I caught my husband lying to me in real time. He told me he was scrubbing into emergency surgery, that he'd be at the hospital all night saving lives.

The children—sixteen-year-old Mason and fourteen-year-old Lily—were the hardest part of this. For twelve years, I had been more of a mother to them than their biological mother, who had abandoned them when they were toddlers.

I had been the one to stay up late helping with science projects. I was the one cheering at soccer games. Yet, at the airport, they had laughed and smiled with Chloe. They knew about the affair. They had been bought with promises of unlimited credit cards and a trip to St. Barts.

They were currently staying with a friend of Eleanor's, complaining on social media about their ruined vacation.

I requested a meeting with them at a neutral coffee shop. When they walked in, they looked defiant, crossing their arms and glaring at me.

"Where is Dad?" Mason demanded, dropping into a chair. "Grandma says you stole all his money and you're trying to send him to jail."

"Your father stole his own money, Mason," I said calmly, sliding two thick folders across the table. "And he's going to jail because he broke the law."

"Whatever," Lily rolled her eyes. "You're just jealous of Chloe. Give us our trust fund access back. We need to buy new phones."

I looked at the two teenagers I had poured my heart into, realizing that Marcus's toxic entitlement had completely infected them. My heart ached, but it didn't break.

"Those folders contain the paperwork for your trust funds," I said quietly. "The trusts were funded entirely by my family's estate. Since you are not my biological children, and since you actively conspired to hide your father's affair, I have legally dissolved them."

Mason froze, his arrogant posture vanishing. "Wait... dissolved? What about our college tuition? What about my car?"

"Your father will have to provide for you," I said, standing up from the table. "I suggest you ask Chloe. Oh, wait, she left him."