The nurse explained it, and I smiled because I was genuinely glad.

Then I went to the bathroom, locked the door, and cried with my hand pressed against my mouth.

For months, I had been trying to absorb the cost of Marcus not being there.

Now I had to find out what his absence had been purchased with.

PART 5 — What the Papers Could Prove

I called a lawyer the next morning.

I did not begin with the woman in the photograph.