Chapter 7 - BRENDA CAME TO MY HOUSE
Brenda showed up six weeks later.
I almost didn’t open the door.
She looked different.
No perfect heels.
No office makeup.
Just jeans and a coat.
“What do you want?”
“To talk.”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“Mark lied to me too.”
I laughed.
That was not the sympathy key she imagined it was.
“He told me he was divorcing you.”
“For how many years?”
Her eyes dropped.
Exactly.
Then she said:
“He said the properties were his money.”
I stared.
“Did you know about the home-equity line?”
“No.”
“The investment account?”
“No.”
“Did you know he was hiding income from me?”
Silence.
That silence was enough.
Maybe Brenda did not know every mechanism.
She knew I was being deceived.
She benefited anyway.
She started crying.
“I left Andrew.”
“No.”
She looked confused.
“Andrew left you.”
That distinction mattered.
I did not hate her.
Hatred requires energy.
I was saving mine.
Before closing the door, I said:
“Tell your lawyer the truth.”
May you like
Then I shut it.
---
