"Yes, I think Mom is making sense. We won't remain calm and watch her take anything from you. Losing your properties, your money... everything you worked so hard for. There was never a marriage. Not even up to one week. The court will see the truth and support you. I'm sure we will win."
"You think all these things will work? When the judge is a woman?" Desmond asked. "Anyway, losing my properties to her was never part of my problem. It's never a threat to me. My frustration is losing the one that really loved me."
As he said that, both his mother and Bella blinked in surprise, exchanging puzzled glances. They were confused. How is it not bothering him? That's a lot to lose to the thief.
"Wait....I don't understand. What do you mean by that? She’s acting like she’s already won, and you are saying this?" Bella asked.
"You mean you are not bothered that she's taking everything from you?" His mother asked, adding to what Bella said.
"Let her say whatever she wants. I was ahead of her this entire time." Desmond answered, and his mother furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Ahead of her? Desmond, what are you talking about?" His mother asked.
"We signed a prenuptial agreement before we got married. It’s in black and white. So she won’t share any of my properties, and she won’t get a single cent of financial assistance from me." Desmond answered, and his mother's eyes widened in disbelief. She covered her mouth as if to stifle a gasp. Bella stared at her brother with her mouth slightly agape. The room went silent for some seconds. It was so quiet that they could hear the ticking sound of the wall clock.
"I can't believe this. You guys signed a prenup?" Bella finally asked, breaking the silence. "How did you do it? This is unbelievable. Daniella would never agree to something like that."
"Yeah, you are right. She would never agree to sign it, but it happened. She did sign it, and the best part was that she was smiling while signing it. She didn’t know." Desmond replied.
"How is that possible? You drugged her?" His mother asked.
"Maybe." Bella interjected. "Because she’s been acting like she’s going to walk away with everything we have. How did you manage to get her to sign something like that?"
"I noticed something odd about Daniella while we were together. There were small signs. It wasn't something I could fully pin down, but it was enough to make me uneasy. Secondly, the way she was pressuring me for the wedding made me start suspecting her. So, when it came time to process our marriage certificate paperwork, I had the civil affairs officer include the prenup in the documents. The officer knew who I was and understood my fear. So she added it. So when it was time to sign, she signed it along with other paperworks."
"Wait...you are telling me she didn’t even read what she was signing? How is that even possible?" Bella asked.
"She was too excited to check the papers. She was so eager to get the marriage finalized so she would divorce me as she did now. She didn’t bother to read the details. She signed it without knowing what she was agreeing to."
"Oh, Desmond. This is a relief." His mom leaned forward and wrapped her hand around him, hugging him tightly in excitement. "You don’t know how happy this makes me. I’ve been so worried about you, about everything she was trying to take from you. Not knowing you protected yourself."
"I'm so happy right now." Bella said, wiping her teary eyes. "I thought she was going to take everything from us. Now she will be leaving with nothing."