I locked the screen and slipped the phone into my coat pocket without sending a word.

The sky above the river had gone a dark slate color by the time I got back to the third-floor apartment.

The rooms held a faint smell of wood polish and old paper.

I opened my laptop on the narrow wooden desk by the window and signed into my work email.

I wrote one last email to Margaret and copied Sarah’s law office on it so there’d be a formal record.

I didn’t use any harsh language.