“Loretta, quick question.

Are you and Christopher closing on something in Grandview Estates?

A colleague just saw him touring an eight-million-dollar custom home with a blonde woman.”

My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles went white.

“No, Rachel,” I said, very clearly.

“We are definitely not buying that house.”

I swiveled my chair to look out at the storm clouds massing over the city, and I understood, with the cold clarity that had made my career, exactly what my situation required.

When a marriage has become parasitic — when one person builds a life while the other only drains it — the objective is no longer to save the relationship.