My husband arrived at my door with my cousin, two babies, and a smug grin, declaring, ‘She lives here now.’ I handed him the keys, smiled back, and said “HOPE YOU ENJOY THE HOUSE UNTIL TOMORROW”

becomes permission.

“You should have thought about that before moving into someone else’s life,” I said.

And I hung up.

The next morning, Michael tried flowers.

White roses.

Of all things.

Twenty-four stems delivered to my office with a note:

We can fix this privately.

I told reception to send them to compliance.

“Compliance?” she repeated.

“Yes,” I said. “They continue reading …