CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
By the time the police arrived, Jake had changed his story three times.
First, Linda had slipped.
Then I had startled her.
Then I had “thrown myself backward” to make it look worse.
The officer looked at the stew on the floor, my red legs wrapped in cold towels, the open door, and the security camera.
“Ma’am,” he said to me, “do you have the footage?”
“Yes.”
Jake snapped, “This is a family misunderstanding.”
The officer looked at him.
“Sir, stop talking over her.”
That sentence made my throat tighten.
One stranger had given me more respect in ten seconds than my husband had given me since the wedding.
The paramedic examined my legs and said the burns needed treatment.
Linda rolled her eyes.
“It barely touched her.”
The paramedic turned cold.
“Hot liquid burns can be serious, ma’am.”
Linda shut her mouth.
My attorney, Rachel Kim, arrived before the ambulance left.
She was small, composed, and terrifying in the quiet way only good lawyers can be.
She reviewed the video on my phone.
Then she looked at Jake.
“Did you give your mother the access code to Sarah’s separate property without permission?”
Jake said nothing.
Rachel looked at Linda.
“Did you enter this residence knowing Sarah had not invited you?”
Linda lifted her chin.
“My son lives here.”
Rachel smiled without warmth.
“Not anymore.”
Jake’s head jerked toward her.
“What?”
Rachel opened the blue folder.
“Under the agreement you signed, any attempt to give unauthorized access to Sarah’s separate residence is grounds for immediate removal from the premises.”
“You can’t kick me out of my wife’s home,” Jake said.
I looked at him.
“My home.”
His eyes turned dark.
“This is ridiculous. We’re married.”
Rachel answered before I could.
“Marriage did not erase her deed.”
The officer asked if I wanted Jake removed while I received medical care.
My whole body shook.
Not from the burns now.
From the terror of saying the word that would end the fantasy I had tried so hard to build.
“Yes,” I said.
Jake stared at me like I had betrayed him.
May you like
But I was not betraying my marriage.
I was finally admitting what he had made it.
