Michael had just said the quiet part aloud, and the whole room had heard it.

In his mind, my house had already stopped being mine.

He had already begun treating my property, my home of four decades, as an asset of his that I was inconveniently still occupying.

Chapter 17 — I Wanted to Know How Far It Went

“My home,” I told the court, “is worth approximately one point eight million dollars.

The savings and investment accounts they attempted to access total approximately two point four million.” Rachel’s mouth fell open; even that surprised her, and I understood then that Michael had told different people different numbers, had given his own wife a smaller version of what he was reaching for.

Judge Bennett asked me a fair question.