A victorious Christie Brinkley savored her big win over her cad husband Thursday by having lunch and dinner with friends in her mansion – and then taking a nap.
“I was here fighting for custody,” the smiling supermodel said hours after a settlement deal was reached. “I think a mother’s greatest fear is somebody trying to take their children….That’s what I was up against.”
She returned to her Tower Hill home in Bridgehampton, L.I., where she was joined by friends.
“We had a nice lunch,” said one of the visitors, piano teacher Christine Glennon, who had testified on Brinkley’s behalf.
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Close pal Jill Rappaport brought dinner over.
“We’re all just really happy for her,” Rappaport said.
Afterward, Brinkley announced “I’m exhausted” and went off to sleep.
The relaxed celebration came after the stunning settlement in her down-and-dirty divorce trial with hubby Peter Cook.
Brinkley got the kids, the property and the satisfaction of having exposed her cheating husband as a skirt-chasing egomaniac.
Cook got $2.1 million, most of which will end up in his lawyers’ pockets.
He lost his Sweet Freedom, the little fishing boat Brinkley gave him on his 40th birthday.
So ended one of New York‘s nastiest divorce battles – a Hamptons soap opera that featured sex, lies and Web cam video.
After 12 years of marriage, eight days of testimony and one very long night of negotiations, the supermodel and the architect finally agreed on how to part ways.
Both claimed victory, but Brinkley was the one beaming – and flashing the V for victory sign – outside the courthouse in Central Islip, L.I., after the deal was announced.
“I have won custody and decision-making, and that’s all I ever wanted,” she said before going home.
The 54-year-old cover girl said she was “pleased” with the outcome, but she also called it “very bittersweet.”
“It really is the death of a marriage, but it’s also, I think, a new start for all of us.”
Cook, 49, was brusque.
“I’ve got everything I’ve been asking for for two years,” he said, even though he had petitioned the court for joint custody.
The pact gives Brinkley sole legal custody and decision-making power over 13-year-old Jack and 10-year-old Sailor Lee.
It is believed Cook is keeping his current visitation rights – every other weekend and one school night a week with extra time in the summer.
He ceded his claim to 18 properties Brinkley bought with her millions during their marriage and he has to give up the boat where he spent the Fourth of July with gal pal Suzanne Shaw and son Jack. The vessel will be sold, and the couple will split the proceeds.
Sure, he’s getting a big fat check from Brinkley, but all the money in the world can’t buy back his reputation.
During the trial, Cook was forced to admit he had bedded 18-year-old assistant Diana Bianchi, paid her $300,000 in hush money and spent $3,000 a month on Internet porn.
The low point came when he testified about his habit of using a Web cam to transmit images of himself masturbating to swinger sites.
A court-appointed psychiatrist said he was a narcissist with an “insatiable appetite” for flattery who sacrificed his family to feed his sexual compulsions.
Brinkley, who has been married four times, was faulted for her lousy taste in men and inability to put aside her anger – but came off looking like a devoted mom.
As she left court, she clutched a diorama Jack had made that was submitted into evidence.
Cook drove up to his house with girlfriend Shaw and said he planned to “just relax.”
The divorce will be final Sept. 12.
