I had learned to distrust quick endings.

Under cross-examination, Julian admitted that he had approved payments connected to Chloe’s apartment.

He called them temporary housing benefits.

He also admitted that he had withheld material information about the business’s finances from me.

He said he feared I would “overreact.”

Grace asked what steps he had taken to involve me in decisions affecting our shared savings.

He cited no meeting, no written consent, no conversation in which he had accurately described the transactions.

Then she asked whether he had authorized Eleanor to tell the school I was unable to manage routine information.