‘Claire’ says she quit high life for toy boy who left her battered and destitute
Claire lived a glamorous life in Sandton, with a rich husband, overseas holidays and plenty of cash to splash out on designer clothes, shoes and jewellery.
But after meeting Greek toy boy Adonis at the gym, the attractive Johannesburg housewife gave it all up and divorced her husband for what she thought was true love. But the dream soon turned to nightmare. Now Claire has lost her lover and a chunk of her R1-million divorce settlement which she lent him. She says she is destitute, struggling to feed her two children and pay their school fees, and has to use public transport.
Claire, 43, has applied for a protection order against Adonis, 36, who she says beat and raped her during their five-year relationship.
Pseudonyms have been used as the two cannot be named due to laws regarding domestic violence.
Claire plans to take the Fourways businessman to court, saying he borrowed R950 000 for his business and repaid only R412 000.
The finalisation of the protection order will be heard in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court this week. Claire is also finalising a letter of demand instructing Adonis to repay the money owed or face a civil suit.
But her ex-lover is not taking it lying down. He says although the two were intimate, they were never in a relationship and her action is merely a case of “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”.
He denies assaulting her, claiming Claire was “plotting” to discredit him. She has 1 500 pairs of shoes and “if she is struggling for money, she should sell some of them”.
Claire told the Sunday Times she had given up a good life to be with Adonis.
“Everyone . . . called me little amateur Barbie doll because I used to wear designer items from head to toe with matching jewellery, shoes and handbags, and I had to keep myself upmarket. “I always shopped in boutique stores.” Adonis had promised to marry her, and told her she was investing her money in a property and data business with high profit margins.
In her application for a protection order, Claire claims Adonis abused her mentally and physically — punched and kicked her, pulled out a chunk of hair and left her bruised. She claims that while they were on holiday in Miami on New Year’s Day of 2014, he tore off her beach wrap while they were driving, leaving her naked, and threatened to throw her out of the moving car.
“In March 2014, [he] kicked me off a couch knowing that I was seven weeks pregnant with his baby. Five weeks later, [he] forced me to have an abortion.”
In his answering affidavit, Adonis denies forcing Claire to have an abortion, or that he was ever controlling, physically abusive or insulting to her.
He accuses Claire of laying false rape charges against him. He says he spent a night in jail before the case was withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.
“It is I who need protection from her, from abusing the legal system to have me incarcerated on false charges.
“I admit that I loaned R950 000 from her, of which I paid back R700 000. I further paid for hotels in Miami [and] the US.”
Adonis’s lawyer, Vasilios Vardakos, declined to pass on Sunday Times questions to Adonis, saying: “I cannot see how you can publish an article based on a matter that is still under judicial consideration, and up until there is a finding made on the matter it cannot be expected [of] my client . . . to provide any reply to your questions.”
Another of Adonis’s former girlfriends, who did not want to be named, told the Sunday Times he had forced her to sell her car so she could put money into his business. The woman, a lawyer, said she had assisted with Claire’s divorce after Adonis asked her to. She did not realise he was secretly dating both of them.
A Johannesburg advocate told the Sunday Times she had dated Adonis in 2014 but ended the relationship when she heard about the two other women. “He was not a very nice character,” she said.