Rebecca’s voice softened. “Did you think your affair would damage it?”

The courtroom went silent. Daniel’s attorney objected again. The judge sustained it, but the question had already landed.

Rebecca approached the stand. “You believed your wife’s six-month residency was too dangerous for the marriage, yet you maintained a relationship with another woman for more than a year.”

Daniel looked toward Evelyn. She did not look away.

“Isn’t it true,” Rebecca continued, “that you wanted Mrs. Mercer’s talent to remain untested because you feared what would happen if she succeeded?”

“No.”