It was in this context that I mentioned the prenuptial agreement, not as mistrust, but as natural protection for someone who had significant assets. My lawyer at the time, Dr. Patricia Williams, had suggested it during the apartment purchase. «Marina, you’re young, successful, and accumulating assets rapidly. A prenup is sensible, especially when there’s a significant difference in assets between spouses. It’s not mistrust; it’s intelligent protection.»
When I talked to David about this on a Tuesday night, he laughed. He literally laughed, almost spitting out the Shiner Bock beer he was drinking. «A prenuptial? Isn’t that rich people’s nonsense? We love each other, Mari. Love doesn’t need papers to prove anything. These things are for couples who enter marriage already thinking about divorce.»
«It’s not about love, David. It’s legal protection. For both of us.»
«If something goes wrong—» «Nothing will go wrong,» he interrupted, pulling my hand. «We’re going to be happy forever. You’re being paranoid, baby.»
He made a face like he didn’t understand the necessity but eventually agreed when I explained it was something that would make me more comfortable. «If it’s important to you, fine. But honestly, I think you’re complicating something that should be simple.»
We went to Dr. Williams’s office on a Thursday morning. I remember David was hungover because he had gone out with his dealership colleagues the night before for a last bachelor’s outing. He arrived 15 minutes late, somewhat sleepy, complaining that he had lost an important sale because of the appointment. «Sorry, Mari. Had to come straight from work. Johnson wanted to close a deal today, but I said I had an important appointment with you.»
Dr. Williams, an elegant 50-year-old woman with gray hair and an impeccable suit, explained the basic terms with the patience of someone who had given that presentation hundreds of times. «Complete separation of assets. Each spouse maintains their individual patrimony. No division in case of divorce except for assets acquired jointly with clear proof of mutual contribution.»
«It’s important to understand,» she said, looking mainly at David, «that this agreement protects both parties. If you acquire significant assets during the marriage, they will also be protected.»
«You understand, David?» I asked, observing his somewhat lost expression.
«Yes, yes. Each one keeps what’s theirs, right? Makes sense.» It made no sense at all that he had understood completely, because David never showed interest in complex legal or financial matters. When I tried to talk about investments or financial planning, he would change the subject or make jokes about me being too uptight with money.
But he signed all the pages with the ease of someone signing a grocery list—15 pages of dense legal text, with specific clauses about properties, investments, future businesses, and inheritance. David barely read the section titles.
«There, now you can marry in peace,» Dr. Williams said, smiling as she stamped and filed the copies. «I hope to never see you here professionally again.»
On the way back, driving my Honda Civic through the streets of Austin, David commented, «I still think this contract thing is kind of weird. But if it makes you calmer, what’s important is that in two weeks we’ll be married, husband and wife forever.»
He really didn’t understand what he had signed. For David, that was just another necessary bureaucracy to officialize our love, like getting the marriage license or choosing the rings. He didn’t comprehend that he was giving up any right to my present and future patrimony. And I, in love and confident that we would be happy forever, didn’t mind his lack of attention to details. After all, love was more important than any paper, wasn’t it?
We were going to build a life together, share everything, and be a modern and partnered couple. The contract was just a formality that would never be necessary. How wrong I was.
Now, four years later, alone in the bedroom at three in the morning with the contract in my hands, I finally understood the value of that «rich people’s nonsense.» I read each page with redoubled attention, as if I were deciphering a secret code that could save my life. The legal words that at the time seemed like just a formality now shone on the page like precious diamonds.
Complete separation of property. Each spouse shall maintain individual ownership of all property owned prior to marriage and all property acquired during the marriage. Each spouse. Property acquired during marriage. The apartment I bought before getting married, the investments I made monthly, the stock applications, the stake in the tech startup I bought two years ago. All of this was exclusively mine.
In the event of dissolution of marriage, there shall be no division of property, with each party retaining the entirety of their individual assets. Dissolution of marriage. There shall be no division of property. David had no right to anything. Absolutely nothing of what I had built.
I continued reading, looking for some clause that could complicate things, some loophole he could use to claim part of my assets, but there wasn’t any. The contract was crystal clear, comprehensive, and bulletproof. Dr. Williams had done impeccable work.
Spousal support waiver. Both parties hereby waive any right to spousal support, alimony, or maintenance from the other party. Alimony. David had no right even to alimony, and considering he earned much less than me, he theoretically would be the one who could ask for financial support.
I continued reading the specific clauses: debt separation, future businesses, intellectual property, and inheritance. It was complete armor. David had no right to a cent of what I had built, and more importantly, I had no responsibility for his debts. I remembered he had financed a Ford F-150 pickup the year before, plus had a high-limit credit card that he used frequently.
I took my laptop and started making a mental list of my current patrimony. The apartment was valued at at least $400,000. Investments in stocks and funds totaled about $100,000. The stake in the startup was worth at least $50,000. I had $40,000 in checking and savings accounts and a paid-off car valued at $20,000. More than $600,000 in net worth at 29 years old. And David had no right to any of it.
Even better, my new salary as commercial director would be $16,000 monthly, plus performance-based bonuses that could reach $20,000 per month in the best quarters. Meanwhile, David would continue earning his $4,000 or $5,000 monthly selling cars. For the first time in days, I smiled, a small but genuine smile. David had signed his own financial sentence four years ago without even realizing it.
And Beatrice? Oh, Beatrice. She had probably seduced my husband, thinking he would be her gateway to a financially comfortable life. What delicious irony. I remembered the conversation we had last Christmas, when she complained about the injustice of me having everything. Now I understood it wasn’t frustration; it was planning.
Beatrice had seen in David an opportunity to finally get what she «deserved» without working for it. She didn’t love him. She loved what she thought he could give her access to. I stored the contract back in the safe, but first, I took photos of all the pages with my iPhone.
I sent the images to Helena by email with the subject: «Gift from God.» She responded in 15 minutes, even though it was almost 4 in the morning. «Marina, this changes everything. Call me tomorrow.» For the first time since that horrible dinner at Terrazzo, I managed to sleep for a few hours. And for the first time in years, I dreamed about my future—a future where I was completely free to be whoever I wanted to be, without anyone trying to steal what I had built.
I woke up the next morning with a mental clarity I hadn’t felt in days. While having coffee in my modern kitchen, looking out the 10th-floor window at the Austin skyline, I began connecting dots that before seemed like innocent coincidences. Beatrice had always shown a suspicious interest in my financial life. It wasn’t just fraternal curiosity; there was a calculating intensity in her questions that now made complete sense.
«How much do you pay for this apartment?» she had asked during a visit last year. When I explained it was financed, not rented, her eyes lit up. «Wow, it must be worth a fortune.»
She asked about my salary with uncommon frequency. «Mari, how much are you earning now? Just to situate myself in the market,» she’d say, as if she were comparing it with her own opportunities as a freelancer. When I mentioned I was investing in stocks, she wanted to know specific amounts. «I’m thinking about starting to invest too. I need a reference.»
I remembered a specific conversation during last year’s Christmas. We were at our parents’ house in San Antonio, and Beatrice had had a few too many glasses of wine. «Mari, do you realize how frustrating it is to see you having everything? A beautiful apartment, a new car, trips, expensive clothes, while I kill myself working and can barely pay rent.»
«Beatrice, you can have all this too. It’s a matter of working hard and making smart choices,» I replied, trying to be encouraging.
«Oh, sure. Everyone has the same opportunities, right? You were always the perfect daughter, the smart one, the one who gets everything easily. I have to kill myself to get crumbs.» At the time, I thought it was just the wine talking. Now I realized it was envy and resentment accumulated over years.
Beatrice genuinely believed she deserved what I had but without the corresponding effort. And David, poor David, he was never an ambitious person financially. He was satisfied with his dealership salary, with his simple life of weekend beer and football on television. But I noticed how he sometimes looked at the things I bought with a mixture of admiration and discomfort.
«Four hundred dollars for a purse, Mari? That’s almost my rent,» he commented when I bought a Coach bag at Nordstrom. It wasn’t criticism; it was more like he was trying to process a financial world completely different from his. Beatrice had probably planted seeds in his head. Imagine when you two get divorced, David. Half of all this will be yours. She didn’t know about the prenuptial agreement because I never told anyone in the family; it was a private matter between me and my husband.
Now I understood the conversation I overheard by chance a few months ago. David was on the phone on the balcony, and I thought it was work. But now I remembered hearing, «I don’t know if it’s the right time. She suspects something. I need to be sure.» At the time, I thought he was talking about some complicated sale. Now I realized he was probably talking to Beatrice about how and when to reveal their relationship.
The most painful part was realizing they had planned that moment at the restaurant. The choice of Terrazzo, on the day of my promotion, the way they arrived together, the poorly disguised satisfaction on their faces—it wasn’t an impulse or a desperate confession. It was theater. They wanted to humiliate me publicly, catch me off guard, and see me fall apart. And they probably expected me to react with desperation, begging David to come back and offering anything to save my marriage.
Too bad they didn’t know about the prenuptial agreement. I spent the weekend organizing my strategy. I called Helena early Monday morning, before even going to work.
«Marina, girl, this contract is a work of legal art. David has no right to absolutely anything,» she said. «We can process the divorce in 60 days if he doesn’t contest.»
«And if he contests?»
«Based on what? He signed the prenup. Everything is registered. There are no vices of consent. Unless he proves coercion or fraud, which is impossible, he’s screwed.»
