Jim and Cheryl Ch. 05

Epilog

NOTE FROM AUTHOR: This is the final chapter and as such is much shorter than previous chapters. Here we wrap up some final thoughts with our characters. I'm not a legal expert but I did do some research into such cases. I realize that the dollar totals seem totally unrealistic but in fact these type of totals are not without precedence. Especially when corporations settle out of court. Cheryl and Ted Grantham are of course the bad guys in this story and Jim had every right to destroy her. But he really is a softy in many ways so in the end he makes sure she is at least taken care of. Hope you enjoy this epilog to our story.

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SIX MONTHS LATER:

There were shouts of laughter coming up from the lake shore as both Mark and Lynn had brought friends to the lake front cabin for the weekend. Lynn and her girlfriend from school slept in Lynn's vacation bedroom that had two twin beds. Mark and his buddy used the bunk beds in the loft.

All the lawsuits were settled exactly as Jan had predicted. In fact, Simpson Technologies settled within ten days. As I expected, old man Simpson was livid with anger toward Ted Grantham. Mr. Simpson contacted me personally to apologize for what happened to Cheryl while working in his corporation under the supervision of Ted Grantham. Ted was canned the day Mr. Simpson received the letter and evidence from Jan's law office and that very afternoon Mr. Simpson himself personally called on Cheryl at her parent's home.

He met privately with Cheryl and even though she was also guilty of very bad behavior, Mr. Simpson felt badly for the way Grantham had treated her. Of course, it wasn't practical for her to get her old job back since rumors were flying all over the office. They both acknowledged that the workplace would have proved uncomfortable for her. Simpson Technologies gave Cheryl a severance package whereby she remained on the company payroll at full wages and benefits for the next two years. She was not expected to come to work and was indeed free to pursue other employment all the while that the severance package was in effect.

In addition, Mr. Simpson personally added twenty thousand cash of his own money to the severance package. He left his personal check in that amount with her that very day. I was offered and accepted the ten-million-dollar settlement that Jan suggested. We later learned that five million came from Simpson's insurance company and the remaining five from Simpson Technologies corporate investment account.

As you can see from the opening paragraph, we got the cabin from Ted Grantham plus the one hundred thousand cash settlement. Those funds more than covered the legal costs incurred with the law firm of, 'Milliken, Thompson and Shane'. Our settlement with him was reached within thirty days of Jan and I initiating the process.

That settlement was the least painful of his problems. My attorney Jan did go on to represent Lillian Grantham in her divorce proceedings against her husband. She handled the entire case at no charge. Jan made sure that Lillian got every last cent that Grantham had available including 60% of all his retirement accounts. And if that weren't enough, we learned that after a full internal investigation and audit of Ted Grantham's expense account and departmental expenses over the past seven years, Simpson Technologies has filed fraud and embezzlement charges against him. Those charges will surely land him deep in debt and most likely result in five to ten years in prison as well.

The owners, developers and the "Nasty Wives" website itself joined together to end up offering us a thirty-five-million-dollar settlement which we accepted. The funds were deposited into our investment account after taxes were paid. As part of the settlement we dropped the forgery charges that we had filed against them. "Forgery you ask?" Yes. Because in answer to our initial lawsuit they tried to present some poorly forged consent forms supposedly signed by Cheryl and Ted. They were quickly debunked and we had a solid criminal case against them had we chosen to pursue it.

The website was shut down permanently and a class action lawsuit was initiated by the Attorney General on behalf of all the other victims of their debauchery. All video files from the web-site were destroyed by the attorney general's office. That was somewhat comforting but there really isn't anything to be done about the tens of thousands that have been downloaded by individuals from around the world.

I've seen Cheryl a few times the last six months and it is obvious that life has been hard on her. You can see a hardness in her face and from the slouch in her body language. We know that she now regrets her choices for the past four years but the damage has been done. The damage to our family and our marriage was way beyond repair.

She did move into the three-bedroom side of the duplex and is renting out the two-bedroom side. She has broken off all contact with Ted Grantham as well as any of the men she had sex with through her job at Simpson Technologies. Her body looks like a horse that has been 'rode hard and put up wet' as you can well expect. Emotionally she is a wreck and that is evident to all except for the times when she has the kids with her. They are able to perk her right up and are the only bright spot in her life these days.

The severance package and gift from Simpson Tech allowed her to do some remodeling and refurnishing of the duplex so it would be a comfortable place for the kids to stay. I allowed her to take any of the furniture from our home that she thought she wanted or needed. I was planning to remodel and redecorate anyway just to help erase some of the memories. I ended up replacing everything, even the dishes and cookware.

She is slowly trying to seek forgiveness and perhaps even some degree of acceptance from my parents and a few of our closest friends. Never does she indicate that our problems or the reason for our divorce was the result of anything other than her own bad choices. She takes full responsibility for the break up of our family. She has even confessed to her parents the extent and longevity of her adultery much to their shock and chagrin.

There is a sad look in her eyes whenever she sees Jan and I together. That's understandable I suppose. But at the same time, she outwardly wishes us nothing but happiness and all the best that life has to offer. She says I deserve the very best and I think she means it.

Cheryl was able to land a full-time job at the public library. The pay isn't great but she says that it's a safe place for her to work. She doesn't really need the money anyway. She just needed something to do with her time. She arranged her schedule so on the months she has the kids she is on the day shift from 9-3 and on the months the kids are with me she works in the evening shift from 3-9.

Cheryl's mom told us that Cheryl knows that she has ruined her life and has done permanent damage to all the relationships that meant so much to her. That's why she set it up to work nights anytime the kids are not with her. She doesn't want to be available for dating and plans to remain single for the rest of her life. She intends to devote herself to her children and her work at the library. Even on her days off she is 'Miss Cheryl the story lady' for pre-school children at the library.

My formerly trim and fit wife has been intentionally putting on weight and is now what some would consider plump. She also changed her hair style and color dramatically. She dyed her hair black as coal. Cheryl's mom asked her about it and she admitted that twice people had recognized her from the internet videos. She is dramatically changing her looks to help avoid recognition. Yes, she will have to live with the consequences of her actions for the rest of her life. Her mom told me that she is in a constant state of embarrassment. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost, but not quite.

Cheryl doesn't yet know that I invested two million dollars in an annuity for her that she will start drawing two years from now. I won't be telling her about it until she starts being concerned about what she will do when the Simpson Technologies severance package comes to an end. As her severance package ends the annuity will kick in. It is arranged that she will draw $2,500 per month for the rest of her life.

Upon her demise, any balance remaining will be split between our kids. Two thousand five hundred a month certainly isn't enough for her to live on but when combined with her job at the library and the rent she receives from the duplex, she should be able to live comfortably.

When I first floated the idea about the secret annuity to Jan I was concerned what her reaction might be since Cheryl is now the 'other woman'. But to her credit Jan was not only in favor of the idea but she handled all the legal paperwork. Once again she was telling me that I am still one of the last 'good guys'.

Of course, I am still incredibly angry with what Cheryl did to me, to our marriage and to our family, but as time goes on, I wish her no ill will. I suppose there will always be a part of my heart that even loves her but at the same time I can't possibly live with her. In time, I can see us all gathering together for holidays and special events. Already we have been in the same room for a few school activities and things don't seem nearly as awkward as I imagined they would be.

Oh, I guess you noticed that I keep referring to 'we' and 'us' and 'our'. That's because sixty days after my divorce was final, Jan and I were married. I know, I know; ... You and most of my friends and family told me it was much too soon but try and tell me that forty years from now as Jan and I enjoy growing old together. Ours is a match made in heaven.

Funny thing is, she still makes excuses about her body saying things like her tits are too small and her butt is too big. I don't know if I will ever get across to her that to me, she is the absolute perfect package. I've told her that when her big busted friends grow older and are dealing with saggy, baggy udders, she will still be firm and perky. And besides, I love her small boobs and everything else about her. Generally, those comments are followed with me chasing her around the room or around the yard until we tumble together in a passionate embrace. It seems we are forever laughing our heads off and any time the kids are not around the sex is out of this world!

Come to find out, Jan's first husband was infertile. They found out about it after trying for several years to have a child. Jan said the tests were somewhat embarrassing for him but they learned to live with the results. Last Monday we learned that Jan is not infertile and neither am I. About seven months from now we will be welcoming a new life into our family.

Even though we don't need the finances, Jan still works three days a week at Milliken, Thompson and Shane. She enjoys the work and since she is a full partner she is able to take time off whenever we want it.

By the way, I no longer work at Barnstrow Incorporated. It was a great job and they were good to me. They were sad to see me leave and in a way, I was sad to go. But managing an investment portfolio of over forty million dollars really is a full-time job. But hey, somebody has to do it!