Page 7 of Very Special Forces

"Yourhusband and you both chose to hire a private investigator to lookinto your affairs," I started. "Your lawyers both agreed to appointmy firm."

"Correct, although I'm not sure what you can possibly proveor disprove. I told Steve that I wasn't after his money. What morecan I say?" she asked. Her shoulders dropped and shesighed.

"Did yousign a pre-nup?" I asked.

"No,neither of us asked for one."

"Wasthere a reason for that? According to the statement from yourlawyers, you both have assets."

"I can'tspeak for my husband but I went into this marriage assuming I wouldstay in it." Faye nudged the pavers with the toe of her pumps andsighed. "I didn't think there was a need for a pre-nup. It justnever came up."

"Yourhusband's statement says that you no longer wished to work andexpected him to finance a lifestyle not agreed upon," I said,recalling the wording and hoping I got it right.

"I readhis statement. He's right, I do want to give up work but notforever. I like my job! I'm happy doing it because I'm good at whatI do. I just wanted to know if he would support me with some timeoff. I don't know why he leapt to conclusions that weren't accuratebut he went ballistic when I suggested it."

"Are yousure you have no idea?"

"Well,one of his close friends is getting a divorce after four years andhis wife has asked for a huge alimony payout, and another friendjust broke up with a girlfriend whom he said turned out to be agold-digger. I don't know how true that is but perhaps thoserelationships were on his mind, but I don't know what they have todo with me!"

"What doyou think your husband meant when he claimed you said you would geteverything?"

Faye rolled her eyes. "I didn't say that. I said Ialreadyhad everything Iwould ever need. Steve was so furious by that point, he wouldn'teven listen to anything more I had to say. If he had, he wouldhave..." She trailed off and closed her eyes for amoment.

"Are youokay?" I leaned forward as Faye took a couple of deep breaths. "Youlook a little green."

With hereyes still closed, Faye nodded. "Sorry, I haven't been feeling toowell." She took a series of deep breaths and opened her eyes again."I didn't even mean support me financially."

"Whatdid you mean?"

"I meantemotionally. Look, can I talk to my husband? My lawyer says I can'tbut if I can talk to him, I can explain myselfdirectly."

"I'monly here to prove one way or the other what the angle is regardingfinances."

"Youmean whether I'm a gold-digger or not."

That wastrue, but it was hardly polite to be so direct about it. Plus, shelooked depressed enough without me making it worse. She pushed herhair back behind her ear and I frowned. Something valuable wasmissing.

"Mr.Wendell says he bought you an engagement ring. Can I ask why youaren't wearing it?"

"Ihaven't sold it, if that's what you think," she said, reaching intoher shirt and pulling out a delicate, silver chain. Suspended on itwere two rings, one a fat diamond, the other an elegant, gold band."My fingers are a little swollen and I was worried my rings wouldget too tight."

"If youwanted to take time off, why didn't you ask for financial support?"I wondered. "Why only emotional?"

"I don'tneed my husband's money. I never have. When I started modeling, myparents made sure I had a financial adviser to help me. We allheard stories about girls in the industry who earned a ton ofmoney, burned out or got too old to get work, and left withnothing. They didn't want that for me and neither did I. I paid offmy student loans, invested in my future and one of thoseinvestments eventually paid off. I own a thirty percent stake in afriend's start-up and she just floated the business on the stockexchange. I'm going to make more money than I even know what to dowith. More money than I'll ever need in a lifetime."

"That'sgreat!"

"Yeah.Terrific." Faye laughed. "You know, the funny thing is, if we didget divorced right now, my husband stands to get a better payoutfrom me than I do from him. It's ironic he's the one who wants todivorce me."

"Can youprove everything you just told me about the investment?" Iasked.

"Well,sure."

"Myemail is on the business card I gave you. Please send theinformation to me as soon as you can. I think it will beinstrumental in proving you had no intentions towards fraudulentlymarrying your husband. I'm going to talk to Mr. Wendell; then I'llfile my report."

"Dowhatever you need to do," said Faye. She sighed again. "I just wantthis to end."

"Themarriage?"

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