Chapter 4

When Ethan called, the divorce envelope lay beside the cold Thanksgiving turkey behind him.

Rachel had arranged delivery at the lake house that afternoon. On my screen, gray light shifted as branches scraped the windows behind Ethan. The divorce pages trembled in his grip; silverware clicked when Margaret pushed back her chair. Vanessa sat beside yesterday’s covered dishes, close enough to read DIVORCE across the top sheet.

“You sent a stranger here to humiliate me in front of my family,” Ethan said.

“I sent documents to the place where you chose to stay.” I kept my voice low because Sophie…