The day I said, “I’ve finally finished paying off the house,” my husband looked at me with disdain and replied, “Pack your bags and leave.” He didn’t know that three signatures earlier I had already left him with the full debt, and his betrayal was just beginning.

Three days later, he called from another number.

“Ava… please. This got out of hand.”

I stayed silent.

“I thought there were still documents to fix,” he said weakly. “Not that you’d leave me with everything.”

“Everything?” I replied. “It didn’t seem like much when you were throwing me out.”

Silence.

“Help me fix this,” he said. “Then we’ll deal with the divorce.”