[pedro speaking spanish]
[chantel speaking spanish]
[pedro speaking]
[lidia speaking spanish]
[alejandro speaking spanish]
[nicole speaking spanish]
[lidia speaking]
[pedro speaking spanish]
[speaking english]
I wanna stay married, it's the vow that I took.
I want to stay married.
[pedro speaking english]
[chantel] heading back to atlanta feels different this time.
Pedro wants a separation, but, I don't know what a separation means.
So, when I get home, that's going to be the hardest thing to deal with.
Pedro and I didn't talk at all on the way home.
Not on the plane, not in the car,
nothing.
I don't get it.
Why doesn't my husband want to take interest in me
after all of this effort I've put in to saving our marriage?
[pedro speaking english]
I think that, more space is the last thing we need.
We need to be working on our communication and growing together.
He wants to grow separately, that doesn't make any sense, we're married.
[pedro speaking english]
I do not come from a broken home.
I have no experience with seeing separation in my own family.
So, I don't have any point of reference for this.
I don't know what's to become of us.
I haven't given up hope, yet.
I have given up effort.
But, I haven't given up hope.
[nicole speaking spanish]
[alejandro speaking spanish]
[nicole speaking]
[alejandro speaking]
[alejandro speaking english]
[speaking spanish]
[speaking english]
[nicole speaking]
sometimes I have thought, like, lidia is kind of jealous
that nicole has found her happiness.
Being in a relationship, something that lidia has never gotten in her life.
Because she's an unhappy woman.
And, she wants nicole to have the same miserable life that she has.
[speaking spanish]
I made myself clear. Like, it's now or never.
You take it or leave it. Like, it's your family or me.
[nicole speaking spanish]
[chantel] he's not even sleeping in the same bed with me.
He doesn't wanna talk. He doesn't wanna work on anything right now.
I will be crying at his door at night and begging for a relationship.
But, it probably has done harm to our relationship.
You're going to end up driving him away.
[lidia speaking spanish]
[speaking spanish]
[pedro speaking english]
[chantel] being in the house with pedro
feels... It's so eerie.
Because, even though he's in a different room
I've always been lonely.
He was either badgering me, or not talking to me and ignoring me.
I would go to sleep alone and wake up alone.
So, when he moved into a different room it didn't feel any different.
The only thing is, this is a separation and it's said.
He wants this separation.
It just is one more step towards divorce.
And, is this what really he wants?
Does he really just want a divorce
and is he just too scared to say it?
[lidia speaking spanish]
[chantel] things are still really terrible between pedro and I.
We don't talk, we see each other in passing and nobody says a thing.
But, each day that my husband is still in the house it makes me feel like...
He will want to work things out when he's ready.
Maybe he does, deep down inside,
even though he doesn't show it,
feel that there's some value in our marriage, in our relationship.
-[destiny] hey, girl. -Hey, how are you?
Since coming back from the d.R.
I haven't talked to my family about what happened.
Destiny is the only person
that I've really been confiding in about my marriage.
So, how did it go?
Well, after I got to the d.R. I immediately decided to,
before going to my hotel, meet up with lidia.
Well, actually, I just knocked on her door.
-So, she didn't know you were coming at all? -Mmm-mmm.
But, luckily, she invited me in.
-And, was really surprisingly nice. -Well, that's promising.
That's the best outcome we could have hoped for.
The next day, pedro comes in.
His mom called him and told him what I was doing.
He flew all the way over there to confront you, he's so extra.
He goes on to explain that,
I should have told her the entire story.
I didn't tell her the entire story for fear of badmouthing.
-You were trying to protect him, right? -Yeah.
He decided that he wanted us to go out with his mom
and tell her the entire story.
Everything that came out was ugly.
But, that's what he asked me to do.
She stayed non-biased, which was good.
Yeah, 'cause she didn't have to. 'cause that's her son.
Mmm-hmm. Pedro reiterated to me
that he still wants the separation.
And so, I got up and I left.
He's not even sleeping in the same bed with me.
He doesn't wanna talk. He doesn't wanna work on anything right now.
He doesn't want to see me at all.
He doesn't like...
He told me he doesn't like it when I wait up
at night for him and sit on the couch.
Even if all I say is, "how was your day?"
if he needs to be alone
then maybe that's what you need to do
and you just need to give him his space.
You're going to end up driving him away
because you're wanting the old
relationship and the old things that he used to do.
And he just doesn't have it in him.
It has been hard for me.
And, I have been unsuccessful in giving pedro any sort of space like he wants.
Although, he has moved into the other bedroom
I will be crying at his door at night and begging for a relationship.
And, he is not responsive to that.
In fact, I do believe it probably has done harm to our relationship.
I really feel desperate.
I can't give him the spaces because of the unknown.
Is the space going to last three weeks?
Or, is it gonna last three months?
Or, is it gonna last a whole year or more?
What is the end goal?
Are you thinking that you want space to prepare for a divorce?
Or, do you think that you want the space to clear your head to come back together?
-What do you want? -I want my husband.
Yeah.
I wanna wake up one day and for this all to be a terrible dream.
[sniffles] I wanna go to sleep
and I want for my husband to walk inside
and kiss me on the cheek.
[exhales] I can't.
[destiny] I put on a really good front in front of her.
But, I'm heartbroken that
she is continually crying.
I don't know what we'll do if this marriage doesn't work.
I think it will work. It has to work.
[chantel] he doesn't care about the work that I put in anymore.
Like, he doesn't care about my tears.
Stop showing them to him.
Because, at this point, he doesn't deserve them.
You need to gather yourself
and wait till you can have communication without the tears.
-It's hard to be in my room. -I know.
So why don't you move in one of the... The guest rooms?
You've gotta recognize those triggers.
That might be a good idea, actually.
And you've gotta sit here and say, "okay, if I can't sleep in our bed...
...Then I'm gonna go to another bed."
I want my husband,
I want my marriage,
and I feel like I will do anything for it.
Yeah, I know.
It wasn't about being here with chantel,
he just wanted to be here.
If pedro is using chantel, and the plan has worked,
that means the wool has been pulled over everybody's eyes.
We gonna have to try to protect our daughter.
There's two types of divorces.
Uncontested matters from our firm starts at $5,000.
Contested matters at my law firm starts at $10,000.
Yes, $10,000.
[pedro speaking]
hi.
Hi, attorney hinkson.
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, you can have a seat.
Yes.
So, okay.
You guys got married in March of 2016.
-Is that correct? -Yes.
It was a k-1 visa, is that correct?
Okay, and then after you got married,
um, when did you get your green card?
[hinkson] six months, okay.
Do you recall if your wife filled what's called an affidavit of support?
Okay, divorce does not change the financial obligation.
Yes, until either 10 years, as far as your work history,
or until you become a u.S. Citizen.
Okay, you never, technically speaking,
leave a marriage with nothing.
Um, which again, is another, you know, false factor that people have
when they don't believe that they're citizens, that that matters.
It doesn't in regards to the... The way of a divorce.
My initial thoughts in regards to pedro's case
is that he's entitled to certain things
regardless of your immigration status.
It's unfortunate that when you come over here,
a lotta people think that you're doing it with ill-intentions.
I think that knowing your rights,
him understanding what he can and can't get, is important.
Now, is it your desires to move forward at any point with u.S. Citizenship?
-Yes. -Okay.
Have you, um, and your wife started that process?
Okay.
Once you've been in the united states for five years,
whether you're married or not,
you could still file for citizenship.
-You know? -Her family says that all the time about you?
-Okay. -Yeah. Yeah.
So no, because at this point you're at the five year mark.
The longer that you are here,
not only for immigration purposes shows your dedication,
but it... I mean I would hope, that it would've showed dedication to her family
as far as you're in this for the right reasons.
[pedro speaking]
there's two types of divorces.
There's what we call uncontested and contested.
Uncontested matters from our firm starts at $5,000.
Contested matters at my law firm starts at $10,000.
Okay?
10 retainer. Initial retainer?
That's what the, uh, initial retainer is.
That's sign in too.
Yes, $10,000.
Divorces are like a death, right?
It is essentially, um, the end
of what you thought your future was going to be.
So people say all the time,
"you can file this, and, you know, I'm not gonna divorce you.
We're gonna, um, you know... I'm gonna stay... We're gonna stay married forever."
that's not the case.
Once you file a divorce, and that person is served,
you have 30 days to respond.
If you do not respond within 30 days,
then we could then go to the court and say,
"this person didn't respond, we want to proceed with the divorce."
and it still happens.
It's not easy, but you have to make a determination on what's important to you.
[thomas] your mother wants to leave this up against the wall.
[karen] be careful with that.
Hey don't try to show off, river.
Don't try to show off.
Chop, chop, we're wasting time.
I went ahead and I... I got the baby grand piano.
It's finally here, this is my big day.
-My big day. -Yes.
And I can't wait to get that baby in this house.
River's come down to help me and help with the delivery.
I'm so excited.
[river] oh, that's a big piano, right there.
-[karen] yeah. -[river] this is a bad mama jama.
[thomas] we do have a musical family and our kids love music.
River is the lyricist.
-And royal, he plays every-- -he can play. Yes.
...Instrument on the planet.
-Winter sings, but she also plays the flute. -Yes. Yes.
-And chantel played viola. -The viola, yes.
[sighs]
-[river] let me see what's going on here. -[piano key plays]
so what, dad and I were the first ones to know about this piano?
Chantel actually knew about the piano.
I took her to the antique shop to kinda cheer her up.
You know, she and pedro they're having some... Some issues.
Chantel and pedro are definitely on our minds...
...Since she's back from the d.R.
The last thing she said to me was that she and pedro are about to separate.
And I... I haven't heard anything else from her
but I was shocked to hear that.
-They didn't go to a marriage retreat. -But where did they go?
Your sister, she went to the dominican republic to get advice
from pedro's mother.
[thomas] pedro, he's talking about separating.
That's crazy.
Well, chantel said that's what he said,
"because I need to grow".
I think chantel needs to just go a separate way.
If he's talking about he wants to separate, let... Let the man go.
He wants to separate because he was here for a green card,
we all said it.
From the start, it wasn't about being here with chantel,
he just wanted to be here.
I have not talked to chantel since the night she came touse.
And I haven't talked to pedro in a long time.
For a second I thought things was all right.
I thought he was a cool guy for a second.
But now that I'm hearing all this stuff, it's like, "hold on, now.
Pedro's who I thought he was all along.'
you know, if you're dealing with somebody that doesn't want to be with you,
you need to just cut ties.
I don't want anybody to have to, uh...
-Be used. -...Be used and abused.
For someone to try to destroy a person
that risked everything to help them.
And then... Then that same person,
that you love and that you clung to and helped--
-right. -...And had their back for over six years,
turns on that person and tries to completely annihilate them.
-That is-- -that's... That's messed up.
...Jacked up.
This would be very upsetting...
...And very crazy,
if pedro is using chantel and the plan has worked.
That means the wool has been pulled over everybody's eyes.
[pedro speaking]
I know I haven't respected your space.
[pedro speaking]
[phone ringing]
[lidia speaking spanish]
[pedro speaking spanish]
[in spanish]
[nicole speaking]
[pedro speaking]
[nicole speaking]
[lidia speaking]
[nicole in spanish]
[in spanish]
[pedro speaking in english]
[in spanish]
[in english]
[nicole speaking in spanish]
[softly] hey.
How was work?
...Now...
Now,
you know...
I know I haven't respected your space.
Pedro, he can't even look straight in my eyes.
And he tells me that he wants a divorce.
I wonder what that is about a person
when they can't look at you straight in the eyes.
I wonder what that is.
Why?
Are you guilty of something?
I didn't expect for you to say that you wanted a divorce from me.
I really just wanted to know if...
...You valued this marriage and were willing to work on it,
and the answer is no.
So there's nothing more we need to discuss.
[book snapping shut]
[shaky breathing]
[pedro speaking]
[pedro sighs]
I cannot think of anything that I have done
that warrants having pedro ask me for a divorce.
We just started the separation.
I'm starting to believe that he's just wanted to be single this whole time
and hasn't had the guts to tell me.
[sighs]
[chantel] what more could I do?
I've given you honesty. I've given you trust.
I've given my whole self to you.
I brought you here.
When everybody else told me you were scamming me,
I didn't listen to them, and I ted in you.
I trusted him.
[teary] I trusted my husband.
Because he told me that he would not leave me.
He told me that!
He told me that.
He told me he would never do that.
[sobs]
that's what he said, and I believed it.
And all the while, like I'm just...
...Confused.
I really can't believe this.
I just wanna hurt you back,
because I feel hurt by you.
He told me he wanted a divorce.
And then he just woke me up and there was a truck outside.
-And he said he's moving into his apartment. -[karen] wow.
What?
[karen] that's cruel.
Chantel needs to protect herself
and her interests.
I wouldn't want to really be pedro right now.
Foul things have a way of coming full circle.
Chantel?
[pedro speaking]
chantel?
[nicole speaking in spanish]
it is my time to take care of myself.
This is the last thing that I can do for me.