Paula steps closer, eyes narrowed at the plush rabbit like it personally offended her.
“He kept that?” she asks Julian, disgust curling her mouth.
“Why would you keep your ex-wife’s… whatever that is?”
Her voice shifts into something meaner.
“Are you still obsessed with her?”
Julian flinches.
And then, finally, he looks at Paula like he sees her clearly for the first time.
“I was never obsessed with her,” he says, hoarse.
“I was obsessed with not feeling like a failure.”
He laughs bitterly.
“And I failed anyway.”
Paula’s face flushes.
“How dare you,” she spits.
Then she turns to you, as if you owe her comfort.
“He used me,” she says.
“Do you hear that? He used me.”
You look at her.
And you realize she wants you to say: Welcome to the club.
She wants bonding.
A shared enemy.
A girly little trauma tea party.
But you’re not here to host her healing.
“You weren’t used,” you say calmly.
“You volunteered.”
Paula’s mouth opens in outrage.
You keep your tone steady.
“You saw a married man and decided your desire was more important than someone else’s life.”
You tilt your head.
“And now that he’s inconvenient, you want a refund.”
Officer Daniels shifts slightly, as if preparing for escalation.
Paula points at you, shaking.
“You think you’re better than me,” she snaps.
You nod once.
“Not better,” you correct.
“Just done.”
Julian takes a shaky step forward.
“I didn’t come to manipulate you,” he says.
“I came because I didn’t know where else to go.”
He gestures weakly toward the SUV.
“My mom won’t take my calls. My friends… disappeared.”
He looks at the ground again.
“I deserve that. I know.”
You stare at him.
You remember the version of you that would have rushed to fix him just to feel needed.
You remember how being needed felt like love when you didn’t have enough self-worth to demand respect.
But you aren’t that person anymore.
You glance at the file box in the SUV.
“Those papers,” you say, pointing.
“What are they?”
Julian’s face tightens.
Paula’s eyes flick away too fast.
That tells you enough.
Officer Daniels looks between you and the SUV.
“Ma’am,” he says, “if there are documents involved, I recommend you don’t touch anything until you know what it is.”
You nod, appreciating the caution.
But caution doesn’t kill curiosity.
It just sharpens it.
You look at Paula.
“Open the box,” you say.
Paula recoils.
“Why would I—”
“Open it,” you repeat, voice still calm but now edged.
Something in your tone makes her obey despite herself.
She marches to the SUV, yanks the lid back, and pulls out a stack of documents like she’s trying to prove she’s still in control.
She holds up the top page, then freezes.
Her face drains slightly.
Julian’s shoulders sag like he’s already lost the fight he hoped to avoid.
Officer Daniels leans in just enough to read the heading without touching.
You step closer and read it too.
PETITION FOR BANKRUPTCY.
NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE.
FINAL DEMAND.
The world narrows to paper.
Paula’s voice comes out thin.
“He said he was investing,” she whispers.
“He said he had… assets.”
Julian closes his eyes like a child refusing to look at a monster under the bed.
But monsters don’t go away when you blink.
They just wait.
You flip through the stack without touching too much, letting Paula do the page turning like she’s suddenly your assistant.
There’s a lease agreement with Paula’s signature on it.
There are credit statements.
There’s a notice about a car loan.
And then you find the page that makes your hands go cold.
A life insurance policy.
Your name is on it.
Not as the beneficiary.
As the person who was waived.
Your stomach drops hard.
You look up at Julian, slow.
“Why is my name on this?” you ask.
Julian’s voice is barely audible.
“I changed it,” he admits.
Paula snaps her head toward him.
“You changed it?” she shrieks.
“To who?”
Julian doesn’t answer her.
He looks at you.
And in his eyes is something that isn’t romance.
It’s calculation that’s been disguised as desperation.
It’s a man trying to salvage value from wreckage.
“I needed to,” he whispers.
“I needed collateral. I needed… someone stable.”
He swallows.
“I told myself you’d never know.”
