At our first meeting, Sandra asked for a chronology rather than a dramatic retelling.

She helped me organize what I actually knew into categories: the restaurant incident, the transfer request, the proposed business document, past household payments, and the messages.

We also separated questions from answers.

Where had certain funds gone?

Who had created the draft agreement?

Had any additional account permissions been granted?

Those questions needed evidence.

“Not every hurtful act is a separate crime,” Sandra told me.