Chapter 3
Skylar didn't return to the apartment that afternoon.
Instead, she drove to the office of a family law attorney recommended by the hospital social worker.
Attorney Melissa Grant listened without interrupting as Skylar placed the medical report, photographs of the burn, and the preliminary police report on her desk.
Melissa read each document carefully.
Finally, she looked up.
"Do you own the apartment together?"
Skylar nodded.
"Both of our names are on the deed."
"And your bank accounts?"
"We have one joint account for household expenses."
"My salary is deposited into my personal account."
Melissa smiled faintly.
"That was a smart decision."
Skylar almost laughed.
"It wasn't intentional."
"My mother always told me every woman should have an account in her own name."
"Your mother gave you good advice."
Melissa closed the folder.
"Here's what I recommend."
"Today, you collect your personal belongings."
"You change every password."
"You freeze your credit."
"And you don't meet your husband alone again."
Skylar took a deep breath.
"Will he be arrested?"
"That depends on the investigation and the prosecutor's decision."
"But whether he's arrested or not..."
"...you don't have to go back."
Those words felt unreal.
For years she had believed leaving wasn't an option.
Now a stranger had said it so simply.
You don't have to go back.
At five-thirty that evening, Officer Reynolds and Officer Carter met her outside the Edgewater apartment building.
The setting sun reflected off the glass balconies overlooking Biscayne Bay.
From the outside, the building looked peaceful.
Inside, it held three years of memories she no longer wanted.
Officer Reynolds spoke before they entered.
"We're here to keep the peace."
"If your husband becomes confrontational, let us handle it."
Skylar nodded.
Her hands still trembled as she unlocked the front door.
The apartment was empty.
Derek hadn't come home yet.
She quietly walked into the bedroom and opened the closet.
Officer Carter remained near the doorway while Reynolds stayed in the living room, giving her privacy but remaining close enough if she needed help.
Skylar folded clothes into moving boxes.
Important documents went into a separate file.
Her passport.
Birth certificate.
Tax records.
Employment contracts.
Every document Melissa had told her to protect.
Then she opened the jewelry box on the dresser.
Inside lay her wedding ring.
She picked it up.
Three years earlier, Derek had slipped it onto her finger with tears in his eyes.
"I'll spend my whole life protecting you."
She remembered believing every word.
Slowly, she removed the ring from her hand.
For a moment she simply held it.
Not because she wanted to keep it.
Because she was mourning the woman who had believed those promises.
She carried the ring into the dining room.
Beside the police report already resting on the wooden table, she gently placed it down.
The soft metallic sound echoed through the empty apartment.
Officer Carter glanced toward it but said nothing.
There was nothing to say.
Some endings didn't need words.
As Skylar sealed the final moving box, headlights flashed through the living room window.
A car door slammed.
Laughter drifted up from the parking lot.
Derek.
Suzanne.
Officer Reynolds immediately stepped toward the entrance.
"They're here."
Skylar looked around the apartment one final time.
The walls were bare.
The bookshelves empty.
The photographs gone.
Only one table remained in the center of the dining room.
On it sat a wedding ring.
A police report.
And a copy of the apartment deed showing she still legally owned half of the home.
The front door opened.
Derek walked in first, still laughing at something Suzanne had said.
Then he stopped.
Every box was gone.
The television.
The artwork.
The personal photographs.
Everything that belonged to Skylar had disappeared.
His smile vanished.
Suzanne looked around in confusion.
"What..."
Then she noticed the table.
The wedding ring.
The police report.
The two uniformed officers standing quietly near the doorway.
Her face turned pale.
She slowly looked at Derek.
May you like
"...Derek..."
"...what did you do?"
