MGN | Chapter 20

“Sir, you’re still not off work?”

“You’re working on a Saturday too, Jacques.”

“True, but on a day like today?”

“Because of the Brezo case jurisdiction for the divorce. I have to have a meeting with the U.S. side. Once that’s done, I’ll head out.”

“Oh, the couple who got married in Singapore without a prenup? The wife wants to proceed in New York, and the client wants it here, right?”

“Yes.”

“I heard about it. The argument that since the wife’s shoe collection is all here, the divorce should be here instead of New York—that was your idea, right? Did it work?”

“Seems like it.”

Maël rubbed his neck.

The jurisdiction issue for the billionaire’s divorce was something the team was particularly focused on, involving lawyers from various countries. Because of Manon’s prenup, Diane had taken on the case with another senior associate instead of Maël.

Then Diane’s hit-and-run accident happened. Maël had no choice but to support the case.

It wasn’t bad to deliver good news to the client, but taking on the work suddenly blurred the memory of when he last slept.

“You’re the lucky Maël lawyer. If the lawsuit proceeds in the U.S., they said it would cost eighty million dollars, right? How much would it be here?”

“Hard to say until we proceed… But in Monaco, without a prenup, there’s no concept of marital joint property. They won’t get a property division, just alimony. Probably between one to two million dollars.”

“Wow. Isn’t a prenup disadvantageous for those without money? Wouldn’t it have been better with one?”

“It’s not that the prenup itself is bad; it depends on how you draft it. It also varies depending on where you file the lawsuit and which lawyer you use.”

“If I ever get divorced, you have to handle it for me. Promise. You must.”

“If you get married first, Jacques.”

More urgent than the secretary’s idle admiration was a cup of coffee. Maël lightly placed his hand on Jacques’s desk and asked.

“Jacques, are there any more documents for me? Was everything you gave me this morning?”

“No, nothing else has come in. Do you need anything?”

“No, it’s not that…”

After last seeing Yves Valois, Maël sent him the retainer contract the next day. The subsequent consultation had to be rescheduled due to their circumstances.

He couldn’t start or stop the work until he received the signed retainer contract, but it hadn’t come back yet.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to proceed.”

It was possible. He didn’t have the energy to confirm it right now.

Maël thought for a moment before changing the subject. There was already plenty of work.

“Jacques, I’ve been asking for a copy of Manon’s prenup. I don’t remember receiving it.”

“Well, the copy isn’t in our team’s document storage. I think the head lawyer left it with their secretary, but they haven’t responded. I’ve visited their office several times… Sorry. I can go up and check if they’re there now, but it’s probably too late, right?”

It was late. The wedding was tomorrow.

But thinking back on the schedule, even if it had been brought earlier, he might not have had time to look at it. Maël shook his head at Jacques, who was half out of his chair.

“It’s already signed. Nothing can be changed. I just wanted to double-check. It’s fine.”

Saying that, Maël checked his watch. Five minutes until the meeting. Enough time for a caffeine fix.

Entering the break room, Maël pressed the button on the capsule machine and sent a message.

[Can you bring the original prenup when you come today?]

The message whooshed off to tomorrow’s bride. After confirming it, Maël composed an email to Yves’s secretary.

[This is Lawyer Maël Moon from 377. I haven’t received the retainer contract back yet. Please confirm if it has been sent.]

Whether or not to proceed didn’t matter much, but the retainer was one of the conditions for providing the photo, so he had to ask. Being the weekend, he wasn’t sure when a reply would come.

As he sent it, the paper cup filled with black liquid. Tearing open a packet of sugar and stirring the cup, Maël looked up to see Diane passing by the break room, waving her casted left arm.

Since they were both headed to the same destination, Maël approached with his cup. Diane glanced at the strong coffee and spoke.

“Sorry, about Manon’s wedding tomorrow.”

“I heard you did a phone consultation in your wedding dress.”

“Unforgettable. Two hours before my wedding, I got a call asking if they could get more alimony because their husband might have hidden an STD.”

It was a story Maël had heard several times since his intern days. He smiled bitterly and took a sip of the still-steaming coffee.

“Still no luck finding the hit-and-run car?”

“Seems to be taking time. It was a black German car, but how common is that around here?”

“With all the cameras here…”

“Unfortunately, it was a blind spot without cameras. Plus, it was the day they were replacing the surveillance cameras in Monacoville. Just my luck.”

Though she joked about it being nothing serious on the day of the accident, Diane’s condition was more severe than expected. She had symptoms of a concussion and had to have several metal pins in her left arm. Sensing Maël’s concern, Diane waved her right hand dismissively.

“More importantly, how many cases are you handling now?”

“Not many significant ones. Are you planning to give me more? But you said after the domestic violence conference presentation and the Brezo jurisdiction case, I’d get a real vacation.”

Though he pretended to complain, the division of roles was natural. He had visited her in the hospital, where she was spreading documents on the bed, saying her right hand and eyes were fine. Seeing that, he couldn’t just step back and take a break.

“You’ve already applied for vacation. I’ll give it to you. But I’m thinking of starting a new office after this case.”

A new office? The unexpected words made the sugar at the bottom of Maël’s coffee catch in his throat. As he coughed and looked with red eyes, Diane sighed.

“It’d be a lie to say the accident didn’t change my perspective. Going into surgery, I thought about each client I had, and it made me think.”

“What…”

“Ugh, I didn’t become a lawyer to defend people like that.”

Diane nodded toward Maël.

Is there any lawyer who hasn’t felt that way? Maël smiled bitterly. His obsession with pro bono work and volunteering his time was all in a similar vein.

Just a few steps ahead was the consultation room. Diane spoke quickly.

“I want to go a bit lighter. To do that, I need to leave 377. I want to choose the clients I defend. There aren’t many clients I’d want to defend in Monaco, so I’ll expand to Nice and nearby areas. Of course, I’ve gathered clients who will bring in money. If you come with me, there’ll be more.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I’m scouting you.”

Maël blinked as he tossed the paper cup into the trash. Diane’s words came faster.

“If I leave, you’ll get a partnership based on order and performance. There’s no one like you among the senior associates. The youngest partner at 377. But if you come with me, you’ll be a co-representative.”

“There’s not much difference between the two.”

“Well, the new office won’t have an ex-boyfriend.”

Everyone knew about the rumors with Charles. Maël shook his head at Diane’s playful joke, but his expression wasn’t bad. Well, that was certainly a perk.

“Think about it.”

Diane said brightly. As the clock struck the hour, she opened the consultation room door. Seeing the white-haired billionaire already there, she smiled confidently.

“Mr. Brezo, did you hear the good news we sent?”

Following her in, Maël composed his expression. For a moment, he wondered how long it had been since he met someone he wanted to defend in this firm’s consultation room.

And then, Yves Valois’s face suddenly crossed his mind.

* * *

Manon, who seemed to have finally gotten over her morning sickness, didn’t look any thinner when Maël saw her after a long time.

“Oppa, you’re here?”

Even if they lived together, the day before the wedding was spent at their respective homes. The old tradition had kept Manon, who hadn’t been able to return to the house in Nice much since the prenup, back home.

The excuse for keeping Manon busy was publicly the wedding preparations, but in truth, it was because of her slightly swollen belly. The house in Nice wasn’t suitable for avoiding persistent reporters and for the doctor to come and go.

“This.”

Maël lifted the bag he brought. It was the pho and spring rolls Manon had been messaging about wanting to eat before the wedding. Manon squealed and took it.

“If you eat that now, your face will be puffy tomorrow.”

“You can afford to be a little puffy. Oh, did you bring the documents I asked for?”

“Yeah. I kept them safe, but when I tried to find them, I couldn’t. Philippe and the crown prince even came to help search the room. Almost broke a centuries-old vase. Maybe I should leave the original here. Can you keep it, oppa?”

“Got it.”

Sitting at the dining table, Maël took out the prenup. Across from him, Manon, opening the plastic container, kept talking.

“You know, the crown prince said earlier that since you’ll be part of the grand ducal family tomorrow, he convinced the Grand Duke to give you a gift too. He told me to let you know. It was supposed to be announced tomorrow morning, but…”

“Wait, Manon, hold on.”

As he listened to his excited sister, Maël urgently stopped her.

He took out his glasses from his jacket pocket. His eyes, staring intently at a page of the contract, closed and opened slowly.