Through the cracks

Chapter Seven

On Saturday, Ava makes an appointment with her two daughters again, but this time at Millie’s house. She requested that John also be present. She takes Kristy along so that she can keep the children busy while she tells the children. She first hugs her grandchildren and when they run out of the room chasing Kristy, she tells Millie, Iris, and John everything that has happened since they last spoke at the coffee shop. She thought Iris would say I told her so, but instead, Iris hugs her and says

“Mom, it does not matter what you decide or what happens, we will be here for you all the way. He will not get away with this, I cannot believe that he is even family!" Iris said, disgusted by how her mother was being treated. She herself has gone through some rotten apples and that is why she is probably still single. She refuses to let anyone disrespect her and, over the years, she has created a low tolerance for people who disrespect others.

"What a jerk! I always knew there was something fishy about that man. He was always hiding things everywhere, locking everything up. You do not deserve to be treated like this after everything you have done for the company...and HIM! He is an ungrateful prick!", John said, visibly upset that his father-in-law would treat another person that way.

"Calm down John," Millie said. Her eyes were red and full of tears, her voice was shaking.

Ava can now take her in her arms and support her while Millie cries her heart out. She knows how it feels to be so disappointed in someone you love so much.

Ava and Iris both spend the rest of the day at Millie’s house, and they all try to be positive that Lucas will come to his senses and at least be fair. They will all help her through the divorce and Millie wants to still be friends with her dad – which Ava does not mind at all. Ava and Kristy go back home late that evening and Ava phones Jayden and tells him everything as well. She feels relieved that the children are all fine and decides that she will talk to Lucas and asks him to sit down like grownups (very old grownups) and sort out this mess. They can see the bank manager and explain that they are getting divorced but that it will not affect the business, and they can even use the company’s lawyers to draw up an agreement and division of assets she thinks before falling asleep.

Ava invites Jenelle over on Sunday, and they eat a nice lunch together. They drink wine and spend the day next to the pool. Even Kristy enjoys Jenelle’s company as she always spoils her, and it is a very pleasant, relaxed day. Ava did not want to be alone with her thoughts, they would drive her crazy, and she was glad for the company and distraction. She tried to stay calm and assure herself that everything would be fine, but her gut was telling her this was just the beginning.

Monday morning, Ava gets dressed and decides that she will go and talk to Lucas at the office. With other people around, they might be able to resolve their differences without screaming and fighting. When she walks into his office and closes the door, she can see he is upset and in a bad mood. She has taken extra care of her appearance. She does not know why, but she wanted to look younger, thinner and prettier for him. He does not even notice. She takes a seat in front of him, making it hard for him to ignore her.

"I told the kids we are getting a divorce." She blurts out.

He is very upset that she told the kids and that she wants to get divorced and, before she can even talk to him about her ideas, he says:

"I cannot talk now, I have a meeting on the other side of town", and he storms out of the office and speeds off in his expensive car.

Ava tries to contact him, leaving messages and voice notes to try and make an appointment for them to talk, but he just ignores the messages and does not contact her at all. Avoidance of stressful situations has always been part of the way Lucas handles problems. Ava always had to sort out problems he created at work with staff, family and the children. She has always cleaned up after him, but this time he is running from her.

The day of the meeting with the bank, the manager, Mr Lewis, phoned her at eight o'clock.

"Ava, are you and Lucas still coming to see us at 10 o'clock“ he asks.

"Oh yes definitely, she replied.

"I don’t know how to tell you this, Ava, but Lucas has been here, and he told us that you have misappropriated funds, and he canceled all your signing powers and access to joint accounts as well as that of the business" he says.

Ava had to sit down. She feels sick. How can Lucas do this to her? Humiliating her like this. Why? If he wants to be with his new family, why not just share everything they have worked so hard for and let her go? She asks if she can still keep the appointment and Mr Lewis agrees,

Ava tells Mr Lewis that herself and Lucas are going to get divorced and just briefly tells him what happened. He is very sympathetic and Ava assures him that she will keep to the arrangements made by Lucas, as she understands that the bank must stick to the rules and cannot choose sides. It is very humiliating, but she can see that he believes her that she did nothing wrong. She had been handling their finances for years and the people at the bank knew her well and worked closely with her.

The appointment with the lawyer is also a waste of time, as Lucas does not show up at all. The lawyer said that he cannot represent her as it would be a conflict of interest with him being the company’s lawyer, but gave her the contact details of a good divorce lawyer. Mr Jeffreys has been the company's lawyer for a very long time, and he knows how much Ava has done for Lucas as well as the company. He also feels terrible, but Ava understands that he can also not choose between her and Lucas.

With tears in her eyes, Ava drives home. What had she done to Lucas for him to be so cruel? How can he just disregard the fact that she is the mother of his children and the grandmother of his grandchildren? Why does he want more children? -They were very near retirement. He will have to take children to school all over again at his age. Another baby? And the girl that now seems to be his biological child, too, is only two years old. He will be nearly 70 when the children finish school. Crazy.

They were young grandparents as they also had children when they were young so that they could still go and see the world before they were too old. But now he is starting all over again.

Suddenly, his face appears in front of Ava, and she feels so sorry for him. It must be this selfish little gold digger that blackmailed him into this, and now he does not know what to do? He probably did not even want children, but she tricked him into it to make sure that he would not leave her, but rather divorce Ava, and now she blackmails him with the children he did not want. Ava decides.

It makes her feel a lot better. Maybe if she talks to Lucas there is still hope for him. They have enough money. Maybe even if they are not together anymore, Lucas can only pay child support and see his children, but he doesn’t have to be forced into this situation.

Ava knows that their marriage is over. She still loves him, but she will never trust him again. With Eva out of the picture, they can at least handle the divorce in a civil way and part ways as friends. Ava has always been able to handle Lucas, and she is sure that she can still talk sense into him.

When she comes home, Jenelle arrives with food and wine. She just listens while Ava talks about what happened. She does not agree with Ava that it is all Eva’s fault and that Lucas is the victim, but she lets her friend just talk tonight, so she can feel better. She knows Ava will still realize that Lucas was a very willing participant in this whole tragic story.