Page 17 of Come Apart

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Her attention returns to me, her eyes focusing once more.

"Twenty-two," she says.

"You had no idea what you were giving up." I lean back in my chair. "You can't blame yourself. No one has their life together at twenty-two. It's a terrible age."

Mrs. Pike smiles, but it's short lived. "I was in graduate school. And he asked about my thesis. He pretended like he wanted to hear about it."

She's miserable over this mistake. Too miserable.

If she believes it's her fault, she won't ask for the settlement she deserves.

She'll let herself be fucked over once again.

She'd be an easy client for any other lawyer—a few billable hours to agree to whatever her husband offers.

But I know what she deserves. She deserves half of everything they made together.

Right now she needs someone on her side. She needs someone who will listen to her.

"What did you study?"

"Literature."

This is exactly how Alyssa would have ended up if she'd stayed with Ryan. She'd have spent her life ignoring her wants and dreams, instead playing the role of the perfect trophy wife.

"Not enough people appreciate literature," I remark. "Where did you go to school?"

"Columbia."

I smirk.

"What a show off."

She finally smiles. "Mr. Lawrence—"

"You can call me Luke."

"Okay, Luke." She nods. "I want to take care of this quietly and quickly."

"California is a community property state. You're entitled to half of his assets."

"I don't care about the money."

"Mrs. Pike."

"You can call me Kate," she says.

She's hooked. She's going to sign a retainer at the end of this meeting.

I almost hate how easy it is to charm these women.

All I do is listen to them, remind them they're valuable human beings.

And they're hooked.

They'll sign anything I put in front of them. All it takes is fifteen minutes of care and attention and they trust me.

"Okay, Kate. I understand your position. Your husband provided for you. It was a sacrifice, but it's the smallest sacrifice he could offer. It's only money. You've given up years of your life. How long have you been married?"

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