At my son’s wedding, I stood frozen as my wife was shoved into the mud. Before I could react, my daughter-in-law laughed and said, “Don’t pretend this is about anything but stealing attention.”

interpreting my response as agreement.

The next morning, I locked myself in my study. I didn’t go to the office or the club. Instead, I opened the safe behind my grandfather’s portrait and took out the leather-bound files that had remained untouched for years.

I went through everything—property titles, corporate bylaws, pre-nuptial agreements (which continue reading …