She silenced the phone.
“I’ll speak to him when I can finish a sentence,” she said.
His aunt deleted her earlier comment and sent me a private apology.
His sister asked if she could bring dinner the next day.
I said yes.
I didn’t promise anybody that we would work it out.
Monday morning, I met Elise Moreno, the family lawyer.
She had asked me to bring identification, recent statements, mortgage information, and the insurance documents.
Marlene drove me, but I entered the first part of the meeting alone.
Elise read the account summaries and asked what happened at the clinic.
I described the card, the purse, and Gavin telling the receptionist we were leaving.
I heard myself trying to soften it.
“He didn’t actually stop the nurse from seeing me,” I said.
“You don’t have to improve the facts for him,” she replied. “Tell me what happened.”
So I did.
She asked whether I felt safe returning home and whether I had reliable transportation to appointments.
Then we discussed financial disclosures, temporary arrangements, and the steps available if I wanted to begin a case.
I had expected her to ask whether I was sure I wanted to lose my marriage.
Instead, she asked what I needed to make decisions without being pressured.
“I need him to stop moving the money,” I said. “And I need to know what debts he’s made.”
We listed the accounts I knew about.
The baby savings was separate from a household emergency fund that still had enough for several months of basic expenses.
The house had some equity.
Gavin also owned business equipment, though I didn’t know whether any of it had debt against it.
Elise explained that documents mattered more than Gavin’s estimates.
She would request full disclosures and discuss orders to preserve assets and handle necessary expenses.
She was also clear that starting a case wouldn’t magically restore the missing twenty thousand that afternoon.
I appreciated hearing something honest.
When Marlene joined us, she offered to pay the initial legal fee.
Elise asked whether it was a loan.
“A gift,” Marlene said. “For Audrey to have advice of her own.”
I looked at her.
“I don’t know when I can repay you.”
“You don’t have to. We’ll write that down if it helps.”
We did.
Afterward, Gavin messaged Marlene saying I would take the baby away from her as soon as she stopped being useful.
She showed me in the car.
