I didn’t waste any time. On Monday morning, while he was at his golf league, I drove downtown to see Martin Hayes. Martin has been my family’s attorney since my father was running his lumber yard.

He is eighty-one now, sharp as a razor, and he doesn’t tolerate nonsense.

I laid the printed screenshots on his desk. The messages. The dating profile. The chat logs where Greg told “Clara” that he was going to have his wife sign the refinance papers this week so they could buy a condo in Sarasota together.

Martin looked at the papers, then looked up at me over his gold-rimmed reading glasses.

“Diane,” he said, his voice deep and calm. “Your father was a smart man. When he set up that trust, he made sure that husband of yours couldn’t touch a single brick without your explicit signature on a deed transfer, not just a standard bank refinance. Greg is trying to pull a fast one. He thinks the bank will accept a standard joint signature on a home equity loan, which he will then transfer to his personal account.”

“What do we do?” I asked. My voice didn’t shake. I felt incredibly cold, but I felt steady.

“We let him try,” Martin said with a small, grim smile. “And then we close the gate.”

That brings me to Tuesday night. It was pouring rain outside. The wind was knocking the branches of the old oak tree against the dining room window. I was standing by the stove, stirring a pot of marinara sauce, when Greg walked in.

He didn’t take off his coat. He just set his briefcase on the counter, reached inside, and pulled out a thick manila envelope.

He laid it on the kitchen island right next to the silver pocket watch my dad had given him. He always took the watch off the second he got home, like it was too heavy for him.

“You will sign these papers tonight, Diane,” he said. He didn’t look at me. He was busy straightening his tie in the reflection of the microwave door. “I already told the bank you agreed to the refinance. The mobile notary is coming by tomorrow morning, but I need your signatures on the preliminary disclosures now so they can clear the escrow.”