“Let’s get in there and knock ‘em dead. You have to make it sound like the weight of the world has been square on your head for your entire life, with no one to help you. Try to look beaten down, also. That will help you gain sympathy when it comes to show time. At all costs, you have to appear like you are number one in a world full of victims. Put on a show of guilt and anguish, and spice it up with some half-truths, just to see if they’re paying attention. You can retract whatever you want to, if they don’t want to hear it. Just apologize and claim that the stress is getting to you, or that you are exhausted from all the circles you’ve been running as a result of mistreatment, and you’ll be fine.”

That’s what my wife’s divorce lawyer told her, just before she put on the show of her life.