He believed I was alone with no resources, sinking under legal fees and shut out of the family bank accounts.

I made three separate digital backups of every audio file on two external USB drives.

I put one drive inside my mother’s velvet jewelry box and the other in my court evidence binder.

Sophie came into the living room holding her finished drawing of yellow sunflowers.

“Look, Mommy,” she said, laying the paper on the edge of the table.

“I stayed inside the lines.”

“You did a beautiful job, sweetie,” I said, brushing her soft brown hair back from her forehead.