He did not sit down.

Instead, he stood just behind my right shoulder, his leather briefcase held at his side.

“Who is this?” Gloria asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Sterling. “Is this your divorce lawyer, Jocelyn? This is highly inappropriate.”

“Mr. Henderson,” Sterling said, his voice calm and resonant in the quiet room. “I am Sterling Vance, representing the acquiring entity, Crestwood Holdings.”

The room went completely silent.

The only sound was the low hum of the building’s air conditioning system.

Graham’s lawyer, a younger man with a receding hairline, stopped shuffling his papers and looked up.

“Crestwood Holdings?” Graham asked, his voice rising a fraction of an octave. “What are you talking about? Crestwood is the firm buying out my equity share in the North Dallas development.”

“That is correct, Mr. Ralston,” Sterling said.

“Then why is my wife sitting at the table?” Graham demanded, his eyes darting to me, a sudden flicker of panic crossing his face.

“Because,” Sterling said, “Mrs. Ralston is the sole owner and managing partner of Crestwood Holdings.”

Graham laughed, but the sound was hollow and dry.