Soul of Freeman. 3rd Book of the Freeman Series.

A tight pressure accumulated in Allie's head. Her bedroom was huge, but tonight it was small and crowded. She didn't make an attempt at the door; she never thought of doing that. Her vision blurred in and out, examining the features of her husband, hoping the naked man on the bed was a different person: it was the same honey-colored hair, the piercing gaze, the strong jaw, the scar on his abdomen from the time he gave her one of his kidneys. Part of her wanted to scream in anger, but her chest had no strength. It was as if claws stabbed her stomach and crushed her heart.She recognized the woman beside him, resting her head on Allie's own pillow. Meryl. She was Dean's girlfriend before he and Allie fell in love almost a decade ago. She hadn't changed her short haircut although now she had bangs. The tall and skinny woman had a husband, too. How could Dean Freeman, the love of Allie Freeman's life, do this to her? They had a good reason for being naked in bed. She wasn't seeing right. There was no way that after years of dealing with deceiving men, the only man she trusted had lied to her. Why was he not saying anything? "I'm going to change." Meryl wrapped herself in the turquoise sheets that Allie and Dean bought together a month before and sauntered into the bathroom. Allie swallowed, keeping calm. She fixed her eyes on the ottoman by the bed, replacing the previous image with its chevron pattern fabric. Memories superimposed. "Why am I surprised?" she said. "After everything Meryl's cousin did to us, to you, it was a matter of time before Meryl planned something like this. If she drugged you, seduced you...we're, we're...we're gonna get through this...together." Dean sat up, doing nothing to cover his manhood. He plodded toward his frozen wife, pulled the back of her neck, and prized her lips. His tongue penetrated into her mouth with the same ardor as the day he declared his love for her. The tower between his legs pressed against her. Then he stepped back abruptly and held her jaw up, making eye contact. Allie had never seen those pupils, not the way they carved at her. "Sweetheart." Finally, his beautiful voice. No other word made her feel safer. "You are so naïve, so stupid." Mrs. Freeman held her breath, repeating her husband's words in her head. "She didn't seduce me," he added. "I was the one who convinced her to leave her husband." Allie jumped back as invisible insects crawled up her limbs. "This is something I've wanted for a long time." He picked his clothes off the floor. "Recovering the memories I lost for eight whole years included remembering Meryl. I didn't understand my feelings for her until I understood my feelings for you. I took two years to reach to this conclusion, but I've finally come to realize that I stayed with you out of petty and out of a sense of responsibility for my children." Allie's fingers trembled. A high pitch sound resonated in her ears. "No, I don't believe you," she whispered. "We've been through so much. You wouldn't abandon the business. You wouldn't leave me. You wouldn't leave your children. The Dean I know would never do that." Dean opened his mouth to speak. He stared into the space beside him, then moved toward his nightstand and opened a drawer. His hand pulled out a thick yellow packet and dropped it on the ottoman. With heavy steps, the girl unwound the string around the official seal of the Harris County, Texas clerk. "Original petition for divorce," she read the big bold letters. "I'm not leaving you or the kids or the business, Allie," said Dean. "You're leaving us." The wife kept his eyes opened wide for a moment. She frowned and shook her head.  "You're divorcing me. You're leaving me. Andrew and Daniel's relationship with you have nothing to do with this. Those poor boys love their father."  "You still don't get it. I'm not leaving my sons." Allie made an unconscious grin at Dean's statement of insanity. "You think these piece of crap documents will magically make me give up everything so you can replace me with your w***e? You think she can be a better mother to my children." "Our," Dean corrected her. "My." The mother beat her chest. "My children!" she yelled. "I f*****g raised them for eight years by myself, so if you think you can take them away from me, you are more than welcome to try. But I will suck the company dry to make sure you never see them again. Don't f**k with me, Dean Freeman. I can send you back under the freeway."  "Oh, really? Who's gonna back you up?" he sniggered. "The law. Everyone around me. The billions I have sitting in a bank account." "Only if that money was truly yours. And unfortunately for you, a judge will rule against you." "What the f**k are you talking about?" "I can't believe you don't remember the inheritance clause." "What clause?" "The one Olivia Clarke, your mother's lawyer, made her sign before she died. You may inherit Wellington Family Farms and all of its assets until you marry, in which case, all assets, including those gained after the inheritance, will automatically belong to your husband." Allie March trusted Dean Freeman so much that her love for him made her forget all about the fine print. That clause was no more than a technicality in their marriage. The woman began sobbing. "You want a divorce, fine. Take the money. Take it all. Just don't take my babies, please." "Ugh." Meryl's nasal voice interrupted. "I hate seeing people beg. Pathetic." Allie clenched her jaw and turned her body. She swung her fist at Meryl, but Dean twisted her wrist. "Agh, you're hurting me." Dean shoved her arm to the side. "I'll give you ten minutes to fill up a suitcase and get the f**k out of my house." "No, no, no," Allie cried. "Get out!" Dean gripped her arm and pushed her into the closet. He grabbed a small suitcase from under the coat hangers and threw it at her torso. The light plastic material didn't hurt her but made her lose her balance and fall on her back. The man stomped toward her with one arm in the air. She covered her face, bracing for his fist. When his arm came down, he froze for a second and stormed out of the room. *** Allie felt a scuffle by her legs as she shoved through a sea of middle-schoolers. She held the phone to her ear as she approached a reception. "Hi, I'm here to pick up Andrew and Daniel Freeman, please." "Sure, Mrs. Freeman." An old woman typed on the computer for a few seconds. "Uh, the Freeman twins?" "Yes yes." "It says here Mr. Freeman picked them up at your request about an hour ago." "An hour." Allie's chest panted as she turned around toward the exit. "Mrs. Freeman?" The receptionist called, but Allie bolted out of the school. The calming music that had been playing on her phone faded and an unfamiliar voice spoke. "Ms. Allie Anne March, this is Sally Tate, Mr. Childan's secretary."  "What? Where's Steven? Look, I've been on hold for ten minutes. I need to speak to your boss directly. I'm not a new client. He's been my lawyer for years. Did you tell him who I was?" "Ms. March, Ms. March, I understand and I'm sorry for what's happening to you. Our clerk explained the situation." "I don't want your understanding." "I'm so sorry, Ms. March but Mr. Childan doesn't want to take your case." "What?" Allie screamed in the middle of the school's parking lot. "He worked on my inheritance case before." "He says he warned you not to get married; that there's nothing you can do about your husband." "So I just let him take everything? He's not letting me see my children. Steven Childan doesn't get my business then." "Ms. March, to be honest, I doubt anyone else will take your case. I read the file myself. The lawyer who prepared your mother's will and testament made sure there were no loopholes." Allie heaved by the car door and stumbled onto the passenger seat. "This is a dream." She picked up her phone again and marked her mother-in-law's number, but an automatic message said the number did not exist. She also called Andrew and Daniel's phones, resulting in the same message. The sobbing mother opened her maps and found a nearby hotel. The C.E.O. of Wellington Family Farms—well, ex-C.E.O.—gripped the handle of her suitcase as if it was all she had. She looked at a couple entering a hotel's elevator, wishing she was going with them. The woman behind the counter scanned her credit card a second time. "Nope, this one ain't working either." "Maybe it's damaged." Allie took the card back and opened her bank's application on her smartphone. Her husband had drained her accounts. She was left with nothing. Allie glanced at the elevator one last time. "Okay, thanks," she cleared her throat and left. *** Homeless and penniless, Allie resorted to sleeping in her car. After all those years in comfort she had forgotten what it felt like to have nothing. However, she quickly remembered what to do. She parked in front of a large grocery store and made sure to lock her windows. She changed to a pair of shorts and took off her bra, preparing for a hot Texas summer night. She laid across the backseats and forced herself to close her eyes. As the night went by, her brain struggled to shut down. A ten years long movie continued to torture and drill through the back of her head. The temperature wasn't causing her sweat, but the feelings of love, hate, and sadness for whom she thought had been the love of her life. Allie blamed the highway lights for keeping her up and covered her ears, unable to shut down Dean's voice inside her. She was about to scream when an explosion in the front seat made her screech. She stood up. A hand unlocked the car door from the outside and a man swept broken glass off the driver's seat. His thick hoodie and the gun on his right hand made Allie scream. The woman's fight instinct began to hit the man at random. "What the hell!" The man covered his right side. He seemed surprised to see someone in the car. But that didn't stop him from pointing the gun at her face. "Get out the car!" He turned his torso around. Allie raised her arms. Her jaw shaking. She looked down to make sure the hijacker knew she hadn't seen his face. "Sir, everything you see, including this car, is all I have," she spoke in a brittle voice. "Please, I have nowhere to go." "That's bullshit, lady," the man sounded young. "I seen your new phone charging on the dashboard. You loaded." "I'm not lying. I recently lost everything." The car was quiet for a while although she knew the man was still there. She heard the front door open and close, then a cold gush of air blew from her side. A hand yanked her arm and threw her over the pavement. The man held her fingers and began pulling off her wedding ring. That was the first time she remembered she had it on her. For two years, it had been a part of her body. "No!" She screamed, trying to protect the ring. The man punched her on the eye, took the ring, and went back into the car. As she held her face, tires screeched and her phone and wallet appeared by her feet. The girl extended her other hand, panting at the sight of the discolored area on her ring finger. ***  Allie couldn't believe her face in front of the mirror. She didn't want to remember what she looked like before in fear that the disfigurement was worse than she thought. At least she was grateful the robber hadn't seen the 75 dollars inside her wallet. She was saving that money for food, but after losing her car, she had no other choice but to rent the cheapest Inn she could find at a walking distance. Perhaps, she could rest at least a day.  A knock on her door made her jump as everything did lately. The only person who could be there so early in the morning was the hotel keeper. She covered her black eye under her curls and opened the door.  "I don't need my room cleaned at the moment, thank you," she said softly.  "My baby." She felt someone hug her. As she looked up, Kathy, her mother-in-law, pressed her tightly against her chest.