404 "I paid my mother-in-law $6,000 every month, but when I refused her extra $5,000 shopping demand, she smashed a baseball bat into my ribs. My husband watched me collapse and did nothing. I walked out broken but silent, and by morning, the police were at their door with a warrant.

The deposition took place in a sterile conference room on the twelfth floor of a Columbus skyscraper. Daniel sat across the table, looking like a ghost of his former self. His lawyer, a tired-looking public defender named Frank who clearly didn't want to be there, sat beside him.

Marcus adjusted the video camera recording the session. "This is the deposition of Daniel Hale in the matter of Carter v. Hale, Case Number 26-DR-4402."

Marcus didn't waste time with pleasantries. He threw a stack of bank statements onto the table.

"Mr. Hale, can you explain these monthly transfers of eight thousand dollars from 'Hale Real Estate LLC' to a personal checking account belonging to a Ms. Tiffany Vance—no relation to me, thankfully?"

Daniel swallowed hard, his eyes darting to his lawyer. Frank sighed and nudged his shoulder. "Answer the question, Daniel."

"She... she was a marketing consultant," Daniel stammered, his voice cracking. "She was helping me rebrand the agency."

"A marketing consultant?" Marcus smiled coldly. He threw a second document onto the table. "Then why did your 'marketing consultant' send you a text message on November twelfth saying, 'Thanks for the rent money, daddy, can't wait for Aspen next week'? And why did you use Dr. Carter's corporate credit card to book a first-class suite at the St. Regis in Aspen for that exact same weekend?"

Daniel’s face drained of what little color it had left. "I... I made a mistake."

"You made several," Marcus corrected. "You used corporate assets belonging to a medical practice to fund a personal extramarital relationship. That is corporate embezzlement. Furthermore, you filed these expenses as 'legitimate business deductions' on your joint tax returns, which means you committed federal tax fraud."

"I didn't know!" Daniel cried, leaning forward, his hands trembling. "My accountant handled the taxes!"

"Your accountant was paid by Dr. Carter," Marcus snapped. "And your accountant warned you in writing three times that these deductions were illegal. We have those emails, Daniel."

Daniel looked at me, his eyes pleading, desperate, and pathetic. "Evie, please. We can settle this quietly. You don't have to ruin my life. I still love you. I was just... I felt emasculated because you made all the money. I made a mistake!"

I looked at the man I had spent nearly a decade with. I didn't feel anger. I didn't feel sadness. I felt an overwhelming sense of disgust.

"You didn't feel emasculated when you were spending my money, Daniel," I said, my voice cutting through the room like a scalpel. "You didn't feel emasculated when you watched your mother break my ribs. You are a parasite. And the host is officially dead."