Chapter 2 - THE HOME HE NEVER OWNED
Derek recovered quickly.
Men like him often did.
Fear became anger because anger was easier to perform in front of witnesses.
“Her name may be on the deed,” he told the officers, “but I’ve lived here for five years. This is my legal residence.”
“Residence and ownership are different,” Skylar said.
Suzanne stepped around him.
“You can’t throw my brother onto the street.”
Skylar looked at her.
Suzanne wore a fitted cream suit, gold earrings, and one of Skylar’s designer handbags.
“That bag belongs to me.”
Suzanne tightened her grip on it.
“Derek gave it to me.”
“He stole it from my closet.”
“It was in his house.”
The officer beside Skylar exhaled slowly.
“Ma’am, place the bag on the table.”
Suzanne laughed.
“Are you serious?”
“Now.”
She dropped it beside the wedding ring.
Derek pointed toward the medical report.
“Skylar has been unstable for months. She exaggerates everything.”
“The hospital documented the burn,” one officer said.
“I dropped the mug.”
Skylar stared at him.
“You told me I made you do it.”
“Because you were screaming.”
“I screamed after you burned me.”
Suzanne moved closer to her brother.
“She’s twisting it. She’s always hated our family.”
Skylar had once spent Christmas morning cooking for twelve members of that family while Suzanne opened gifts purchased with Skylar’s credit card.
She had paid Derek’s mother’s dental bill.
She had co-signed Suzanne’s car loan after Derek promised his sister had changed.
Apparently, boundaries counted as hatred only after usefulness ended.
One officer handed Derek a temporary no-contact order issued by the judge on duty.
“You need to leave the property tonight. You may collect clothing and essential medication while we supervise.”
Derek stared at the document.
“She cannot do this.”
“The court already did.”
“I pay bills here.”
Skylar’s voice remained steady.
“You paid the internet bill for eight months. I paid the mortgage before we met.”
“We’re married. Everything is half mine.”
“Not premarital property.”
His eyes flickered.
He knew that.
Derek worked in insurance and spent enough time around attorneys to understand ownership. His confidence had depended on Skylar not understanding her own rights.
Suzanne leaned toward him and whispered, “Tell them about the renovations.”
Skylar heard her.
“Which renovations?”
Derek remained silent.
“The paint I purchased? The couch my company reimbursed? Or the kitchen cabinets my father’s estate paid for?”
Suzanne’s face tightened.
“You think you’re better than us because you have money.”
“No. I think my money belongs to me.”
Derek packed one suitcase under police supervision.
As he moved through the bedroom, he opened drawers and searched beneath clothing.
He was not looking for socks.
He was searching for documents.
Skylar watched from the doorway.
“What do you need?”
“My passport.”
“It’s in your office.”
“I keep financial papers here.”
“Which financial papers?”
Derek stopped.
“Personal ones.”
Skylar remembered the transfers to Bennett Family Consulting.
“Is that the company you used to take seventy-four thousand dollars from my account?”
Suzanne’s head snapped toward him.
“What is she talking about?”
Derek’s face went rigid.
“She gave me access.”
“To pay household emergencies.”
“Suzanne needed help.”
Skylar looked at his sister.
“Did he give you seventy-four thousand dollars?”
Suzanne stepped backward.
“Not that much.”
“How much?”
“I don’t keep a ledger.”
“My bank does.”
The officers exchanged a look.
Derek zipped his suitcase.
“This is marital money.”
“The account existed six years before our marriage.”
“You added me as an authorized user.”
“Authorized to pay bills. Not transfer money to a fake company.”
“It isn’t fake.”
“What does it do?”
Silence.
Suzanne stared at him.
“Derek?”
He grabbed the suitcase handle.
“We’re leaving.”
At the front door, he turned toward Skylar.
“When you calm down, you’re going to regret humiliating me.”
Skylar touched the gauze on her cheek.
“You humiliated yourself.”
The door closed behind him.
For the first time since breakfast, the apartment became quiet.
One officer gave Skylar information for a domestic violence advocate and advised her to change the locks immediately.
After they left, Skylar sat alone at the dining table.
Her wedding ring glinted beside the police report.
She should have felt safe.
Instead, the apartment seemed full of things she had failed to notice.
Derek knew where she kept her documents.
He knew which account she rarely reviewed.
He knew the value of every handbag, piece of jewelry, and electronic device.
He had not lost control that morning.
He had been enforcing a system that had worked for years.
Skylar opened her laptop and searched state business records.
Bennett Family Consulting had been registered eighteen months earlier.
The listed manager was not Derek.
It was Suzanne.
The company address belonged to a mailbox store in Fort Lauderdale.
Skylar downloaded every filing.
Then she searched her email for the company name.
One message appeared in the archived folder.
It came from Derek’s insurance account and had been automatically forwarded to her address by mistake.
Once the condo transfer is complete, Suzanne can file the lien through Bennett Family Consulting. Skylar won’t know until we force the sale.
Skylar read it twice.
The coffee had not been thrown because she refused to share a bank card.
May you like
The bank card was only the latest test.
Derek and Suzanne had been planning to take the apartment.
