Chapter 70

Zoey got more and more annoyed the more she looked at it.

It seemed to be showing off to Zoey, letting out a howl in her direction.

Zoey said coldly, "If you keep disturbing people, I'll tape your mouth shut."

The kitten looked confused.

Tenley laughed heartily, petted it a couple of times, and then put it on the ground.

Zoey was really exhausted and told Tenley briefly that she was going to her bedroom to sleep.

At that moment, Lucille sent her a message, a bit worried: [Did you arrive? Is Big Baby adjusting well?]

To reassure Lucille, she took a video of the kitten's current state and sent it to her: [See? She's lively and energetic.]

There was no sign of anxiety from being temporarily separated from Lucille.

It was particularly carefree, strutting around the room.

Then, Zoey went back to the bedroom.

Zoey didn't know when Tenley went to sleep, but she felt that the living room lights were still on before she fell asleep.

The comfortable bed made Zoey sleep very well through the night.

She woke up naturally the next morning without needing an alarm.

As soon as she left her room, she saw the kitten was also awake, sniffing around this unfamiliar home.

"Zoey, you are awake," Tenley said, having just finished making breakfast in the kitchen. She even made something suitable for the kitten to eat, which looked more appetizing than cat food.

Zoey's breakfast was quickly placed on the table, along with the kitten's.

As she ate, the kitten was eating on the balcony not far from her.

The morning sunlight shone in, and at that moment, it was somewhat healing to see it on the kitten.

Zoey quickly finished her meal and went to work.

Tenley assured her that she would take good care of the kitten.

Zoey thought to herself, 'Whether you take care of it or not has nothing to do with me; I have to work and can't spend with it all the time for 50 dollars.'

The workload at the police station in the morning was almost non-existent.

Zoey organized some files, and the morning passed quickly.

Just as she got off work at noon, Lucille's call came in as if on cue.

As soon as she answered, an extremely angry voice came through. "Paul hit me first, that bastard won't divorce me, and he said if I insist on a divorce, I won't get anything! I'm really fed up, Officer Brown, you deal with cases like this every day, do you know any good lawyers?"

"Calm down first," Zoey said. "See if your situation with Paul meets any of the following criteria: one, bigamy or cohabitation with another person; domestic violence or abuse, abandonment of family members; gambling, drug addiction, and other bad habits that are incorrigible; separation due to emotional discord for more than two years; other situations leading to the breakdown of the marriage."

"Isn't it obvious? Domestic violence! He hit me, and I reported it to the police."

Zoey tried to jog her memory. "Last time, Mr. Williams classified your case as mutual assault, remember? That doesn't count. It only proves you went to the police. And..." Zoey said, "This emotional breakdown must be mutual. As long as Paul shows he likes you and doesn't want a divorce, the court won't rule the marriage as broken."

"Why?" Lucille was speechless.

She was an ordinary person and couldn't think about the law from her perspective.

"Isn't it simple? Because marriage is protected by law," Zoey explained.

"What about me? The law can protect marriage but not me? If I want a divorce now, do I need the consent of the person who abused me? What if he refuses and kills me? What about my parents?"

"Well, if he kills you, Paul would get a few years in prison at most."

"A few years? The law won't let me divorce, and if I die, he only gets a few years?" Lucille was both shocked and filled with resentment. "Murder should be punished by death, why only a few years!"

Zoey added, "Although the law stipulates that domestic violence resulting in death can be punished by death, in real cases, the court usually considers the emotional relationship between the couple and generally classifies it as involuntary manslaughter, meaning the abuser didn't intend to kill the victim."

"What? Then I won't divorce, I'll just go kill him now! Only a few years in prison, and I'll have a beautiful life after I get out!" Lucille rolled up her sleeves, ready to act.

Lucille was clearly just putting on a show to show Zoey her determination to divorce.

But Zoey found her amusing. "Do you know if you kill him, you'll get life imprisonment or the death penalty, and you'll never leave prison?"

"Why?" Lucille was even more confused.

Zoey ignored her emotional face, her cold tone tinged with a bit of sarcasm. "Because it would be premeditated murder. He abused you, and you retaliated and killed him, so it can't be considered involuntary manslaughter. The judge would charge you with intentional homicide."

Lucille was silent for a few seconds, extremely frustrated, and possibly because she had no other options, her tears kept falling. "Officer Brown, why is it so hard for me to get a divorce now? I don't want to continue with Paul, even if we stay together, my heart feels like it's already been killed by him. What's the point? I don't love him anymore. Do you know what it's like for a woman to stay with a man she no longer loves? Just seeing him makes me sick. That kind of disgust comes from deep within, it's uncontrollable, do you understand?"

Zoey met her gaze and responded softly.

Although she had never been married, she felt the same way about Derek.

"What should I do, Officer Brown? Am I going to live like this for the rest of my life?" Lucille cried harder, making Zoey's head hurt.

She tried to calm Lucille down. "You're married, don't you know crying doesn't solve anything? Stop crying, I'll think of a way for you."

"Really? Officer Brown, is there another way?" Lucille wiped her tears, but her sobs didn't lessen.

"First, you can file for divorce, but the court is likely to deny it. Then you can separate from him for a year and file again, and the court will usually grant the divorce in such cases. But the whole process from filing to judgment takes 3-6 months."

It would take about two years for them to get divorced.

Lucille couldn't wait; she couldn't stand another moment with Paul. "Officer Brown, what's the second option? I can't wait that long, it's too long." She just wanted a divorce right away.