Chapter 6
Natalie’s statement changed the case.
The coffee was no longer one violent breakfast.
It was a pattern.
Detective Collins pulled Derek’s insurance records.
Olivia pulled our marriage financials.
Maya followed Suzanne’s money.
Every road led somewhere rotten.
Derek had taken out a spousal insurance policy I had never signed.
The signature looked like mine.
Almost.
But the S was wrong.
Too sharp.
The same way he signed restaurant receipts when he was impatient.
Suzanne had received monthly transfers from an account linked to Derek’s commissions.
Patricia had signed as a witness on documents involving Natalie years earlier.
I sat in Olivia’s conference room with a folder open in front of me.
My face burned less now.
My anger did not.
“How many women?” I asked.
Detective Collins’s mouth tightened.
“We know of Natalie and you. We are checking past partners.”
Maya placed another paper down.
“And there’s this.”
A mortgage inquiry.
On my apartment.
Submitted by Derek two weeks before the coffee attack.
My chest tightened.
“He can’t mortgage my apartment.”
“No,” Olivia said. “But he tried to prepare a spousal authorization package.”
I stared at the documents.
Suzanne’s nail course.
The declined payment.
The bank card demand.
It had all been pressure.
If I gave them access once, they would push for more.
If I refused, he would make me look unstable.
If I left, he would claim abandonment.
If I stayed, he would break me.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I looked at Maya.
She nodded.
I answered.
Suzanne’s voice hissed through the line.
“You selfish witch. My brother is sleeping in a hotel because of you.”
I kept my voice calm.
“You are violating a court order.”
“He gave you everything.”
“I bought the apartment.”
“He married beneath himself.”
I almost laughed.
“Suzanne, your card declined.”
She gasped.
Then Patricia’s voice came on.
“Skylar, withdraw the complaint. You are destroying this family.”
“No. I am documenting it.”
“You’ll be alone.”
I looked at Natalie’s statement on the table.
“No,” I said. “That’s what scares you.”
I ended the call.
Maya smiled.
May you like
“Third-party violation. Recorded.”
For the first time that week, I slept six full hours.
