Chapter 210 Figuring Out a Strategy
Paul and Penny realized that their son had determined to divorce Leila. And their son had already had sex with Isabelle. Moreover, Patrick and Isabelle got caught by Leila. Given Leila's personality, there was no way she could put up with Patrick anymore.
Then Penny said, "Patrick, since you and Leila got married, you have been working and making money for your family. And she hasn't earned a penny. If you two are going to City Hall to get a divorce, tell her to pack her clothes and leave."
"And you can't let her take anything else with her."
Patrick and Leila were set on divorce, so Penny would like to minimize the damage to her family.
"Mom, that's impossible if I don't let her take anything with her. I won't give her a penny unless she wants nothing from me. After we got married, even though she didn't work and had no income, my income was part of our joint marital property. I'll have to give her half of my assets once she sues me for divorce."
"After marriage, I pay the mortgage with my salary. But my salary is part of the marital property. Thus, she will take a portion of my salary. After the divorce, I don't have to give her the apartment, but I will have to compensate her for the sum of money. I have calculated the amount of money. I don't have to give her too much money. And she paid for the decoration of the apartment before. She once told me she would ask me to pay the renovation fees back to her if we were to divorce one day."
"The decoration and the appliances together cost Leila 70,000 dollars. And I also told her that I wouldn't pay for the decoration cost of the apartment because it was money that she was willing to pay to decorate the apartment. I didn't force her to pay for the decoration of the apartment. So I'm not going to give that amount of money back to her."
Penny immediately said, "How can she make you pay her back for the decoration? We don't have to think about her. Ignore her no matter if she makes a scene. Patrick, have you calculated the marital assets? If you have to give Leila half of the assets, how much will you give her?"
"About 40,000 dollars."
"40,000 dollars!"
Penny exclaimed, "No way! Patrick, you can't give the 40,000 dollars to her. She hasn't earned a penny since she got married. How can she take 40,000 dollars from you? Just give her 4,000 dollars. Take it or leave it."
It would be too much if Patrick gave 40,000 dollars to Leila.
And Patrick didn't want to give Leila any of his money.
However, it was so sudden for him to make up his mind to divorce Leila. He didn't have time to transfer his assets, so he had to negotiate a divorce settlement with Leila. If they failed to negotiate, they would have to file for a divorce.
Paul cautiously asked, "You've been caught by Leila. Is that going to be bad for you? For example, will it force you to lose your assets?"
Patrick shamelessly said, "Dad, there are countless men who have cheated on their wives, but only a few will lose everything they have. And Leila and I didn't sign a prenup before we got married. And there's no law that says the cheater will lose all the assets. It's just that some people think the cheater will lose everything."
There were plenty of men richer than him who cheated on their wives, but they didn't lose all their possessions.
"It's just that I cheated... If Leila files for divorce, she'll be the no-fault party. When it comes to the division of assets, the law will be more favorable to her."
Upon hearing his words, Penny was a little confused. However, the only thing she knew was that Patrick would have to divide the assets with Leila once they got divorced.
Therefore, Penny was very displeased, especially when she heard Patrick say that he had to give Leila more money according to the law. She wondered if Patrick would have to give more money to Leila.
"Patrick, how about not divorcing Leila? Look, you'll have to lose a lot of money if you file for a divorce. You'd better tell Leila you are wrong. Then, you promise her that you won't make any more mistakes. Even if you two can't go back to the way it was before, at least you'll be able to stay married."
"She cares about Andy, and maybe she'll stop filing for a divorce for the sake of Andy."
Many women would hold back from filing for divorce for the sake of their children when they found out their husbands cheated on them after marriage.
Penny thought Leila would have put up with it for Andy.
"Stop going dutch with her. And you'll give her a little more money for living expenses later. If you don't divorce Leila, try not to let her see you and Isabelle being together."
"Mom, I want a divorce!"
Patrick was very insistent and said, "Isabelle has never been married. And she wants to be with me, so I have to be responsible for her. I don't want Isabelle to suffer anymore."
Penny said angrily, "Wasn't Leila also a virgin before she married you? How come I didn't see you stay with her until the end? How can you let Leila suffer for the sake of another woman?"
"Mom, whose side are you on?"
Penny pursed her lips.
Isabelle was very good at pleasing her and Paul. They could not help but like Isabelle. However, Penny always felt that Leila was the one who knew how to manage the household well. And Leila had been through hardship, so she was tough. Isabelle, however, was the youngest daughter in her family and was spoiled by her parents and elder brother. Therefore, she had not been through hardship.
Patrick could have fun with a woman like Isabelle, but Isabelle may not be able to go through hardships with Patrick.
"I told Leila to cool off in the next two days. I'll go home the day after tomorrow. I'll discuss the divorce settlement with her. We'll talk about terms first. Let her sue me if she doesn't want to reach an agreement with me. Anyway, I'm going to divorce her. I have to. I've been sick of her for a long time."
Patrick insisted on divorcing Leila like possessed.
Although he had to give Leila a small amount of money, it was a very small part of his assets.
The money he deposited in his father's name was the largest part of his assets. He had a total of 170,000 dollars.
And Leila had no idea about the extra assets he had.
Even if Leila could have guessed that Patrick owned other assets, she had no proof, so she had nothing on him.
Paul and Penny exchanged glances with each other. Finally, Paul said, "Now that you've made up your mind, your mother and I have nothing more to say. Go apologize to Leila. You'd better discuss the divorce settlement with her properly. Don't ever give her any property other than a little money. Can you give her a little less money? How about giving her 1,500 or 3,000 dollars? 30,000 dollars is too much."
"That's right. Leila didn't earn a penny after the marriage. When she wants to get a divorce, she actually wants to take away 30,000 dollars. Then she'll make a fortune out of the divorce settlement. If she gets married and divorced a few more times, she'll be a rich woman, won't she? You'll give her 3,000 dollars at most."
"You don't have to tangle with her. I'll do it. As an elder, I'm not afraid to be humiliated. I'll keep fighting with her for you. I'll never let her take so much money from you. Does she even dare to beat me?"
Penny decided to act like an unreasonable and brutal mother-in-law. And she was determined not to let Leila get 30,000 dollars from her son.
"30,000 dollars would cover the cost of building a two-story house in the country. Now the price of building materials has become more expensive. If it were in the past, 30,000 dollars would have covered not only the cost of building the structure of the house, but also the cost of decoration."
Patrick said in a lower voice, "Let's see what kind of conditions Leila will offer when I talk to her the day after tomorrow."
Penny muttered a reply to him. After thinking for a while, Penny said, "What about Andy? Why don't you take Andy to our house first? I've heard that if the child is too young, the court will usually award the child to the mother. As long as the mother is able to raise the child. And Andy is only over two years old. Leila and Teresa have been taking care of Andy, so maybe the court will actually award Andy to Leila."
When the court issued its decision, it would not consider that Andy was the only grandson of the Cerone family. The court would consider what was best for the child.
"If the court awards custody to you, have Andy come over immediately. We can try to bond with Andy. If Leila is awarded custody, we'll let Andy stay here. And we are determined not to give Andy to Leila. What's Leila going to do about it? Andy is my grandson!"
Paul was also more concerned about his grandson. Then, he said to his son, "Patrick, your mother is right. You can get Andy here now. Your mother and I will take care of Andy first."