I nodded and did not really hear him. The number was four million, three hundred eighty-one thousand, two hundred dollars, and it had been read aloud by a judge, and at the time that felt like the same thing as having it.

With part of the proceeds from the house I bought a light-filled condo overlooking the water in a quiet town called Pacific Pines. My father retired soon after the trial and bought a small house a few blocks away.

He insisted on separate homes.

“You need to build a life that belongs entirely to you,” he told me, smiling. “I’ll always be a phone call away.”

It was the truest love I had ever known — protection without control.

Chapter 11 — Permission to Save Myself

Eventually I went back to work. At first I took small freelance accounting jobs from home, wanting full control of my schedule. As my confidence grew, I opened a consulting firm that specialized in auditing financial abuse and helping people recover stolen assets.