“Dignified for whom?” I said.

“A quiet exit would have protected Warner’s image, and Adelina’s pride, and even Renae.

It would have stripped me of mine.

I spent a decade handing that family my dignity, and they used it to build a comfortable place to betray me.

I didn’t owe them a quiet door.” She asked, gently, whether I worried it had been cruel — the whole family watching.

I’d thought about that too.