The second time, head of security moved one step closer to the door, and that was enough. Men like him are brave only while they still think the room is performative. Once actual removal enters the frame, they start calculating in smaller units. He looked at me again, maybe hoping for softness now that the rest of the board had become stone.
“What about my family?” he asked.
I almost laughed from the audacity of it.
Not our marriage. Not the twins. Not the women he’d humiliated. His family. By which he meant the lifestyle my name had funded, the house my trust owned, the car my account paid for, the status he wore like a second skin. In his mind, family remained downstream of his comfort.
“The house is a trust asset,” I said. “Your access is revoked. Temporary accommodation has been arranged for your personal effects. Your personal counsel will receive the inventory. My attorney will contact yours by noon regarding divorce, custody, and protective terms.”
He looked stricken then.