One, from Vanessa to Marcus: Once he divorces her, we control the trust.

Then we’re set for life.

And Marcus, back to Vanessa: He still thinks the twins are his.

Keep him proud and stupid and he’ll sign anything.

Keep him proud and stupid. I watched my husband read that sentence on the screen — the assessment his best friend and his lover had made of him, in writing, the tool they had agreed he was — and I watched the very last of him come apart.

He lunged across the table at Vanessa, and security had him against the wall before he was halfway there.