It also sends a message about what the terms of the marriage are from this point on.”
“And if I choose to end it?”
“Then you’re in a strong position.
Documentation, a child, financial misconduct.
You would not be starting from zero.”
I sat with that for a moment.
“He said he doesn’t want to lose me,” I said.
“What do you want?”
I looked at the plant in the corner.
It was a pothos, I thought.
The kind that survived almost anything.
“I want my son to have two parents who are honest with him,” I said.
“I want to stop feeling like a fool.
I want to know that the life I’m living is the life that’s actually happening.”
Patricia nodded.
“Those are not small things.”
“No,” I said.
“They’re not.”
She drafted a letter that afternoon.
Not a divorce filing.
A formal disclosure request — every account, every asset, every financial obligation, notarized and submitted within fourteen days.
Signed by her firm.
Addressed to Ryan.
He received it on Wednesday.
He called me that evening.
I let it ring twice before I picked up.
“I got the letter,” he said.
“I know.”
“You hired a lawyer.”
“I consulted one.
