Ethan took it hesitantly.

He tore the flap and pulled out the thick stack of legal documents. His eyes scanned the bold, black header text, and the color rapidly drained from his face, leaving him looking like a corpse.

PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE. EMERGENCY MOTION FOR TEMPORARY FINANCIAL INJUNCTION. ORDER TO PRESERVE MARITAL AND NON-MARITAL ASSETS. “You… you already filed?” he stammered, the papers trembling in his hands.

“You didn’t even give us a chance to talk!” “You formally announced the end of our marriage via text message from a beach chair,” I replied. “I simply formalized the paperwork.”

Rachel leaned over, trying to read the legalese. “What does all this mean, Ethan?” Ethan swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “It means… it means she’s legally frozen everything. Every account with her name on it.”

“Correct,” I affirmed. “Your struggling construction business will now have to survive solely on the accounts legally registered to its own LLC. Without my capital injections.”