Reed that safe deposit customer records and commercial account files are strictly confidential under federal banking law,” Arthur said, straightening his collar.

“He left the building through the side exit.”

Rachel Kim had told me that morning that Mark signed the final dissolution papers in her office at eight o’clock.

He accepted his statutory share of sixteen thousand dollars from our remaining joint cash, minus the forty-two thousand dollars he had illegally transferred to Vanessa’s boutique lease.

Because the fifteen-thousand-dollar personal credit line was opened only under my forged name, the court assigned full legal liability for the debt to Mark.

Vanessa packed her leather suitcases and moved out of Mark’s life three days after the court hearing, taking a retail job in Columbus once she realized his bank accounts were empty.