When my son-in-law asked for a divorce, he looked at my daughter and said, “I want the house, the cars, the bank account… except our son,” and while his lawyer smiled as if he had already won, mine begged me to fight, but I just clutched the purse where I carried a document he had forgotten years ago, and told my daughter, “Give him everything.”

He wanted the cars and the accounts that Mallory had worked for right beside him while she believed they were building a future together. The only thing he flatly refused to take was Toby because he claimed the boy did not fit into his new life.

Even today those words burn my heart like a hot iron. Mallory’s lawyer was outraged and talked about financial abuse and legal strategies, but I was no longer looking at the present situation.

I was looking at the past and thinking about that afternoon when Garrett needed our money like a thirsty man needs water. I thought about his signature and the specific clause I had insisted on including in that document.

I remembered the night I promised myself that if he ever tried to crush my daughter, I would give him plenty of time to get comfortable. I wanted him to smile and believe he had won until the very second he walked off the edge of the cliff.

That is why I told everyone to give him everything he asked for during the initial negotiations. Mallory looked at me like I had betrayed her and our lawyer stopped talking in total confusion.