“I was told about a year.”
Sarah began crying harder.
Chuck hated himself for being the person delivering it.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t.”
She whispered.
“Do not apologize for him.”
Then Sarah said something unexpected.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Tyler keeps saying if his company starts asking questions, he needs you to help explain some claim files.”
Chuck’s stomach tightened.
“What claim files?”
Sarah gave him two names.
One belonged to Ryan’s cousin.
Chuck knew nothing about the specifics.
But he knew enough to feel uneasy.
“Sarah.”
“Yes?”
“Do not access his work computer.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Do not send me anything that isn’t yours to send.”
“Why?”
“Because if there’s a legitimate work issue, it needs to go through legitimate channels.”
Sarah became quiet.
Then:
“You’re not trying to destroy him.”
Chuck looked around his empty office.
“No.”
“I thought I was.”
“What changed?”
“I realized they’re already doing a good job of it themselves.”
The line surprised even him.
Tyler’s employer opened a review the next month after irregularities surfaced during a routine quality-control audit.
Several claims showed documentation problems.
One involved Ryan’s cousin.
Tyler was suspended while the company investigated.
Chuck was interviewed only because Tyler had previously referenced him as a personal accountant.
Chuck again spoke through counsel.
Truth.
Nothing more.
The situation was serious enough without embellishment.
Meanwhile, Chuck and Jessica began divorce mediation.
Jessica cried through the first session.
Chuck did not.
He had cried alone in the shower two nights earlier.
Grief did not become less real because nobody saw it.
Their house had equity.
Retirement accounts.
Two vehicles.
Savings.
No children.
The marriage could be divided.
Not painlessly.
But cleanly.
Melanie told Chuck:
“You have one advantage.”
“What?”
“You are financially organized.”
“I thought you were going to say no children.”
“That too.”
Chuck smiled sadly.
Melanie continued:
“Do not weaponize your knowledge.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You considered it.”
Chuck looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why is that good?”
“Because people who admit the temptation are less dangerous than people who call revenge fairness.”
That stayed with him.
Jessica wanted the house.
At first.
Then she learned she could not afford the mortgage alone.
Chuck did not say I told you so.
He almost did.
Instead, they agreed to sell.
The proceeds would be divided according to the settlement.
No hidden accounts.
No offshore money.
No forged signatures.
No clever trap.
Just law.
That disappointed the angriest part of Chuck.
That part wanted Jessica to come home one afternoon and discover everything gone.
It wanted Ryan handcuffed in front of clients.
It wanted Tyler publicly exposed.
It wanted spectacle.
Chuck began to understand that spectacle was not justice.
It was pain asking for an audience.
The sale took six weeks.
During that time, Chuck and Jessica continued living in separate bedrooms.
Some evenings they barely spoke.
Other evenings they talked more honestly than they had in years.
One Thursday, Jessica sat across from him at the kitchen table.
“No lawyers tonight.”
Chuck looked up.
“What?”
“I want to ask something without it becoming part of the divorce.”
“Okay.”