Sam unbuttoned her coat as she walked through the open door and down the hall. She took a second to look at the nameplate on the door. Emmett Prizzi. The worm. Number Four in the pecking order of Prizzi brothers. Smallest office off the long hallway, one tiny window, no secretary. It could only mean one thing, Emmett Prizzi was the runt of the litter. She felt insulted.

Emmett Prizzi was a smallish man, thin and wiry. He wore large, thick glasses that magnified his eyes and seemed to engulf his thin face. He didn’t bother putting his jacket on, nor did he bother to stand up to greet her. A worm. She felt more insulted. Without waiting to be asked, she sat down across from his desk. She felt bold and aggressive. She also felt wounded and sad, but this worm didn’t need to know that. She wished she’d put on some makeup. “I don’t have much time, Mr. Prizzi, so let’s get right to the point.” That’s when she saw the folder on his desk. Even though it was upside down, she knew it was the prenuptial agreement she’d signed before she married Douglas. She waited.

The attorney was just about to speak when a knock sounded on the door and it opened almost immediately. A secretary handed over a sheaf of papers, which the attorney ignored.

Emmett Prizzi shuffled the papers in a folder that had her name on the flap. Sam saw a blue check work its way out of the folder. The lawyer picked it up and waved it around, then wet his lips as he tried to decide what he was going to say. Sam lost her patience. “Yes?”

The lawyer took a deep breath. “Your husband said I was to give you this check and to tell you he’s sorry things didn’t work out. The check is for five thousand dollars as per the prenuptial agreement. As you know, if you and Douglas had remained married after the five years stipulated, you were to get ten million dollars. Since that isn’t going to happen, this is your payoff.” He slid the check across the desk. Sam looked down at the blue check and wanted to cry. Five thousand dollars for a three-week honeymoon. The man she’d married, the man she’d thought she loved, certainly moved at the speed of light. She made no move to pick it up because she was too busy fighting the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. She leaned back in the leather chair and forced a laugh that sounded hysterical to her own ears.

“I don’t find this a laughing matter, Mrs. Rainford,” the worm squeaked. Another paper slid across the desk. “All you have to do is sign the release, and the check is yours.”