Even when my parents refused, even when I said it really wasn't necessary.
Roger wouldn't budge.
"Lori."
"I don't want anyone thinking I'm taking advantage of your family."
"Keep this safe. It's your protection for the future."
Now.
I stared at that promissory note in my hands, at the USB drive containing the video, listening to my friend say—
"With all this—"
"There's more."
I cut her off. I pulled out the company registration documents from when Roger founded the business. He'd consulted some fortune teller back then, who said my birth chart was more auspicious, better for attracting wealth. So he'd registered the company under my name.
Including every piece of real estate we owned together.
I spread everything across the table.
"This is enough to make Roger come crawling."
I told my friend.
"I don't just want Roger left with nothing. I want his reputation in ruins."
I returned home from the law firm to the apartment Roger and I had shared for three years. At the entryway, there it was—roses Roger had prepared for me. Withered now, unrecognizable, with a card resting on top:
Hope my wife is happy forever.
A little smiley face drawn in the corner.