down seven years of marriage over one minor argument?”
I replied coldly, “You physically struck my mother twice in the face.”
“I lost my temper for a second, okay?”
“You hit an elderly woman twice.”
“She provoked me!”
I gripped the phone.
“You need to think very carefully about what you say next, Brandon.”
“What, are you threatening me now?”
“No. I’m warning you that every single word you say may end up inside an official police file.”
His confident tone changed immediately.
“Is your lawyer friend Claire orchestrating all
