Chapter 5
Court smelled like old paper and rain.
I wore a high-collar blouse that still did not hide the burns.
Olivia told me not to hide them completely.
“Truth does not need makeup,” she said.
Derek arrived in a navy suit.
Suzanne came with him, wearing sunglasses indoors.
Patricia walked behind them like a queen mother arriving to inspect servants.
When Derek saw my face, he flinched.
Not from guilt.
From realizing the injury looked worse in daylight.
The judge reviewed the hospital report.
The photos.
The police statement.
The recording of Derek’s phone call.
Derek’s attorney argued it was a marital misunderstanding.
Olivia stood.
“My client has second-degree burns on her face and neck because her husband threw boiling coffee at her when she refused to surrender her bank card to his sister.”
The courtroom went silent.
Suzanne sank lower in her seat.
The judge granted the protective order.
Derek was removed from my apartment.
No contact.
No third-party contact.
No access to my accounts.
He had to surrender his keys.
Patricia gasped like the judge had stolen her jewelry.
“This is outrageous,” she said.
The judge looked over her glasses.
“Ma’am, speak again and you will wait in holding.”
Patricia closed her mouth.
I nearly smiled.
After court, Olivia and I went straight to the police station.
Detective Sarah Collins was waiting.
So was Maya.
And on a video screen from a secure location, a woman with brown hair and hollow eyes looked back at me.
Natalie Shaw.
Alive.
My knees weakened.
She pressed one hand to her mouth when she saw my burns.
“Oh, Skylar.”
Hearing my name in her voice broke something open.
“You warned me,” I said.
“I tried sooner.”
“What happened?”
“Derek intercepted the first letters.”
Of course he did.
Detective Collins leaned forward.
“Natalie, are you prepared to give a sworn statement?”
Natalie nodded.
“Yes.”
Derek had told me his first wife died in a boating accident.
Natalie looked into the camera and said, “He staged it.”
The room went still.
“He told me if I didn’t disappear, my sister would be blamed for insurance fraud. I ran because I thought running was the only way to live.”
My hands curled.
May you like
Derek had not only hurt women.
He had rehearsed it.
