Chapter 645 - Monster-in-law (6)

11 June, LY Studio, City K

Paul, simply sat there, without appearing to hear Lexi.  After a couple of minutes of silence Lexi said "Paul, talk to me.  What is it?"

Shaking himself out of his thoughts of wanting to kill his mother-in-law, Paul said "You said it before, she is a monster-in-law.  She does not get that Abigail wants nothing to do with her.  I do not blame her.  That was just an example of how she verbally abuses Abigail.  I just worry…"

"That it will get to Abigail?  Do not underestimate how strong an eighteen-year-old woman can be.  In some ways we can be fragile, but in other ways we can be extremely strong.  The more support we have the stronger we are.  What I have observed since you married Abigail and can see now that you have developed a strong two-way relationship.  She knows that you will support her choices, and that I just observed."

"It is not that," said Paul shaking his head.  "The problem is what Abigail tells me is that for years, in the absence of her father she verbally and physically abused her.  A couple of weeks ago, Abigail was getting so stressed out about studying for her final school and the university admission exams, that I dragged her out for an evening.  Nothing dramatic, just dinner somewhere nice.  But rather than driving we simply caught taxis both ways.  She was so relaxed as we left the restaurant, but as we pulled up outside the apartment complex, you can guess who was waiting for us…"

"Your mother-in-law."

Paul nodded and said "Correct.  The woman launched into us.  I knew she had been sent papers for the financial settlement between her and Uncle Kevin with the breakdown of their marriage.  She threw the papers in Abigail's face and told her to tell her father that he had to give her ten times the lump sum payment in the papers and then twenty times the monthly amount he was willing to give her."

"And…"

"You forget what my university degree?"

Lexi looked at him, scrunching her eyebrows together and pouting, as if she was trying to remember what he did.  Paul seeing this just laughed before saying "You should thank me for being such a good friend that I am not taking a photograph of how you look.  You look like you have swallowed something so sour…"

"Sour, what are talking about, I just am thinking…"

"If that is your thinking face, I hate to see what your face looks like when you eat something sour."

Lexi shook her head, and retorted "Stop wasting my precious time, particularly when you are asking for a favour."

Paul smiled and said, "You might ignore me but regardless of how annoyed you get, when it comes to your female friends or the partners of your friends, you will never allow them to go to an important event to them without being appropriately addressed."

Lexi raised her eyebrows and responded "Seriously!"

"I know you well enough, but I get the message.  You want to know what happened.  But as I was saying before we got side-tracked.  Unusually I did a triple degree because of the nature of the family's business in Business, Medical Science and Law, and I did what was necessary to be able to practice law.  Not that I really do, but it does come in handy at times for the company."

Paul stopped briefly observing the moment his degrees sunk into Lexi's consciousness before continuing.  "As of that, after his lawyers formulated an offer for that witch, Uncle Kevin called me to go through what they drafted as an offer.  He could have stuck to the pre-nuptial agreement her father insisted that they sign before their marriage.  It appears, if you read it, was to ensure that there was no call on all the assets of her family if the company Uncle Kevin had started about 6 months prior to their marriage."

"The story of what he has done in less than thirty years with his company is legendary in this city.  From nothing to what he has not.  OK, it is not on the same level as our family companies but it still an amazing company that will go from strength to strength, regardless of whether he or someone else heads the company."

"True.  He started a small-time construction company and built it up over time to become a major construction here and then nationally.  That allowed him then to expand into some related areas, including property development.  But as he had started the company before their marriage…"

"It does not fall into assets that can be divided.  And with her family wealth evaporating because of her father…"

Paul held up his hand, which stopped Lexi mid-sentence.  "And most assets come from the wealth he built up, not anything she brought in.  Uncle Kevin was not happy with the offer his lawyers had drafted as he wanted to avoid a confrontation.  We worked out a way, that he thought was fair, in that he gave her options to pick from.  She got the mansion and could choose between just a large lump sum amount, a large monthly amount or a combination of a lump sum and monthly amount.  She was going to walk away with over twenty times what the pre-nuptial agreement would have given her.  The only thing he wanted was a quick divorce, her agreement to revert to her maiden name and that other than any payments he had to make to her there was no other connection between them."

Lexi closed her eyes, shook her head and said, "And we know she is a money grabbing piece of trash, and she thinks pressuring Abigail is the way to get what she wants."

"Correct.  Abigail has been strong but the more she keeps at her, the more I worry she will crumble in the face of the coercion simply to be seen as respectful to her mother."

"Stop doubting your wife.  She knows what she wants.  Support her and tell your mother-in-law to leave you alone.  More importantly get out of your apartment and into a house.  If you cannot wait, talk to Philip and Chester about using Chester's villa until your house is ready, because they are living at the Rong Family villa."

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