Barrett had not destroyed that woman.

He had only convinced her to be quiet.

And it turns out that a competence you have spent years pretending not to have does not degrade in storage.

It keeps, like everything else my father left me, exactly where you put it, for the night you finally need it back.

“And I need you to file an emergency petition — divorce, full custody of Nadia, and a freeze on every joint account tied to Thornton Global.”

A pause on the line, papers shifting.