She never handed me materials from her former workplace.

I rented a safe-deposit box for our original family documents, not to hide anything from Derek but to keep birth certificates, insurance policies, and important papers organized.

I made copies of statements from accounts in my name and paid our normal household bills as they came due.

Practical tasks grounded me when emotion threatened to consume the day.

The forensic accountant, Elaine Foster, called after reviewing the first batch of authorized records.

“There are transfers worth investigating,” she said.