A longtime neighbor who helped me after my husband’s funeral.

People who knew what the house and children meant to me.

I had spent days thinking about whether to confront Oliver privately.

I had tried asking direct questions.

He responded with more pressure.

More reassurance.

More requests for signatures.

Now I needed to tell him, in unmistakable terms, that the wedding was canceled.

I also wanted the people he’d drawn into the celebration to understand that the decision was mine.

Not a sudden case of nerves.