I did not ask security to turn his confinement into a weekly account of suffering.

He had lost the standing, assets, and company control he once used to make me feel disposable.

I did not need to describe him as forgotten by every person on earth for that consequence to be real.

Chloe disappeared from my daily concerns.

Her connection to the payments had been examined in the investigation.

I did not invent a conviction against her or assume she knew everything Patrick had done because I knew about their relationship.

I had once measured myself against her dress, her age, and the ease with which she sat behind him in court.