Menageatu

Menageatu 

Woman finds out her husband is having an emotional affair then the other woman sues her in rural NC under a broken heart law.

Galen Andrews  was a Chiropractor who worked day and odd jobs to pay off his student loans. He was 55 years old and had been married half of his life. It had become mundane, uneventful, and  was restless. He did think it was his marriage. He thought he could be this way for the rest of his life, just because he always did it.  He went to work and went home, he couldn't even play sports anymore, something he once loved dearly. All his life he thought he wanted to be on a job for 30 years and in a marriage for 35, but then he changed, and he did not know why.

Galen settled in a small town many years ago, he never thought much about his patients until one day. He met a woman in his office with her father. She brought him for a back adjustment. He looked into her eyes, and became instantly bewitched by her, she held his hand as he left and her, the energy between them was simply electrifying. He went about his business and then he saw her again, and it was a small town. However,  he never remembered people he ran across, but he remembered her. She was simply unforgettable. He thought it was just him. Everyone knew her. He asked the cafe manager her name as she left, just by chance, "That is  Dee Dee Daniels,"  he said and then it was an emotional affair. Galen did not think he would want more than sex, or his life with his wife. Yet he just wanted to be in Dee's presence.

The wife Carole Smith would make him pay double for every year she was a stay at home wife, they had no children. He never thought he would need a pre nuptial agreement. The ex wanted wanted a trial, a nasty divorce, and he would do everything he could to stop it. It would be in the papers either way. She put him on notice. He was numb through the whole ordeal, and then it was over quickly. He preferred it that way. He saved all of his money for over a year to go to the Caribbean for a quick divorce. She would not have it. She laughed in his face even. She wanted to use an old law in North Carolina called the Affliction of The Heart. A wronged wife could sue the adulteress. He thought she would hire an old country boy. Instead she went to Texas and got a lawyer, known for his reputation of pretending to a dumb cowboy, but was actually a legal genius, named  The Deposer. He thought they would make it quick, but he almost stopped breathing when he heard the fee. 

The alimony was capped in Texas, The Deposer had no choice other than to come to North Carolina. The Desposer questioned Galen and Dee all day and could find no evidence of an affair. He could not prove an emotional affair either. Carole looked at them shrewdly. Their life was on full display, but not written for her to cash in on, there was no evidence of a physical affair no matter how hard he looked. She accused him of pretending to want a childless marriage when he didn't. It was about children, Dee was 47, he just wanted to be free. The Deposer had never lost a case, and vowed he would never take another divorce case, even though this was his specialty. He gambled wrong because they did nothing wrong. They were only guilty of loving each other from afar. Galen paid him well for his troubles. The Deposer tipped his cowboy hat to Carole and left the courthouse. One thing about lawyers when it was over it was over. Galen took Dee's arm in walked down the steps.

Galen watched his wife as he left the court house. Carole said she was over him, but she wasn't. She thought he would never leave and he thought he would never go. He did not have the same fears he once had. He did not fear, growing old, or the loss of everything he had. He knew Dee would love him and take care of him for the rest of his life. That was the way they were, something he did not have with his wife. He had everything he thought he would ever want or need. He knew she was mad he changed and wanted more than the mundane lives they both signed up for. There was just one life, he wanted it all, more, all of the sudden, and most of all he thought he deserved what he wanted. It was a marriage of three. For a longtime it was he, Dee and his Ex wife, a menageatu.