Chapter 6 — The Suitcases by the Door

I’d arrived home long before them. Pearl followed me to make sure I got back safely, helped carry my prescriptions inside, and stayed while I called my attorney.

The legal paperwork hadn’t been thrown together overnight. For weeks I had quietly been planning my exit. The shopping incident wasn’t the beginning. It was the final confirmation.

Months earlier, I’d discovered that Gordon had added his mother as an authorized user on one of my accounts without fully explaining what he was doing, and whenever I questioned paying Rita’s personal expenses, he called me selfish.

He had also started referring to my house as though it belonged equally to all three of us. I’d bought the property before we married, with my own savings after a promotion, and the deed had always stayed solely in my name.

That didn’t stop Gordon from calling it “our family home” whenever Rita talked about moving in permanently. The more entitled they became, the more carefully I documented everything.

By that afternoon, my attorney already had divorce papers prepared, along with the financial-separation documents and the formal notices required if Gordon refused to leave voluntarily.