A Marriage of Inconvenience

Finally, Best Day Ever

When I get to the court house I find that my earlier assumption regarding Carl is correct. He is already in the room with both of our lawyers trying to win them over to his side. I shake my head at his antics and see that my sister is already waiting for me in the hallway along with more lawyers. When she sees me she tries to rush towards me but I wave her down. I do not wish to show all of my cards yet.

My sister and I could not be more different when it comes to looks. Then again, we do have different mothers. That is why Carl has never learned of my sister's existence before. We have managed to stay in contact over the five long years of marriage and are ready with a plan to see this all finished today.

Instead of rushing up to greet me, her and the lawyers fall into line behind me as we all enter the room with my very soon to be ex husband. I cannot help but smile slightly when I see the look of shock on his face at the intrusion into our divorce.

"I am sorry but this is a private event." He says cordially to the lawyers standing with my sister.

"I know it is but we have to ensure how this meeting goes in order to conduct our own shortly after. We already have the permission of your wife so unless the two of you want to sort this out before things begin we will be joining you at the other end of the table." The lawyer in front answers him.

Carl seems confused but having no reason to know that this is something that is only going to help me he reluctantly agrees. He settles back down next to his lawyer while I find my seat between my lawyer and the group that followed my sister in hear.

"Okay, we just need to go over a few things before you guys can get these signed and then we call all go our own way." His lawyer says to all of us.

"There is nothing that I want from him after today. We have already fulfilled our past contract so there is nothing else that I have need of from him." I state simply.

He scoffs and says, "Ha, what are you going to do after this? You do not have a place to live or any money. Everything has always been in my name. It was all mine before our marriage if you do not remember. You will be left homeless if you do not take anything from me."

"I will be much happier without taking anything from you than I ever was while I was with you. I will be fine. You are not changing my mind on this. All I want is my old last name back and then after that I will be on my way." I inform them all.

I can practically feel my sister struggling to hold in her laughter beside me. Carl is so shocked by the turn of events that he gives up with a shrug before allowing his lawyer to fill out the necessary papers. My lawyer does not say anything to me. She was paid well by Carl to not fight with him over our assets so I just made her job much easier in the end anyways.

After a few minutes, Carl signs the bottom of the papers before sliding them over to me for me to sign. I pick up the pen and sign Amelia Longnecker for the last time in my life. As I slide the papers back over to them and somebody notarizes the copy I cannot help but let out a small laugh at my excitement over the coming meeting.

As soon as the papers are notarized Carl gets up to leave but stops when the set of lawyers that arrived with my sister begin opening their briefcases and pulling out stacks of paper. He sits back in his seat and motions for his lawyer to do the same as all of our attentions moves onto our next meeting.

"Miss Amelia Vanderbilt, now that you a fulfilled the part of the contract that you have with the Interim CEO of Vanderbilt Enterprises do you have any questions about what we are going to expect of you after this?" The lead lawyer states.

"No, I do not." I tell him.

"Alright then, I want you to look over these papers before you sign them. After this you will be given the keys to your penthouse as well as all of the assets that will be moved to your name. Understand, after this you will be the active CEO of Vanderbilt Enterprises and as such there are many expectations that you will have to follow. Do you understand?" He asks me.

"Yes, I do." I state simply.

As he slides the stack of papers over to me, I risk a glance at Carl to enjoy the look of utter outrage on his face. At this point, even his face is beginning to turn a shocking shade of red. There is no way that he could have ever expected for something like this to happen. After all, I have spent a lot of time being a housewife for him.

I glance over the papers to make sure that they add up with the ones that I had drafted yesterday. Once I am sure that they are the same papers, I quickly sign my name at the bottom of the papers as they begin to pull out stacks of keys for the penthouse, my new vehicle, and even for my new vacation home. I smile one last time at Carl and incline my head to him before the lawyers stand up to congratulate me.

Lastly, my sister stands up and lets out a squeal before throwing herself into my arms. I begin laughing with her as we walk out arm in arm and she chatters on about the business and how well it is doing. As we exit the room, I give Carl one last look to remember this moment forever. Judging from the look of shock on his face this is definitely not how he expected the day to go.