I left the hospital carrying my daughter’s ashes when my husband finally called from wherever he was with his mistress and coldly said, “The bill has been taken care of. Stop bothering me.” I didn’t argue with him. I didn’t allow him to hear my voice break.

“Yes,” I said.

“Don’t protect the Fairchilds from anything you find.”

What Brendan had never bothered to learn was that I had not entered our marriage without money, experience, or power.

I had voluntarily stepped away from all three because I wanted him to believe I had married him purely for love.

My father had apparently spent his final years preparing for the possibility that one day I would deeply regret that decision.

Raymond was about to explain exactly what he had left waiting for me when heavy footsteps sounded outside Chloe’s bedroom door.