No woman in pearls applauded.
There was only water on a table, exactly as harmless as it had always been.
Madeline wiped it away with her napkin and sat down.
For 32 years, I had believed my work was about winning cases, preserving assets, obtaining orders, and putting evidence in front of judges.
That night taught me something more difficult.
The law can open a locked door.
But the person who has been imprisoned still has to learn that walking through it is allowed.
Madeline did.
And when she finally crossed that threshold, Spencer lost the one thing he had mistaken for permanent ownership.
Her fear.
