She was not grateful for four years of help.

She was furious about one month of its absence.

That is what happens to help that is never acknowledged: it stops being help and becomes an entitlement, and its withdrawal feels like an attack.

I did not reply again.

Chapter 10 — The Attorney

That afternoon, a colleague from the publishing house connected me with an estate attorney named Adrian Vance, and I met him in his office on Thursday morning and laid a printed copy of the property deed flat on his desk.

Adrian reviewed it carefully, checking the county registry seals against a database on his screen.