Chapter 4: The Old Fox and the Fine Print.

The offices of Castillo & Associates were on the twelfth floor of a glass building.

Cassidy looked up from the sidewalk and felt dizzy. Twelve stories. In her era, the tallest thing she'd ever seen was the bell tower of the Tombstone church, and that was four stories. This building was an insult to gravity.

"Ma'am, are you all right?" Lucia was watching her with concern.

"Perfectly. Does that box that goes up and down take us to the top?"

"The elevator? Yes, ma'am."

"Elevator. Box that goes up. Sure. Totally normal."

They rode up in the box -- Cassidy gripped the handrail tight and didn't breathe until the doors opened -- and a secretary led them to a spacious office with a view of the city.

Fernando Castillo was a man in his mid-sixties. White hair, trimmed mustache, small, shrewd eyes behind round glasses. Dark suit, understated tie, a lawyer's hands: smooth, manicured, made for signing documents, not plowing fields.

When Cassidy walked in, he rose from his chair and stared at her for a full three seconds.

"Emilia."

It wasn't a question. It was astonishment.

The last time this man had seen Emilia -- the memories showed her -- was over a year ago. A hunched woman, draped in clothes three sizes too big, who never lifted her gaze from the floor and spoke in whispers.

What stood before him was something else entirely. Black pants, emerald-green blouse, straight back, chin up, eyes that looked directly at him.

"My dear, how good to see you," Castillo said, coming around the desk to take her hands. "You look wonderful. Your father would have been proud to see you like this."

"My father,* Cassidy thought. *Emilia's father. The old fox."

"Thank you, Don Fernando. Have a seat -- I'm in a hurry."

Castillo raised his eyebrows but obeyed. Lucia sat in a chair by the door, quiet as a shadow.

"I want to know everything about my marriage," Cassidy said. "The clauses, the contracts, whatever my father set up before he died. Everything."

"Everything? Emilia, did something happen?"

"A lot happened. But first I need to understand what my father got me into."

Castillo frowned.

"The last time I spoke to Sebastian, a few weeks ago, he told me everything was going wonderfully. That you were happy, vacationing in Europe."

Cassidy let out a dry laugh that had nothing funny about it.

"Happy? Vacationing?" She leaned forward. "Don Fernando, I have never been on a trip. That man had me sleeping in a servant's room, dressed in rags, working as a maid in my own house. But we'll talk about that later. Right now, explain the contract to me."

Castillo went pale. His jaw tightened. He opened a drawer, pulled out a thick folder -- identical to the one Cassidy had found in Sebastian's study -- and placed it on the desk.

"Reading all of this would take hours. I'll summarize."

Cassidy nodded.

"Most importantly: your father drafted an ironclad agreement. What's yours is yours. Sebastian has no right to claim anything in case of divorce, infidelity, or your sudden death. That was intentional: your father wanted to prevent anyone from marrying you for money and then trying to... dispose of you."

Shrewd old fox.

"You married under separate property. You don't have access to his money and he doesn't have access to yours. He receives a monthly payment as administrator of your companies, but you gave him that authority. You can revoke it whenever you want."

"Good."

"Regarding children: if you were to have children together, they would be entitled to a percentage of shares depending on the number. In the event of separation due to his infidelity, the children stay with you and he gets nothing. If you separate for other reasons, you pay a settlement and the children still stay with you. You have no children, so this doesn't apply at the moment."

"Perfect. And the divorce?"

Castillo paused. A long pause. He took off his glasses, cleaned them with a handkerchief, put them back on.

"This is where it gets complicated."

"Of course it does. Nothing's ever easy. Not in this era, not in mine."

"Your father established a minimum marriage period of five years. You've been married for two. Three to go."

"Three years."

"Three years during which you cannot divorce under any ordinary circumstances. However... your father included an exception: proven infidelity."

"I've got it. That rat has been sleeping with my best friend for two years."

Castillo raised his hand.

"Wait. The infidelity clause isn't automatic. Your father..." He sighed. "Your father wanted the marriage to work, Emilia. He wanted to protect you, but he also wanted to give you a family. So he included what we call a reconciliation clause."

Cassidy felt something cold slide down her spine.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if you present proof of infidelity, a mandatory reconciliation period is triggered. Twelve months. During those twelve months, both parties must live under the same roof and attend certified couples therapy once a month. If at the end of the year you maintain your decision, the divorce goes through and Sebastian leaves with nothing. But if during that year he demonstrates a change in behavior..."

"What happens?"

"The terms get renegotiated. He could end up with a percentage."

Silence.

Cassidy clenched her fists on her thighs.

Twelve months. An entire year. Living with that bastard. Sharing a roof. Going to therapy as if the marriage could be saved. As if she wanted to save it.

"Papa Aurelio, I love you to death, but what the hell were you thinking."

"Is there any way to skip that?"

"No. Your father locked the contract down with three notaries and a judge. It's airtight. If you want a clean divorce, without him getting a single cent, you have to complete the twelve months."

Cassidy closed her eyes.

"A year. A whole damn year with that rat under my roof."

But then she thought. The way she thought before a holdup. Cold. Calculating.

"A year is a long time. Time to learn the business. Time to find out what else he's stolen from me. Time to get in shape, learn this world, make myself strong. And time to make Sebastian Duarte's life so miserable that he's the one who wants to leave."

"And if he leaves of his own free will, he breaks the clause and loses everything."

She opened her eyes.

"Activate it."

Castillo blinked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The reconciliation period. Activate it. File the evidence, start the clock. Twelve months from today."

"Emilia, are you sure? Twelve months is--"

"Don Fernando." Cassidy stood. She looked down at him with a smile the old lawyer had never seen on her face. "I've survived worse things than a year with an imbecile. Activate it."

She walked out of the office with Lucia at her heels.

In the elevator -- she gripped the handrail again, but less tightly -- Lucia glanced at her sideways.

"Ma'am? Are you okay?"

Cassidy watched the numbers descend on the little screen. 12, 11, 10...

"Lucia."

"Yes?"

"How long does it take a person to learn how to run a company?"

"Um... years?"

"I have twelve months."

The doors opened. Cassidy stepped out onto the street, into the noise, the cars, the world she still didn't understand but was already starting to feel was hers.

"Twelve months, Sebastian. Let's see who lasts longer."

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