nearly fifty voicemail messages on my cell phone and she filled up the tape on our home phone answering machine with more messages. I didn't bother listening to any of them and ultimately unplugged the answering machine. Since each of the kids had their own cell phone we decided to get rid of the land line altogether. That will save a few bucks each month and we won't be bothered by that incessant ringing at dinner time by telemarketers ... or by Cheryl.
My secretary at work already knew that I didn't want to be disturbed with calls from Cheryl. Additionally, corporate security had been notified that Cheryl Iverson was not to be permitted on the premises for any reason before, during or after business hours. I found out through the kids that she was staying with her parents for the time being.
Unable to contact me any other way, about ten days after the confrontation I received a hand-written letter in the mail from Cheryl. At first I was going to just throw it away unread. But then, I thought since she went to the trouble of writing, I should at least see what she had to say. It was actually a pretty good letter and rather than trying to tell you what it said I've decided to just copy it for you so you can read it yourself.
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Dearest Jim,
I don't really know what to say about all this mess except that I am extremely sorry for the hurt and heartache that I've caused you. As you know, my actions over the past four years are completely out of character for me and so radically in opposition to everything I have ever believed in.
I don't really know what happened to make me do those horrible things. You were right though; I was neither drugged nor forced into this horrible lifestyle. I did it of my own free will even though the very first time anything like this happened was after a business lunch with Ted and a customer where I had consumed four alcoholic drinks. As you know, that is way past my limit. So, that first time I was drunk but I still did what I did and there is no excuse.
After I left our home on Saturday I went to my parents' house and without going into detail I explained to them that I had cheated on you and it looked like we would be getting a divorce. Needless to say, they were very upset and angry with me for messing up such a wonderful marriage.
Up to now they sort of assumed it was a onetime thing and not something that I had been doing regularly for the past four years. I will tell them the truth eventually but not right now. Later that night in my old bedroom I opened the website you told me about and was shocked at what I saw. Oh Jim, I am so sorry you had to see things like that. I am so ashamed and now I know why you aren't interested in talking to me or even considering working things out. I accept your decision.
Monday morning, I stormed into Ted's office and confronted him about the porn site. He denied it of course but I turned in my resignation effective immediately. I left Simpson Technologies and haven't been back. I've started going to a little church across town where nobody knows me and have met with the pastor twice for counseling. I know that I'm going to need some help getting through this crisis of my own creation.
Know that I will always love you even though my actions haven't shown that.
Love,
Cheryl
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Like I say, all things considered the letter was good but her next step brought a mixed signal. Cheryl hired some young hot shot attorney that Ted Grantham had recommended. She didn't fight the divorce but she was filing for spousal support for life, full custody of the children along with a sizable monthly child support payment. In addition, she was demanding half of my retirement accounts and sole ownership of the house as well as the duplex rental property that we owned about two miles from our house.
I was concerned when Jan showed the papers to me but when I looked up after reading them she just laughed out loud and said: "This is going to be so much fun! I just love ripping these young upstart lawyers to shreds. Don't worry about any of this, she will get none of it."
Then she went on to ask again; "Jim, we do need to decide what we want in the way of custody. You know that I can get full custody for you if you want. Are you sure you still want joint custody?"
"Here's the deal Jan, I know that deep down Cheryl is a good mom and in spite of the way she has treated me and our marriage, I know she loves our kids. Is there a way we can give her joint custody where the kids are with me every even numbered month and with Cheryl every odd numbered month? I still want to keep the kids in their same school district so she will have to live in the district. And furthermore, if she ever moves out of town or out of state the kids stay with me?"
With deep admiration in her eyes Jan replied; "Sure Jim, I can write that up. Just know that with all the video and audio evidence we have I am certain that the judge will approve whatever we submit without prejudice.
Having never gone to court for a divorce proceeding I wasn't sure what to expect. Even though I am a corporate lawyer, very little of what I do ever even shows up in a courtroom. The only limited courtroom experience I had were with jury trials for fraud, embezzlement or tax evasion. Then occasionally, I would be involved in a probate hearing but this whole divorce stuff was new to me.
On trial day, it turned out to be just Cheryl and her young attorney on one side of a table. The judge sitting at the head of the table and then Jan and me across from Cheryl and her attorney. Just the five of us in the anti-chamber of the courtroom.
The judge looked at Cheryl and shook his head saying; "It pains me Mrs. Iverson to say that I watched portions of the video submitted by the plaintiff in this case. I also just finished listening to the audio lifted from another video in which you declared your intentions; as you put it; of 'dumping' your husband. You also stated that your only interest in the children of this union was the fact that they could be used to garner sizable child support payments from Mr. Iverson. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Cheryl's young upstart attorney jumped in saying that he and his client were not aware of any audio tape lifted from a video. He went on to protest such an unauthorized recording to be used in the divorce proceedings. The judge said: "Well the whole dialog takes only about thirty seconds so let's just listen to it together shall we?"
With that he played the CD that was still loaded in the portable player in front of him. Both Cheryl and her attorney were noticeably stunned when they heard what was on the CD.
The judge turned to Jan and myself asking: "I assume you can provide the complete video that this conversation was taken from, can't you?"
Jan responded; "Absolutely your honor. Not only can we provide a video copy but this entire video is posted on this web site which is in the public domain."
With that Jan slid a typewritten sheet of paper across to the judge and another copy to Chery's attorney. In the center and in bold letters was the web site address for the "Nasty Wives" porn site. The paper also included detailed instructions on how to access the video in question as well as all nineteen videos of Cheryl that were posted there.
Cheryl's attorney again spoke up protesting: "Your honor, my client was not aware that any videos with her depiction exist on the web. We object to anything from such a source being used against her without our first validating the material!"