Chapter 1: The Day They Stopped Laughing
They all laughed at me in divorce court, until the judge opened my secret letter.
I had been sitting in that courtroom for three hours in my beige dress, my hands folded in my lap, listening to my husband tell the judge how worthless I was.
The sun came through the tall windows and lit the wooden benches, and the clerk typed softly, and I kept my eyes on the floor so nobody could see that I was crying.
Then my husband shot up from his chair in his blue suit and pointed straight at me.
"You'll never touch my money again!"
Beside him sat the woman in the red dress, the one I had once called a friend, and she turned and smiled at me with something close to pleasure.
"Enjoy being broke, sweetheart."
His mother in her purple suit joined in with her little laugh.
I pressed my lips together and said nothing.
There was nothing left that I could say.
Then my lawyer stepped forward in his gray suit with a white envelope in his hand, and my heart began to pound, because I knew exactly what was inside it.
He bowed slightly toward the bench.
"Your Honor, one final piece of evidence."
The judge took the envelope and slit it open.
She read a few lines, and I watched the corner of her mouth lift.
She was smiling.
"Oh, this is good."
Across the aisle, the three of them stopped laughing all at once.
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What was inside that envelope?
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