I had counted on that, standing in the backyard, and I watched it prove true in real time.

A cautious person, a person not blinded by the shine of a number, would have heard everything wrong with what I was saying.

They would have asked why a Canadian settlement required consolidating a house deed in another country.

They would have wondered why the bank cared about their SUV and their shop inventory.

They would have said, let me have my own lawyer look at this before I sign anything.

Any of those ordinary, sensible reactions would have saved them.