She sounded frightened in a way she had not sounded when I was the one with no money.

I asked her to preserve what she was authorized to keep from the bookkeeping work and tell Martha what she had seen.

My lawyer could request the records properly.

I did not need my daughter turning herself into another person whose conduct would distract from Greg’s.

That evening, Brenda sat at my kitchen table with her hands wrapped around a mug she didn’t drink from.

“He used all of us,” she said.