“I’ll need this room during the day,” she announced. “The guest room doesn’t get enough sunlight.”

“My office?”

“For the baby.”

I leaned back in my chair.

“You’re planning quite a life here.”

She folded her arms.

“Daniel said this was basically his house too.”

There it was.

Exactly the sentence I had been waiting to hear.

“Did he?”

Before Vanessa could respond, Daniel walked in.

“Claire, can we not make Vanessa uncomfortable?”

I looked from one of them to the other.

“No problem.”

I shut my laptop.

“Actually, I have a surprise for everyone.”

Vanessa smiled.

“A baby gift?”

“In a way.”

I told everyone to meet me downstairs at six.

At 5:58, Daniel entered the living room carrying two champagne glasses.

Vanessa was sitting beside him while the baby slept nearby in a carrier.

Her mother flipped through television channels.

At precisely six o’clock, the doorbell rang.

Daniel frowned.

“Expecting someone?”

“Yes.”

I opened the front door.

Rebecca Sloan walked inside carrying a leather folder.

A licensed process server stood behind her.

Daniel’s expression changed immediately.

“What is this?”

I accepted the folder from Rebecca.

“The surprise.”

Vanessa rose to her feet.

“Claire, what are you doing?”

I gave Daniel the first document.

A petition for divorce.

His champagne glass slowly lowered.

Then I handed him another document.

A notice ending his permission to remain in my separately owned property, subject to the legally required notice period.

His mouth fell open.

“You can’t kick me out of my own house.”

Rebecca answered calmly.

“Mr. Mercer, your name is not on the deed.”

The room went silent.

Vanessa turned toward him.

“You told me you owned half.”

Daniel went pale.

But I wasn’t finished.

I laid several bank statements across the coffee table.

“And this,” I said, “is the money you transferred to Vanessa.”

Vanessa’s mother stopped changing channels.

Daniel stared down at the documents.

“That was an investment.”

“Good,” I said. “Then you’ll enjoy explaining it.”

Vanessa’s confidence disappeared.

I looked straight at her.

“You targeted the wrong wife.”

Part 3

Daniel recovered from his shock quickly enough for anger to take over.

“This is insane.”

He tossed the divorce petition onto the table.

“You’ve been spying on me?”

“No,” I said. “I’ve been reviewing accounts with my name on them.”

Vanessa took a step backward.

“Daniel, what exactly did you tell her?”

He ignored the question.

“Claire, we can talk privately.”

“You lost that privilege when you invited the woman receiving our money to live in my house.”

Vanessa’s expression hardened.

“I didn’t steal anything.”

“I didn’t say you did.”

I gestured toward the bank statements.

“I said money was transferred to your business.”

Rebecca set another file beside the statements.

The documents showed that Daniel had categorized several of the transfers as consulting expenses through a company he operated during our marriage. Rebecca had already secured copies of the records and advised me to allow the divorce court to determine which funds qualified as marital property, which were legitimate business expenses, and which might need to be repaid.