“You did well not to react,” she said.

“I wanted to say something.”

“I know. That’s why I put myself between you and the table.” She dried her hands. “Do you want to know what he just did to himself in there?”

“He didn’t remember my name.”

“He testified that the conflict he identified — the business reason, the thing that justified everything downstream — was that you were somebody’s ex-wife.”

She balled the paper towel. “That’s not a business reason. That’s a favor. He said it out loud, on the record, in front of a reporter, in a suit that cost more than your car. He can’t take that back and neither can Bellamy.”