Offer To The CEO

*** WARNING - this chapter and the following chapter cover issues relating to domestic violence. These themes will continue throughout the balance of the story. Please be careful when reading this material ***

Thursday, continued ...

[Anna is still typing her affidavit]

Lu Jinhu also engaged in economic abuse. Again, like the domestic violence that he engaged in, if I sat and detailed every incident that I can recall I would likely add a further 30 or 40 pages to this affidavit. I now know that not only does his family own a prosperous company in Country X, but his family provided him throughout our relationship with significant financial support while he was in Australia and paid for regular trips home. However, he refused to contribute to a joint life.

I was wholly responsible for paying all bills, providing our accommodation, feeding us, purchasing items we needed. He refused to pay. To secure our apartment, while I had some small savings, my family had to loan us the additional amounts required for the bank to give me a mortgage. Further, while I drive an eight-year-old vehicle, he convinced me to purchase in his name a $80,000 vehicle, but with the finance solely in my name less than 3 months ago.

In normal de facto relationship it would be expected that couples use their joint resources to support themselves and their relationship. This did not happen in our relationship. Lu Jinhu, despite his family's financial support, failed to make any contributions financially. He deemed this my sole responsibility.

Lu Jinhu, also failed to make contributions of a non-financial nature. While he studied for part of our relationship to my knowledge he never worked in Australia. He deemed that the normal tasks associated with running and managing a home were women's work, as he called it, and beneath him. He made statements that he would he would be shamed culturally if he did any of them and demand I do them. Since my marriage, I have found out from discussing the situation with my husband this was also a lie. In modern relationships in Country X, it is quite common that household tasks are shared, as is the economic support of the relationship.

The final and most egregious example of his economic abuse is the orders that this application is asking the court to vacate.

Attached to this affidavit, is a true copy of the orders made by the court. As an officer of the court I confirm my first knowledge of any orders being made in this matter was on the Tuesday prior to this affidavit being sworn. Lu Jinhu admitted to me, outside the Civil Administration Bureau that he had done everything to ensure that all assets gained during our relationship were in his name, but I was left with the debt. He said that there was nothing I could do about it.

It was only on the Thursday prior to the swearing of this affidavit that I could determine what he had done.

Due to issues for the Australian subsidiary of my husband's company Hou Enterprises, I was asked to aid my employers in having my husband sign various documents they needed to deal with the matter. While undertaking this work, in my husband's company's corporate offices in City T I received an email from my legal assistant Jodie Hughes. She advised me of the existence of these orders and commented that the signature on the documents was not my signature. As she has seen me sign my signature on multiple occasions over the last 3 years, she has been my assistant, she has enough expertise to say if something is my signature or not [Note – ALFRED we will need an affidavit from Jodie on this point, maybe someone else in the office as well?].

As soon as I received the scanned and emailed copy of the orders, I knew that I had not signed these documents. The postal address was an address I never used, and the email attributed to me, was an email address that I have never had. The only email addresses I have had are a [email protected]; a university issued email address which is now inoperative and [email protected]. I will also have a email address in Country X soon, provided through my husband's company but that has yet to be organised.

While I do not know specifics, I would guess as the orders were sent to a wrong postal address they were returned to the court, and someone in the court after reviewing the file, connected that I was a lawyer employed by ANX Lawyers and forwarded a copy of the orders to me there.

As soon as I became aware of orders being illegally issued, I immediately contacted a fellow lawyer at ANX Lawyers, who is acting for me in this matter and instructed them to take all necessary steps to apply to have the court vacate the orders and make orders terminating the financial relationship in its place.

Prior to me verbalising the ending of our relationship to Lu Jinhu, and from the time of a chance meeting with my husband Hou Yi at my place of employment six months ago I had been questioning my relationship with Lu Jinhu. My husband did not force anything on me. I had in this time been communicating with my husband through instant chat sites, as I did not want Lu Jinhu to find out about it. My husband constantly said to me, that what I did regarding my relationship with Lu Jinhu had to be my decision alone. He said that he would support any decision that I would make.