“I do,” I said.

“I don’t need him trapped.

I need him to stop pretending the debts aren’t real.”

That distinction mattered more than the look on Mark’s face.

I wanted a life I could rebuild, not a victory that depended on misleading someone else.

PART 4

Two years earlier, Mark had announced that he was expanding his contracting business into commercial renovations.

He made the announcement at a neighborhood barbecue, raising a glass to a future of larger projects and higher earnings.