# Chapter 35: The Case That Cracked the Divorce Lawyer’s Armor
Hello, lovely listeners, and welcome back! It’s me again, your storyteller, and I’m so glad you’re here with me today. We’re continuing our journey through *Searching For Someday free digital audiobook*, and Chapter 35 brings us into the polished, high-stakes world of Slade Montgomery’s law office—where ambition, heartbreak, and the quiet wreckage of a marriage collide. So grab your headphones, settle in, and let’s dive into this deeply emotional chapter.
Slade Montgomery is on the verge of something big. If he makes full partner, he’ll be moved into the penthouse office—floor-to-ceiling windows, a wet bar, a private bathroom and changing area. The extras are nice, sure, but Slade doesn’t want the promotion for the luxury or even the money. What he truly wants is power. The power to choose more of his own cases, to take on more pro bono work, to make decisions that matter. The rest is just frosting.
But today, his overbooked schedule has no room for celebration. His one o’clock has arrived, and Slade takes a deep breath, centering himself on his client. When a friend from law school calls in a favor, Slade never hesitates. That friend is Trent, and the client is Pete Troy.
Pete enters the office, and Slade immediately reads him as the beta in his relationship—a man who has spent years shrinking himself to keep the peace. He stoops slightly, combs thinning hair to the side in a desperate attempt to stave off baldness. He’s reed thin, dressed in jeans, a slightly soiled sweatshirt, and comfortable sneakers. His hands twitch in his lap. His face is all angular lines, kind yet a little off-center, and his brown eyes are filled with intimidation and fear.
“Mr. Montgomery, I’m a bit out of sorts,” Pete admits. “I’ve never met with a lawyer before, but my friend Trent recommended you and said you could help.”
Slade keeps his voice warm. “Call me Slade. Trent and I go way back to Harvard—he’s a good guy. He told me a few things about your case, but I’d like to get a few more details. Everything we talk about is confidential; I’m here to help you.”
Pete relaxes slightly. Then he says the words that have brought him here: “My wife wants a divorce.”
Slade nods, gold pen poised over paper. He prefers writing notes longhand; it gives the meeting more intimacy than typing on a computer. “Can you give me the facts leading up to her request for a divorce?”
Pete wipes his palms down his jeans. He explains that his wife is the CEO of a major supply company. She brings in all the money. Her job is stressful, she travels constantly, and he decided to stay home with the kids. Three children: an eight-year-old, a five-year-old, and a two-year-old—two boys and finally the girl.
Slade asks if Pete has stayed home since their first son was born. Pete shakes his head. They had a nanny for the first few years, but he noticed too many problems. The boy complained about her, so Pete installed a camera—and caught the nanny drugging his son with cough syrup to keep him quiet. That was the breaking point. He told his wife one of them had to stay home, and they agreed it would be him. His job brought in much less income, and with the savings from daycare, they actually came out ahead.
So Pete remained home when the other two children were born. His wife went back to work in four weeks because she was needed at the office. Lately, they’ve been drifting. She began staying later at work, taking business trips on weekends. Pete felt like he was going crazy, with no one for company but the kids, like his brain was getting fried. So he packed up the children and decided to surprise her in the Catskills. They rent a cabin there, and she was staying in town for business.
Slade already knows where this story is going. He has heard versions of it millions of times. He watches Pete wipe his brow, his mouth curving down in a grimace. “I caught her with someone. Thank God, the children were still in the car.”
“What happened?” Slade asks.
Pete blinks, staring hard at the lines in his hands. “Nothing. She didn’t stop. She—she stayed with that man, and when she finished she came out and yelled at me. Told me to get the kids home and we’d talk about it on Sunday. You know the worst part? I listened to her. Just like I always do. I don’t know how I became this type of person—this complete shell of a man. My wife was screwing another guy and I quietly left to wait for her at home.”
Slade swallows, his heart squeezing in pain for the man across from him. He has heard countless tales from women, but far fewer men admit this kind of pain. He carefully steers the topic back to the facts, knowing he isn’t a true counselor for grief. “I can’t even imagine how painful that was. When she arrived Sunday, what did she say?”
And with that question hanging in the air, the chapter ends—leaving us desperate to know what words came out of Pete’s wife’s mouth.
**Reader’s Impressions & Star Rating**
This chapter hit me harder than I expected. Slade Montgomery has always seemed like the sharp, cynical divorce attorney who has seen it all, but here we get a glimpse of the man beneath the armor. He wants partnership not for the wet bar or the windows, but for the ability to choose cases that matter. Then Pete Troy walks in and breaks something open in him. Pete’s story is devastating because it’s so quiet. He didn’t fight. He didn’t scream. He just obeyed, like he’s always done, and that realization—that he became a shell of himself—is heartbreaking. The writing captures the slow erosion of a marriage and the shame of being betrayed while still trying to keep the children safe. The chapter is mostly dialogue and memory, but it pulses with pain. I only wish we had gotten the wife’s Sunday response in this same chapter, because that cliffhanger is brutal.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
**Next Chapter Prediction**
I predict the next chapter will open with Pete finally telling Slade what his wife said on Sunday. Knowing the setup, it’s likely she was cold, dismissive, and maybe even blamed Pete for the breakdown of the marriage. She may threaten him with custody, using her money and status as leverage. Slade’s protective instincts will kick in hard. I think he’ll take Pete’s case, possibly pro bono or for far less than his usual rate, and it will force him to confront his own views on love, marriage, and commitment. This case may also push him closer to Kate, or at least make him question the cynical walls he’s built around his heart. The partnership decision is still looming, too—so I expect a collision between Slade’s professional ambitions and his growing need to fight for something that actually matters.
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