Chapter 4 - HE FOUND THE WRONG WOMEN TALKING
Derek violated the no-contact order three days later.
He waited in the parking garage beneath Skylar’s office building.
She saw him leaning against her car as she exited the elevator.
His suit was wrinkled. His tie hung loose. The polished man who charmed clients had begun to crack.
Skylar immediately stepped backward and reached for her phone.
“Don’t.”
“You’re not allowed near me.”
“We need to speak.”
“My attorney can speak to yours.”
“Suzanne is turning against me because you filled her head with lies.”
Skylar started recording.
“Move away from my car.”
Derek stepped closer.
“You think you’re clever because the deed is in your name?”
“I think you burned me and stole from me.”
“I built a life with you.”
“You built debt in my name.”
His face twisted.
“I was trying to make money for us.”
“By gambling?”
He froze.
“You went through my accounts.”
“They were my accounts.”
“Marriage means sharing.”
“Sharing requires consent.”
Derek lowered his voice.
“Drop the charges, and I’ll give back what’s left.”
“How much is left?”
He did not answer.
“Where is the rest?”
“Invested.”
“Lost.”
“I can recover it.”
“With the apartment?”
He stared at her.
“You were never supposed to find the email.”
The admission hung between them.
Skylar kept her phone steady.
“So the lien was real.”
Derek realized too late that she was recording.
He lunged for the phone.
A voice came from behind him.
“Touch her and you’ll make this much worse.”
Suzanne stood near the elevator with Naomi and two plainclothes detectives.
Derek’s face emptied.
“What are you doing here?”
Suzanne’s eyes were red, but her voice remained firm.
“Giving them the laptop you kept at my apartment.”
Derek looked toward the detectives.
“She stole it.”
“You left it there,” Suzanne said. “Along with forged signatures, loan applications, and messages to Vanessa.”
“You stupid—”
He stopped before finishing.
One detective moved between them.
“Mr. Bennett, place your hands where we can see them.”
Derek looked at Skylar.
“You planned this.”
“No. You did.”
The laptop contained everything.
Draft liens.
Forged loan documents.
Photographs of Skylar’s identification.
Messages discussing how to pressure her into selling.
Derek had written that the apartment would become “marital enough” if Suzanne’s company created a record of improvements and payments.
There were also messages to Vanessa promising a new home once Derek “finished dealing with the wife.”
Vanessa agreed to cooperate after learning the townhouse deposit came from stolen money.
By the end of the week, Derek faced charges involving domestic battery, identity theft, forgery, financial exploitation, violation of a protective order, and organized fraud.
His insurance company fired him after investigators discovered he had also altered client documents to increase commissions.
The criminal case became larger than Skylar’s marriage.
He had forged signatures belonging to three elderly policyholders.
One had nearly lost her life insurance coverage because Derek diverted a premium payment.
At the preliminary hearing, Derek arrived in a navy suit and attempted to look like the reasonable man surrounded by emotional women.
His attorney described the coffee incident as a marital disagreement.
Naomi introduced hospital photographs.
The prosecutor played Skylar’s recording from the garage.
Then Suzanne testified.
“My brother told me Skylar was controlling and selfish,” she said. “He said the company would protect both of us.”
“Did you benefit financially?” Derek’s attorney asked.
“Yes.”
“So you were part of the plan.”
Suzanne looked toward Skylar.
“I accepted things I knew were not mine. I treated her like an account instead of a person.”
Her voice shook.
“But I did not know Derek was forging documents or using my company to steal the apartment.”
“You expect this court to believe you were innocent?”
“No.”
Suzanne took a breath.
“I expect the court to believe I was greedy. There is a difference between being greedy and knowing my brother was destroying his wife.”
It was not a perfect apology.
It was honest.
Vanessa testified next.
She presented Derek’s messages, voice mails, and the real estate contract.
Derek had promised her ownership of half the Edgewater apartment.
He did not own one inch of it.
When Skylar took the stand, Derek finally looked directly at her.
“Did you ever tell your husband you intended to leave him?” the prosecutor asked.
“No.”
“Before the coffee incident, had you consulted a divorce attorney?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Skylar looked at Derek.
“Because I still believed his cruelty was something we could repair.”
The courtroom became quiet.
“What changed?”
“He burned my face because I said no.”
She touched the faint scar near her cheekbone.
“Then I learned he had spent years punishing me for protecting things he was already stealing.”
Derek looked away.
The judge ordered him held pending trial.
As deputies approached, he called across the courtroom.
“Skylar, tell them we can work this out.”
She stood beside Naomi.
“You thought marriage meant I could never say no.”
May you like
The deputies took his arms.
“The rest of your life will be built around hearing it.”
