Sonya picked up the tag-team. “And both of these examples were rising churches, much like New Kingdom. Your membership roll is ten thousand today, but with all the deals you have on the table....” When I frowned, Sonya added quickly, “Jeremy confides in Charles about a lot. My husband is a sort of mentor to him, you know that. I know what’s on the table for you. I know what you’d be walking away from. But the bottom line is, we would all lose because of you. The First Ladies Council has a reputation to uphold and in the 22 years since this council started, only one of us has filed for divorce. And she did it very quietly....”

“And she came to regret it,” Cecily said. “Within a month she was asking herself what had she done. She lost everything. Yes, she got some money at first through the divorce, but her husband fought her all the way, leaving her in the end with virtually nothing. All because she couldn’t find it in her heart to forgive her husband for a little indiscretion.”

A little indiscretion? Is that what they thought this was? These women made Stepford wives look like a light-hearted show on the Comedy channel.

Sonya nodded as if she was fine with Cecily’s words. “The bottom line is this, Ginger, because of your stature, you leaving Jeremy could ruin everything and just cannot happen.”

“With all due respect, First Lady Sonya, you cannot tell me what to do in my marriage or in my life. That’s the real bottom line. And that’s my final word.”

This time, after Sonya and Cecily exchanged glances, Sonya nodded and they both stood. Wordlessly, they grabbed their purses and turned toward my door.

But right before they crossed the threshold, Sonya turned back. “I hope you’ll give serious consideration to our words. You cannot even think about getting a divorce. You cannot leave your husband because if you do...I’m afraid you will regret it. And that’s not a threat, that’s a promise.”

My eyes narrowed as I watched them walk through my door and then out of my sight.

Still, I stayed in place for a moment, not believing their audacity. It was all about the pastoral community, something I didn’t know until this moment. They had no cares about the wives and how we were affected by all of this.

Shaking my head, I strolled into the hallway, wanting to make sure the door was locked behind the First Ladies. But when I was just a few feet away, the door opened suddenly, shocking me.

“Oh, my God!”

“What?” Dru said.

“You scared me. I was just coming out here to make sure the door was locked.”

“Yeah, I just saw those ladies leaving. What did they want?”