My Husband Asked For A Divorce On His Retirement Day—So I Revealed My 30-Year Secret Chapter 08
Griffin shot Jessica a venomous look.
I opened the agreement and read the terms aloud, one by one.
“‘Salaries, bonuses, benefits, and all other income earned shall remain the separate property of the party under whose name it was earned.'”
“‘Investment income shall belong to the party under whose name the account is registered.'”
“‘Any business equity held shall belong to the party under whose name it is registered.'”
“‘Any debt incurred by one party without the other’s written consent shall be the sole responsibility of the incurring party.'”
When he had pushed that agreement in front of me all those years ago, he’d said, “Donatella, it’s not that I don’t respect you. It’s just better to have everything in black and white. That way, neither of us can take advantage of the other down the road.”
At the time, I had asked him, “What could I possibly take from you?”
He’d replied, “Maybe nothing now. But that doesn’t mean nothing later. People change. There’s nothing wrong with protecting yourself.”
Back then, Griffin had just gotten a small pay bump and already thought he was on top of the world. What he didn’t know was that the month after he forced me to sign that agreement, I registered my first company.
It was called Hearthstone.
In the beginning, it was tiny, with a rented office that held only two desks. I
got up at five every morning to buy supplies, delivered meals to clients, took seniors to their appointments at noon, and did the bookkeeping at night.
The first year, I cleared less than fifty thousand dollars. The second, a little over a hundred thousand. By the fifth year, I had opened a caregiver training center.
By the tenth, I had taken over elder-care service contracts for the entire community. By the fifteenth, I had built my first high-end senior living community.
By the twentieth year, Hearthstone had become one of the largest elder-care companies in New York State.
And through all twenty-eight of those years, all Griffin ever knew was that I “liked to keep busy.” He’d even mocked me in front of friends. “She can’t sit still. Spends all day fussing over old people just to make a little grocery money.”
I never corrected him. There was no need.