For ten years I was his wife in every way, except for one thing – our official marriage. When I asked him for a signature, he just laughed, “It’s just a piece of paper.” The next morning, his smile disappeared.

But when I asked for legal protection, he called it “my problem.”

I opened my laptop.

First, I set up a new personal bank account and transferred money to it, which I put off my salary for years. I left enough money in our shared account to cover my share of expenses this month.

Then I changed the account that my salary was affected by. I removed Michael from the list of beneficiaries of my life insurance and called a close friend who worked as a lawyer.

She was second in the night, but she picked up.

When I told her what had happened, she was silent for a long time.

“Laura, you know that the deed of the house’s ownership is in your name only, isn’t it?”