“Thank you, Meghan,” I say as I come into the kitchen. I kiss Roxy, tell Reggie to have a good day, and remind him that I have a late practice. There’s a good chance he won’t be home and will be at his mom’s. Fewer rules there, I’m sure.
Elena follows me out the door and into the elevator. She sighs heavily, which I ignore, and finally, once we’re in the car, she starts talking. “Do you remember the first day we met?”
“I do.”
“I was so scared.” She looks out the window. “Where did we go wrong, Julius?”
“I do believe we had this conversation, Elena. I’m not interested in rehashing it over and over.”
She says nothing the rest of the drive to the lawyer's office. Once there, we go into a small conference room. My lawyer is sitting at the table behind a stack of papers. “Hello, Julius.” We shake hands.
“This is Elena,” I say to him. I thought I might slip up and call her my wife, but even my subconscious knows I’ve moved on. They shake hands, and then we all sit down. Elena is across from me, and the lawyer is at the head of the table.
“Okay,” he says. “We have a petition brought on by Julius to dissolve the marriage. Also on file is a prenuptial agreement signed by both parties. It is my understanding that we’re going to follow the prenup?”
I nod and then look at Elena. She’s looking down at the table and says nothing. “Elena,” I prod. “If you’re going to fight the prenup, then you need to hire someone to represent you. My lawyer is not going to go against my wishes of honoring the agreement.”
“Well, I was doing some research.”
This is not going to go well for me.
“And I discovered that Oregon is a no-fault state, so you can’t use adultery for the divorce, and therefore the prenup allows for me to get a settlement.”
“Yes, you’re right, Mrs. Cunningham. However, we have substantial evidence of you committing adultery, and if we take this in front of a judge, they’re likely to uphold the agreement.”
I can see her wheels turning. “What do you want, Elena?”
“Money, Julius. I want the money, and the lifestyle promised to me when I married you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We live like we’re running out of money. You make millions a year, and the only thing we have to show for it is a house in Huntington Beach. I want more. I deserve more.”
“You do realize that the average span of my career is four years and that is without any injuries, or some younger, faster version of me entering the league. Every day I go out onto that field, I’m lucky I still have a career. But this can change at any time. I need to earn as much money as possible to live a life after my career is over and take care of my family. I have two kids to put through college. Where do you think that money is going to come from? And who is to say I’ll even get a job after my career as a wide receiver is over? Do you think I want to sit on my ass at the age of thirty-five and feel sorry for myself because I didn’t get a commentating job? The reason I don’t spend money is so the money will be there when I’m older. I’m looking out for my future. And I never promised you anything other than to love you. I don’t know where you got that in your head.”
“I want what other wives have.”
“What other wives? Are you looking at LeBron James’s wife? Did you count how many endorsements he has when you looked at how they live? Hell, I’m just happy I get the occasional commercial, and Nike outfits me with shoes. Or are you looking at Gisele? Because she came into her marriage with Tom Brady as a freaking supermodel—what did you bring?”
“That’s rude, Julius.”
“Right, but you wanting to spend all the money I’ve earned so you can feel like you belong isn’t. Got it.”
The room is silent. Even my lawyer seems stunned by my ex. I wish I could live my life in hindsight because if I could, I would’ve never pursued anything with Elena.
“How much?” I throw it out there. Elena’s eyes widen. “As much as I don’t want to give you any money, I want out. I want to move on and have a healthy relationship with Autumn. I don’t want this divorce looming over me anymore. So how much is it going to take, Elena?”
“Ten million,” she says with a smirk.
“See you in court then,” I tell her.
“You just asked me how much I wanted, and I gave you a number. Now you’re playing games.”
“No, I’m not. But if you think I’m giving you ten million, you’re out of your mind.” I glance at my lawyer, who is watching the back and forth between Elena and me. “One million,” I throw back at her.