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<blockquote data-quote="CeeCee72" data-source="post: 212054" data-attributes="member: 5055">I don&#039;t own any of the characters in this story and no copyright infringement is intended..This is a &quot;What if?&quot; fanfic. What if in the season eleven episode &quot;Top Gun&quot; Sue Ellen had changed her mind at the last possible moment and instead of teaming up with Kimberly and Wendell to beat JR she voted her Weststar shares to make him CEO?***What IfPart 8***&quot;Oh, my word!&quot; Miss Ellie grimaced. &quot;It smells like a brewery in here!&quot;&quot;Sorry, Grandma,&quot; Lucy said sheepishly. &quot;I dropped my drink when the shooting started.&quot;&quot;You were up drinking alcohol in the middle of the night?&quot; Miss Ellie gasped.&quot;Hey, JR gave it to me!&quot;&quot;Leave her alone Mama,&quot; JR said, coming into the room with Harry McSween following close behind him, &quot;she&#039;s well over legal.&quot;&quot;I&#039;m posting officers out by the gate and around the house until we catch her, JR,&quot; McSween informed him.&quot;Thanks, Harry. I don&#039;t know how she got past Ray&#039;s ranch hands.&quot;&quot;So, we&#039;ve all decided it&#039;s Katherine for sure?&quot; Everyone turned their head to see Sue Ellen coming in from the kitchen.&quot;We&#039;re not even open to the possibility it could be someone else?&quot;&quot;I&#039;m open to everything, Mrs. Ewing, but Wentworth is our prime suspect and that was a lady&#039;s scarf JR and Mr. Farlow found in the driveway.&quot;&quot;JR has a lot of enemies,&quot; Sue Ellen shrugged, &quot;and many of them are women. Hell hath no fury and all that.&quot;&quot;Sue Ellen,&quot; JR sighed, clearly annoyed, &quot;not everything is a referendum on my character.&quot;&quot;Whatever you say, my love,&quot; Sue Ellen replied sweetly.&quot;Hang on,&quot; Clayton threw his hands up, &quot;I agree with Sue Ellen. Anyone could have taken those shots at the house.&quot;&quot;Katherine has shown before she&#039;s not afraid to shoot someone,&quot; JR reminded them.&quot;Miss Wentworth is the prime suspect,&quot; Harry repeated, &quot;but it would be a good idea for me to get a list of your other enemies.&quot; He pulled a pen and a small notebook from his suit pocket.&quot;Oh boy,&quot; Lucy laughed, &quot;you&#039;re going to need a MUCH bigger notebook.&quot;Miss Ellie gasped and Sue Ellen and Clayton both snorted.&quot;What?&quot; Lucy asked innocently. &quot;Everyone was thinking it, I just happened to be the one to say it out loud.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s enough, Lucy,&quot; Miss Ellie scolded.&quot;Just...uh, don&#039;t forget to put Kimberly Cryder&#039;s name on that list, my love,&quot; Sue Ellen shot JR a hostile look. &quot;After all she has reason to want to kill us both.&quot;&quot;Cryder?&quot; McSween asked, &quot;how do you spell that?&quot;&quot;Nevermind, Harry,&quot; JR scowled, &quot;I&#039;ll have Sly send you a full list in the morning.&quot;&quot;That&#039;ll be fine,&quot; McSween nodded. &quot;I have statements from everyone but Bobby. I&#039;ll need to talk to him.&quot;&quot;That&#039;ll have to wait &#039;til morning too,&quot; JR insisted. &quot;He&#039;s upstairs with the boys.&quot;&quot;Alright JR. My men are still searching around the house, but we&#039;ll stay out of your hair until morning.&quot;&quot;Thanks, Harry,&quot; JR said. &quot;I&#039;ll walk you to the door.&quot;&quot;The rest of us should try to get some sleep,&quot; Miss Ellie advised, &quot;rising from her chair. &quot;It will be morning before you know it.&quot;***Sue Ellen sat at the kitchen table and drank her tea. She hadn&#039;t even attempted to go back to bed; there was no way she would be able to sleep now.Everyone was so upset about the shooting - and Sue Ellen was upset about it too; but it wasn&#039;t fear that was keeping her awake - it was hurt.&quot;JR did it to me again,&quot; she mumbled, taking another sip of her tea. She had stupidly allowed herself to believe that maybe he HAD changed. Maybe he really was sorry for all the years of damage and wanted to make things easy for her in the divorce. She had allowed him to lull her into a false sense of security and then he had brutally pulled the rug out from under her - just like always.&quot;I still don&#039;t understand how she got past my hands,&quot; Ray&#039;s voice broke through her thoughts. She turned her head and saw Ray and JR coming into the kitchen from the patio.&quot;Well, it was dark, Ray, it&#039;s a big ranch.&quot; JR moved to the kitchen counter to start a pot of coffee. &quot;One person on foot could have come from almost any direction and not have been seen, especially if they&#039;re familiar with the lay of the land.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s what&#039;s bothering me, JR. I think whoever this is, she has been on this ranch and in the house enough times to know how to move without being detected.&quot;&quot;Well, Ray, Katherine was here at parties and such several times,&quot; JR reminded him. He poured them both a cup of coffee and they took seats at the kitchen table.&quot;You okay, darlin&#039;?&quot; JR finally acknowledged Sue Ellen&#039;s presence in the room.&quot;Fine,&quot; Sue Ellen told him. &quot;Just can&#039;t sleep.&quot;JR let his eyes sweep over her face. Her eyes were puffy and red and that damn bottom lip was swollen again.&quot;We&#039;re going to catch her, darlin&#039;,&quot; JR assured her, reaching out to cover her hand with his. Sue Ellen pulled her hand away from his and turned her head away.&quot;I&#039;m serious, JR,&quot; Ray shook his head. &quot;I think we&#039;re making a mistake zeroing in on Katherine. Okay, so she&#039;s been here for BBQs, but how many times has she been in the house?&quot;&quot;Sure she was here visiting Pam occasionally,&quot; JR shrugged.&quot;Okay, so how did she get the security code?&quot;&quot;What?&quot; JR&#039;s head snapped up.&quot;Whoever was in Christopher&#039;s bedroom had to have the code to the security system. When I lived here with Donna, Rauol set that alarm every night at 11:00 like clockwork. You can&#039;t really believe that the one night he forgot to set it happened to be the one night someone decided to break into the house.&quot;&quot;I hadn&#039;t thought about that,&quot; JR admitted. &quot;But Ray, that code hadn&#039;t been changed in years. Pam could have given it to Katherine.&quot;&quot;No,&quot; Sue Ellen spoke up. &quot;The last time the codes were changed was when BD Calhoun was terrorizing us. That was after Katherine shot Bobby. Pam had no contact with her at all after that.&quot;&quot;Damn. That&#039;s right, darlin&#039;,&quot; JR sighed.&quot;Something&nbsp; about this whole situation just isn&#039;t adding up,&quot; Ray shook his head and stood up to leave. &#039;I need to get back over to my place and check on Jenna and the baby. I&#039;ll be back in a few hours.&quot;&quot;Alright Ray. Thanks for everything,&quot; JR nodded at him.&quot;No problem. Sue Ellen,&quot; Ray tipped his hat to her and Sue Ellen nodded her goodbye.JR got up and moved back to the coffee pot. &quot;Listen Sue Ellen, you and the boys need to keep to the house for the next couple of days. I don&#039;t even want you in the pool, not with some maniac out there shooting at the house.&quot;&quot;I&#039;ll work from home, JR,&quot; Sue Ellen agreed, &quot;but I have an important appointment in town this morning that I have to keep.&quot;&quot;Cancel it,&quot; JR ordered.&quot;No, JR,&quot; Sue Ellen&#039;s voice was defiant.&quot;Sue Ellen,&quot; JR tried to keep his voice calm, &quot;what could be so important that you&#039;re willin&#039; to get shot over it?&quot;Sue Ellen laughed bitterly. &quot;I&#039;m not going to get shot, JR. Whoever is doing all these things...well I don&#039;t think I&#039;m the target.&quot;&quot;Sue Ellen,&quot; JR pleaded. &quot;Please stay home. It would kill me if something happened to you.&quot;Sue Ellen stood up, walked to the sink, and washed out her tea cup. &quot;Nothing&#039;s going to happen to me, JR,&quot; she turned to face him. &quot;And if it did, it wouldn&#039;t be any of your concern anyway.&quot;JR said nothing. He watched her walk stiffly&nbsp; out of the room, head held high.&quot;You&#039;re wrong, Miss Texas,&quot; he finally whispered to himself. &quot;Everything about you will always be my concern.&quot;***Sue Ellen turned off the car&#039;s engine and silently counted down from ten. &quot;I won&#039;t lose my temper,&quot; she vowed to herself.The truck had been following her for miles, since right after she pulled onto the main road from Southfork. She&#039;d almost lost it in the Dallas traffic, but it had stuck with her, coming to a stop across the street from the parking garage she&#039;d pulled into.She pulled down her car&#039;s visor and took a quick look at her reflection, grabbed her purse, opened the door, and slid out of the car. She walked purposely to the street, looked both ways, and darted across. She sauntered to the window of the truck that had been shadowing her and tapped forcefully on the window.The driver jumped with surprise and hastily rolled down the window&nbsp; &quot;Ma&#039;am?&quot; he greeted her with a nervous question.&quot;I just wanted to be sure that you let my loving husband know that I made it to my attorney&#039;s office safe and sound,&quot; she said sweetly. &quot;See you on the drive back to Southfork.&quot;Sue Ellen turned and darted back across the street without giving him a chance to respond.She wasn&#039;t surprised that JR had her followed, but she wanted him to know that she knew. She wasn&#039;t the same naive, scared little doe that had divorced him the first time. She was on to his tricks and she was putting him on notice that she wouldn&#039;t be easy to manipulate this time around.***&quot;Thank you,&quot; JR grinned as he hung up the phone. Sue Ellen had spotted the tail he&#039;d put on her as he had intended. He wanted her to know he was watching her; it might make her think twice before doing something stupid.He wasn&#039;t surprised her &quot;important appointment&quot; had been with her divorce lawyer; after last night, he was sure she was over there plotting to take him to the cleaners.&quot;Play as rough as you want, Miss Texas,&quot; JR smiled to himself, &quot;I always enjoy a good fight with you. I enjoy the making up even more.&quot;&quot;JR?&quot; Sly&#039;s voice came through the intercom, &quot;Bobby is here.&quot;&quot;Good, send him right in.&quot;&quot;JR, what is so important you had to drag me down here away from the house?&quot; Bobby demanded, striding into the office.&nbsp; &quot;I don&#039;t like leaving the boys there with just Clayton and Mama.&quot;&quot;Don&#039;t worry, Bob, this won&#039;t take long,&quot; JR assured him. &quot;Besides&nbsp; Ray&#039;s over there too, along with about a dozen armed guards.&quot;&quot;Just make it quick, JR,&quot; Bobby sighed, taking a seat in a chair across from JR&#039;s desk.&quot;No problem, Bob,&quot; JR pushed a manilla folder over to him, &quot;it&#039;s all in there.&quot;JR sat back in his chair and rested his chin on his hands while Bobby flipped through the papers in the folder.&quot;JR…&quot;&quot;It&#039;s everything, Bobby. Every single Ewing Oil asset that Wendell stole from us - including the Ewing building.&quot;&quot;According to these papers, you&#039;re signing it all back over to Ewing Oil. Why JR?&quot;&quot;I have Weststar to run now Bob, but you have the Ewing Oil name back. Might as well have all the assets too.&quot;&quot;What&#039;s the catch, JR?&quot; Bobby eyed him suspiciously.&quot;Forty percent,&quot; JR shrugged. &quot;Forty for me, forty for you, ten each to Gary and Ray.&quot;&quot;Why not just keep it all, JR?&quot;&quot;I have my reasons,&quot; JR told him&quot;And you&#039;re not going to share them with me, are you?&quot;&quot;Not at the moment,&quot; JR confirmed. &quot;For the time being, let&#039;s just say I want Ewing Oil back in Ewing hands.&quot;Bobby studied his older brother carefully for a long time. &quot;Alright, JR,&quot; he finally said. &quot;Just tell me where to sign.&quot;***&quot;It&#039;s still a very good offer, Mrs. Ewing,&quot; Mr. Marlowe said. &quot;He&#039;s asking for the stock in Weststar, Everything else - the custody, the child support, the alimony, the division of assets - that all remains the same. Given that he isn&#039;t asking for half of your personal wealth but is offering to give you half of his, you&#039;d still be coming out of the marriage with much more than you had going in.&nbsp; I think we should accept the terms.&quot;&quot;No,&quot; Sue Ellen said shortly.&nbsp; &quot; I don&#039;t want any alimony. And I only want to leave the marriage with my personal assets. There&#039;s no need for me to take half of his. But that Weststar stock is off the table. It&#039;s mine. I bought it with my own money. He has no right to it.&quot;&quot;But, Mrs. Ewing…&quot;&quot;No,&quot; Sue Ellen held up her hand and silenced him. &quot;If JR wants a fight, he&#039;s&nbsp; going to get one. Draw up the papers just as I requested and send them over to Mr. Smithfield. I want their answer by&nbsp; the end of the week.&quot;&quot;Certainly, Mrs. Ewing. There is just one more thing though.&quot;&quot;What&#039;s that?&quot; Sue Ellen asked.&quot;Well…&quot; Marlowe shifted uncomfortably in his seat. &quot;Mr. Ewing may decide his best strategy is to delay the divorce, to wait you out so to speak. Since he&nbsp; has moved back to Southfork, he could make the argument that the two of you have reconciled.&quot;&quot;We haven&#039;t,&quot; Sue Ellen told him flatly.&quot;Well, yes, but a judge might not see it that way. If Mr. Ewing rejects your offer and decides to fight the divorce, the fact that you&#039;re both living under the same roof and raising your son together might give him ammunition.&quot;&quot;What are you saying?&quot;&quot;Mrs. Ewing, I advise you to move out of the Ewing household as soon as possible. And….&quot;&quot;And what?&quot; Sue Ellen prodded.&quot;Under no circumstances should you resume your...marital relations with Mr. Ewing. Every judge in Texas will view that as a reconciliation and it will reset the clock on your separation date.&quot;Sue Ellen&#039;s eyes widened with embarrassment. &quot;Oh...oh, uh...alright. I understand.&quot;&quot;Mrs. Ewing, you haven&#039;t already…&quot;&quot;No!&quot; Sue Ellen said abruptly. &quot;Of course not!&quot;&quot;Good,&quot; Marlowe nodded his head. &quot;I&#039;ll get the papers over to Mr. Smithfield this afternoon.&quot;Thank you, Mr. Marlow,&quot; Sue Ellen stood and reached out to shake his hand.He walked her to the door, &quot;Call the office if you need anything.&quot;Sue Ellen nodded and hurried outside.&quot;You snake,&quot; she seethed as she made her way to the car. No wonder JR had been so hot and bothered to get into her bed the other night after weeks of only half-hearted seduction attempts. He was trying to delay the divorce! He just wanted to keep her under his thumb because she controlled so much Weststar stock.&quot;You won&#039;t win this time, JR,&quot; Sue Ellen muttered to herself as she slid behind the wheel of her car. &quot;I am ending our farce of a marriage once and for all. And the sooner, the better!&quot;***</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CeeCee72, post: 212054, member: 5055"] I don't own any of the characters in this story and no copyright infringement is intended.. This is a "What if?" fanfic. What if in the season eleven episode "Top Gun" Sue Ellen had changed her mind at the last possible moment and instead of teaming up with Kimberly and Wendell to beat JR she voted her Weststar shares to make him CEO? *** What If Part 8 *** "Oh, my word!" Miss Ellie grimaced. "It smells like a brewery in here!" "Sorry, Grandma," Lucy said sheepishly. "I dropped my drink when the shooting started." "You were up drinking alcohol in the middle of the night?" Miss Ellie gasped. "Hey, JR gave it to me!" "Leave her alone Mama," JR said, coming into the room with Harry McSween following close behind him, "she's well over legal." "I'm posting officers out by the gate and around the house until we catch her, JR," McSween informed him. "Thanks, Harry. I don't know how she got past Ray's ranch hands." "So, we've all decided it's Katherine for sure?" Everyone turned their head to see Sue Ellen coming in from the kitchen."We're not even open to the possibility it could be someone else?" "I'm open to everything, Mrs. Ewing, but Wentworth is our prime suspect and that was a lady's scarf JR and Mr. Farlow found in the driveway." "JR has a lot of enemies," Sue Ellen shrugged, "and many of them are women. Hell hath no fury and all that." "Sue Ellen," JR sighed, clearly annoyed, "not everything is a referendum on my character." "Whatever you say, my love," Sue Ellen replied sweetly. "Hang on," Clayton threw his hands up, "I agree with Sue Ellen. Anyone could have taken those shots at the house." "Katherine has shown before she's not afraid to shoot someone," JR reminded them. "Miss Wentworth is the prime suspect," Harry repeated, "but it would be a good idea for me to get a list of your other enemies." He pulled a pen and a small notebook from his suit pocket. "Oh boy," Lucy laughed, "you're going to need a MUCH bigger notebook." Miss Ellie gasped and Sue Ellen and Clayton both snorted. "What?" Lucy asked innocently. "Everyone was thinking it, I just happened to be the one to say it out loud." "That's enough, Lucy," Miss Ellie scolded. "Just...uh, don't forget to put Kimberly Cryder's name on that list, my love," Sue Ellen shot JR a hostile look. "After all she has reason to want to kill us both." "Cryder?" McSween asked, "how do you spell that?" "Nevermind, Harry," JR scowled, "I'll have Sly send you a full list in the morning." "That'll be fine," McSween nodded. "I have statements from everyone but Bobby. I'll need to talk to him." "That'll have to wait 'til morning too," JR insisted. "He's upstairs with the boys." "Alright JR. My men are still searching around the house, but we'll stay out of your hair until morning." "Thanks, Harry," JR said. "I'll walk you to the door." "The rest of us should try to get some sleep," Miss Ellie advised, "rising from her chair. "It will be morning before you know it." *** Sue Ellen sat at the kitchen table and drank her tea. She hadn't even attempted to go back to bed; there was no way she would be able to sleep now. Everyone was so upset about the shooting - and Sue Ellen was upset about it too; but it wasn't fear that was keeping her awake - it was hurt. "JR did it to me again," she mumbled, taking another sip of her tea. She had stupidly allowed herself to believe that maybe he HAD changed. Maybe he really was sorry for all the years of damage and wanted to make things easy for her in the divorce. She had allowed him to lull her into a false sense of security and then he had brutally pulled the rug out from under her - just like always. "I still don't understand how she got past my hands," Ray's voice broke through her thoughts. She turned her head and saw Ray and JR coming into the kitchen from the patio. "Well, it was dark, Ray, it's a big ranch." JR moved to the kitchen counter to start a pot of coffee. "One person on foot could have come from almost any direction and not have been seen, especially if they're familiar with the lay of the land." "That's what's bothering me, JR. I think whoever this is, she has been on this ranch and in the house enough times to know how to move without being detected." "Well, Ray, Katherine was here at parties and such several times," JR reminded him. He poured them both a cup of coffee and they took seats at the kitchen table. "You okay, darlin'?" JR finally acknowledged Sue Ellen's presence in the room. "Fine," Sue Ellen told him. "Just can't sleep." JR let his eyes sweep over her face. Her eyes were puffy and red and that damn bottom lip was swollen again. "We're going to catch her, darlin'," JR assured her, reaching out to cover her hand with his. Sue Ellen pulled her hand away from his and turned her head away. "I'm serious, JR," Ray shook his head. "I think we're making a mistake zeroing in on Katherine. Okay, so she's been here for BBQs, but how many times has she been in the house?" "Sure she was here visiting Pam occasionally," JR shrugged. "Okay, so how did she get the security code?" "What?" JR's head snapped up. "Whoever was in Christopher's bedroom had to have the code to the security system. When I lived here with Donna, Rauol set that alarm every night at 11:00 like clockwork. You can't really believe that the one night he forgot to set it happened to be the one night someone decided to break into the house." "I hadn't thought about that," JR admitted. "But Ray, that code hadn't been changed in years. Pam could have given it to Katherine." "No," Sue Ellen spoke up. "The last time the codes were changed was when BD Calhoun was terrorizing us. That was after Katherine shot Bobby. Pam had no contact with her at all after that." "Damn. That's right, darlin'," JR sighed. "Something about this whole situation just isn't adding up," Ray shook his head and stood up to leave. 'I need to get back over to my place and check on Jenna and the baby. I'll be back in a few hours." "Alright Ray. Thanks for everything," JR nodded at him. "No problem. Sue Ellen," Ray tipped his hat to her and Sue Ellen nodded her goodbye. JR got up and moved back to the coffee pot. "Listen Sue Ellen, you and the boys need to keep to the house for the next couple of days. I don't even want you in the pool, not with some maniac out there shooting at the house." "I'll work from home, JR," Sue Ellen agreed, "but I have an important appointment in town this morning that I have to keep." "Cancel it," JR ordered. "No, JR," Sue Ellen's voice was defiant. "Sue Ellen," JR tried to keep his voice calm, "what could be so important that you're willin' to get shot over it?" Sue Ellen laughed bitterly. "I'm not going to get shot, JR. Whoever is doing all these things...well I don't think I'm the target." "Sue Ellen," JR pleaded. "Please stay home. It would kill me if something happened to you." Sue Ellen stood up, walked to the sink, and washed out her tea cup. "Nothing's going to happen to me, JR," she turned to face him. "And if it did, it wouldn't be any of your concern anyway." JR said nothing. He watched her walk stiffly out of the room, head held high. "You're wrong, Miss Texas," he finally whispered to himself. "Everything about you will always be my concern." *** Sue Ellen turned off the car's engine and silently counted down from ten. "I won't lose my temper," she vowed to herself. The truck had been following her for miles, since right after she pulled onto the main road from Southfork. She'd almost lost it in the Dallas traffic, but it had stuck with her, coming to a stop across the street from the parking garage she'd pulled into. She pulled down her car's visor and took a quick look at her reflection, grabbed her purse, opened the door, and slid out of the car. She walked purposely to the street, looked both ways, and darted across. She sauntered to the window of the truck that had been shadowing her and tapped forcefully on the window. The driver jumped with surprise and hastily rolled down the window "Ma'am?" he greeted her with a nervous question. "I just wanted to be sure that you let my loving husband know that I made it to my attorney's office safe and sound," she said sweetly. "See you on the drive back to Southfork." Sue Ellen turned and darted back across the street without giving him a chance to respond. She wasn't surprised that JR had her followed, but she wanted him to know that she knew. She wasn't the same naive, scared little doe that had divorced him the first time. She was on to his tricks and she was putting him on notice that she wouldn't be easy to manipulate this time around. *** "Thank you," JR grinned as he hung up the phone. Sue Ellen had spotted the tail he'd put on her as he had intended. He wanted her to know he was watching her; it might make her think twice before doing something stupid. He wasn't surprised her "important appointment" had been with her divorce lawyer; after last night, he was sure she was over there plotting to take him to the cleaners. "Play as rough as you want, Miss Texas," JR smiled to himself, "I always enjoy a good fight with you. I enjoy the making up even more." "JR?" Sly's voice came through the intercom, "Bobby is here." "Good, send him right in." "JR, what is so important you had to drag me down here away from the house?" Bobby demanded, striding into the office. "I don't like leaving the boys there with just Clayton and Mama." "Don't worry, Bob, this won't take long," JR assured him. "Besides Ray's over there too, along with about a dozen armed guards." "Just make it quick, JR," Bobby sighed, taking a seat in a chair across from JR's desk. "No problem, Bob," JR pushed a manilla folder over to him, "it's all in there." JR sat back in his chair and rested his chin on his hands while Bobby flipped through the papers in the folder. "JR…" "It's everything, Bobby. Every single Ewing Oil asset that Wendell stole from us - including the Ewing building." "According to these papers, you're signing it all back over to Ewing Oil. Why JR?" "I have Weststar to run now Bob, but you have the Ewing Oil name back. Might as well have all the assets too." "What's the catch, JR?" Bobby eyed him suspiciously. "Forty percent," JR shrugged. "Forty for me, forty for you, ten each to Gary and Ray." "Why not just keep it all, JR?" "I have my reasons," JR told him "And you're not going to share them with me, are you?" "Not at the moment," JR confirmed. "For the time being, let's just say I want Ewing Oil back in Ewing hands." Bobby studied his older brother carefully for a long time. "Alright, JR," he finally said. "Just tell me where to sign." *** "It's still a very good offer, Mrs. Ewing," Mr. Marlowe said. "He's asking for the stock in Weststar, Everything else - the custody, the child support, the alimony, the division of assets - that all remains the same. Given that he isn't asking for half of your personal wealth but is offering to give you half of his, you'd still be coming out of the marriage with much more than you had going in. I think we should accept the terms." "No," Sue Ellen said shortly. " I don't want any alimony. And I only want to leave the marriage with my personal assets. There's no need for me to take half of his. But that Weststar stock is off the table. It's mine. I bought it with my own money. He has no right to it." "But, Mrs. Ewing…" "No," Sue Ellen held up her hand and silenced him. "If JR wants a fight, he's going to get one. Draw up the papers just as I requested and send them over to Mr. Smithfield. I want their answer by the end of the week." "Certainly, Mrs. Ewing. There is just one more thing though." "What's that?" Sue Ellen asked. "Well…" Marlowe shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Mr. Ewing may decide his best strategy is to delay the divorce, to wait you out so to speak. Since he has moved back to Southfork, he could make the argument that the two of you have reconciled." "We haven't," Sue Ellen told him flatly. "Well, yes, but a judge might not see it that way. If Mr. Ewing rejects your offer and decides to fight the divorce, the fact that you're both living under the same roof and raising your son together might give him ammunition." "What are you saying?" "Mrs. Ewing, I advise you to move out of the Ewing household as soon as possible. And…." "And what?" Sue Ellen prodded. "Under no circumstances should you resume your...marital relations with Mr. Ewing. Every judge in Texas will view that as a reconciliation and it will reset the clock on your separation date." Sue Ellen's eyes widened with embarrassment. "Oh...oh, uh...alright. I understand." "Mrs. Ewing, you haven't already…" "No!" Sue Ellen said abruptly. "Of course not!" "Good," Marlowe nodded his head. "I'll get the papers over to Mr. Smithfield this afternoon. "Thank you, Mr. Marlow," Sue Ellen stood and reached out to shake his hand. He walked her to the door, "Call the office if you need anything." Sue Ellen nodded and hurried outside."You snake," she seethed as she made her way to the car. No wonder JR had been so hot and bothered to get into her bed the other night after weeks of only half-hearted seduction attempts. He was trying to delay the divorce! He just wanted to keep her under his thumb because she controlled so much Weststar stock. "You won't win this time, JR," Sue Ellen muttered to herself as she slid behind the wheel of her car. "I am ending our farce of a marriage once and for all. And the sooner, the better!" *** [/QUOTE]

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