When she left, I sat at the kitchen table and thought about how easily reputations could be damaged.

I had made the same mistake for years: protecting Gavin from embarrassment because his embarrassment might become my problem.

Richard called that evening.

We had learned that Selena’s education savings had been held in an ordinary joint savings account that Gavin and I controlled, not a legally restricted education trust or a dedicated 529 plan.

The distinction complicated the allegation I wanted to make.

“Access does not settle all the questions,” Richard told me.