I called Caroline on speaker, keeping my voice steady.

She clarified that a divorce petition wasn’t an eviction order, that neither spouse could simply force the other out through a shouting match, and that the trust’s documents would need to be handled through proper legal processes.

Olivia pulled the pearls from her ears and stuffed them in a coat pocket.

For one fleeting instant I wanted to shout about everything Grant had stolen from me emotionally.

Instead, I asked him to leave the suitcases on the porch and to communicate through lawyers about temporary living arrangements.