“I kept telling him you seemed normal. He got angry and told me to look harder.” He said David reminded him of his own father, who had spent years describing his mother as unstable until other people started to believe it.

“She wasn’t broken,” Eli said. “He just needed everyone to think she was.”

He gave me the payment details and the number David had used. I asked him to keep sending ordinary reports, so David wouldn’t realize we’d spoken, and I arranged for him to meet my attorney. Then I drove home without saying a word to my husband.

Chapter 3 — Dinner

Over dinner, David asked casually whether I’d reconsidered selling the cabin. “I’m not selling it,” I said.

He studied me for a moment. “You seem unusually quiet.” “I’m tired.”

Chapter 4 — The Office

The next morning, after David left for the hospital, I went through our bank statements.