I did not make a scene and did not start sorting out the relationship. Instead, I opened the laptop and for the first time in six years carefully looked at the numbers: accounts, transfers, the car loan registered in my name, my parents’ investments in his «projects».

By morning, I already had a clear plan, cold and calculated down to the smallest detail.

A few days later, Mark returned from his «business trip» and discovered that his suitcase was neatly packed and standing by the door.

The car he was so proud of had been transferred to my father — legally, it turned out to be simpler than he had thought.

His access to the joint account had been blocked, and the divorce documents were lying on the table next to printed bank statements and the audio recording from that very evening.

I entered the living room calmly; Mark first tried to smile, then to joke, then to justify himself, but upon seeing the papers, he turned pale.

I said evenly and clearly that I would no longer be a convenient background for his entertainments, that six years of illusions were over, and that from that day on he would provide for the children officially and according to the law.

The door behind him closed quietly.