My lawyer set the divorce documents on the table. The terms were simple: an immediate divorce, full return of the money I’d contributed to the down payment, and a mutual waiver of claims on personal property.

I agreed not to drag the process out publicly, so long as he respected the restraining order and signed.

Marvin stared at the pages for a long time.

“Is there really nothing left between us, Barbara?”

“What you broke that night wasn’t a kitchen table, Marvin. It was my sense of safety. And without safety, there’s no marriage.”

“I was angry,” he stammered, looking at his hands. “My mom filled my head with nonsense about how to treat a wife.”