“In a rented home near their elementary school.”

“And who pays the rent?”

“I do.”

“From what income?”

I handed another folder to the clerk. “For the past eighteen months I’ve worked as an independent operations consultant for mid-sized logistics firms — restructuring insurance compliance, writing contract proposals, managing corporate licensing.”

Douglas scanned the financial summaries, his jaw tightening as he saw the income was more than enough to cover rent, tuition, insurance, and savings.