I remained seated a moment longer, letting the long storm settle behind my ribs.

My attorney leaned in close.

“You handled that,” she whispered, “with sheer brilliance.”

“It was necessary,” I said.

And it had been.

Not brilliant, though I let her have the word.

Just necessary — the necessary, patient, careful work of a woman reclaiming her own life from people who had been certain she would never dare.

I gathered my things and walked out through the heavy wooden doors, and the bright morning sunlight washed the courthouse steps in soft gold, and it touched my face, and I stood in it a moment.