"Are you sure you want me to come? I don't want to invade your privacy," Ollie says, following me out of the house. Emmie meows behind us but just sits and watches as Ollie closes the front door, locking it behind him.
"I want you there with me," I tell him, my tone slightly exasperated. This is at least the fifth time that he has asked me this and it is starting to get on my nerves. I know that he worries, and ever since the two kisses we have shared, the worrying has only increased. It is clear as day that he is worried about me, especially with what we saw at the coffee shop. "Now, stop asking, before I change my mind."
Ollie mimes zipping his lips, climbing into the passenger side of the car while I turn the ignition.
Today is my appointment with Ms. Mikelson. For some reason, my nerves are on edge. This is the first step in my final separation from Aaron. While weeks ago, the thoughts had hurt, now it feels as if it is more of an ache than a constant sting. Too many blows have hit me since Aaron initially left.
The fact that he has been cheating on me for god knows how long and even got her pregnant, while I was aching for my own child just makes me despise him even more. Ollie must sense my thoughts, because he reaches over to grab my hand resting on the center consol. He twines his fingers with mine, gently pulling his hand up to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to the back of my hand.
The gesture has me relaxing slightly, and I shoot him a smile before returning my eyes to the road.
The drive takes a little over a half an hour, and music plays softly in the background. It takes a little bit to find the building, since it is a small one, located behind a bigger apartment complex.
An older man greets us when we walk in, taking my name and then offering us some refreshments while we wait for our appointment.
Not even five minutes later, someone is calling my name. "Milo Katz?" an older woman calls.
"That's me," I say, standing up.
She smiles, revealing a charming smile with a gap in between her two front teeth. Her hair is curled, graying at the roots. But it suits her, along with the shallow crows feet around her eyes and the smile lines framing her mouth. "It's nice to meet you. Virginia has been telling me so much about you." She looks over at Ollie, who is standing right beside me. "Oh, and you must be her grandson, Ollie."
"Ollie Bellamy," he says, holding out his hand to shake. "Thank you for taking on this case."
"Virginia has done a lot to help my family. It's time I returned the favor." She turns then, motioning us to follow her. "Why don't the two of you follow me back to my office where we can discuss those papers you sent me."
We follow behind her into the back office, the one at the very end of the hallway. She holds the door for us as we come in, closing it behind us before going to sit down in her own chair. The office is nice, small, but the window behind her desk makes the room feel larger. Lamps are lit on either side of her desk, giving the room a soft illumination. It feels almost out of place, but I won't complain.
"I'm going to me blunt with you, Mr. Katz," she says, pulling on a pair of horn-rimmed classes as she shuffles through the papers. "Your husband is looking to claim everything, the cars, savings, and businesses."
"What?" I breathe, my hand tightening into a fist. Ollie reaches over, wrapping his own hands over mine and giving them a small squeeze of comfort. "He can't do that, can he?"
"Unfortunately, the law tends to lean heavily in alpha's favor, especially if there are no children involved." She flips through the papers again, stopping once she finds what she is looking for. "It says here that you are infertile?" She looks up at me no judgment on her face, which is the only thing that keeps me from tensing up.
"Ye-yeah, that's correct."
She gives a small nod of her head, leaning back in her chair. "This is something that he is using in his favor, claiming that it is an alpha's right to procreate, and since you are unable to bear children, within the law, he has every right to file for divorce. As for the business titles and car titles, those seem to have both of your names on it, so we can most likely get those split down the middle."
"What?" I say, sitting up straight, already shaking my head in desperation. "No, he can't have my businesses. I worked hard for years to afford to open my bookstore and coffee shop. He didn't contribute anything to either of them! His name is only on the titles because the state wouldn't let me sign the license without an alpha's approval."
She gives a small shake of her head, pulling her glasses off and setting them on the desk. "Mr. Katz, I agree that it is unfair and especially demeaning towards everything omegas have worked towards. Part of the reason I became an attorney was because my sister wanted to be one, and she could not get a license of her own without an alpha's approval. The state favors alphas and their supposed 'rights' over omegas basic human rights."
"Is there anything we can do to over rule an alpha's right of procreation?" I say, desperation creeping into my voice. Everything I have been striving for is about to come crumbling down, and my heart is stuttering. It feels as if the floor is about to be ripped out from under me, all because my soon to be ex is an asshole who is using my body against me.
She gives a small bob of her head, eyes flickering to the side as she thinks. "If there was abuse- physically, sexually, mentally, or emotionally; criminal charges that you were made unaware of before marrying; infidelity at any time-"
Ollie cuts her off before she can say anything else, already digging around in his pocket for his phone. "Wait, we caught him with someone else," he says, fingers tapping on his phone to pull up the picture. Once he has it, he turns the phone around so that Ms. Mikelson can see it. "Will this work?"
She takes the phone from him, slipping on her glasses as she does so. "When were these taken?"
Ollie looks over at me, brows scrunched. "A little more than a week ago, right?"
Nodding my head, I look back over at my lawyer. "Yeah. That sounds about right."
"Am I right in assuming that she is pregnant?" she asks, handing the phone back to Ollie.
"She sure looks like it. And we only split up a month and a half ago. There is no way that she could be noticeably pregnant already unless he was cheating."
She nods her head, looking over to her computer and typing away. "Well, this will definitely be beneficial. We can use this as a way to undermine his claims. But, it could be turned against us. His lawyer will most likely say that this is just his right to procreate, and since his omega was not able to, he just found another willing partner."
"My status as an omega is going to screw me over this much? Even when we have proof that he is cheating?"
"It's an alpha loving society that we live in. It is definitely better than it used to be when I was younger, or when my Oma was growing up, but we still have a long way to go." She turns back over to us. "We are going to delay signing these. I want to find definite proof that he was cheating, for a long period of time. If we find that he did it before you were having difficulties becoming pregnant, it will work in our favor. But, this is going to take time, and my case load is high right now," she says, shuffling some things around her desk before finally finding a planner and flipping it open. "I have a few cases that will be coming to an end soon, so that will open up a lot of time. But until then, this is going to be slow going. So, like I said before, we are going to hold off signing anything until I see you next."
She stands up then, waiting for us to do the same. "I'm sorry I can't do much for you right now, but I will be dedicating as much time as possible to your case. Please, email me if Mr. Harris tries to contact you again, or if you discover anything else that you think may be useful."
"Alright," I murmur, dragging Ollie up from his chair by the hand that is holding mine. "We understand. Thank you again for taking my case. There is no way I could have afforded a lawyer."
Her face softens at that, and she reaches behind her, grabbing a pamphlet before handing it over to me. Looking down, I see that it is a brochure for different omega support groups in the area. "It is no trouble at all, Mr. Katz. And please, take a look at some of those. My sister and I have helped quite a few members of those groups, and they do great work. It is important to have support when going through these types of situations."
The idea of going to a support group doesn't appeal to me, but I smile anyway, nodding my head. "Thank you. I will take a look at it."
She holds the door open for us, and Ollie and I walk out. The secretary thanks us for coming in and wishes us a good evening as we leave, but I am too wound up to respond. Luckily, Ollie is coherent enough to call out a thank you to him while guiding me out of the building.
"Can you believe this, Ollie?" I murmur when I get in the car. Ollie had taken the keys from me as soon as we stepped outside, knowing that I am not in the right state of mind to drive. "He's going to take everything from me. Everything I worked for, while he gets away with cheating on me and knocking someone else up."
"We'll fight him, Milo. He won't get away with this," he tells me, pulling the car out of the parking lot, windshield wipers on low to combat the light drizzle. "He's got to slip up sometime, and we'll be there to catch him when he does."
"How could I have loved him? How did I not see this?" I whisper, running my hand through my hair and pulling at the strands. "I've been with him for years and I never realized how much of an asshole he is."
"We're blind when we're in love." His eyes flicker over to me quickly before returning to the road. "We don't see what we don't want to see."
We drive in silence for a while, his words sinking in. Leaning my head against the window, I revel in the coldness of the glass, shivering in my seat. "Yeah, I guess you're right."