Chapter 3
The first time Dominic grabbed her arm hard enough to leave a mark, he apologized with diamond earrings.
The second time, he blamed stress.
The third time, Audrey called Sophia.
Sophia had been her roommate in college.
Back then, they both ate instant noodles and studied in laundromats because the library closed too early.
Now Sophia was a family law attorney who took emergency cases for women who had nowhere safe to go.
“You need documents,” Sophia told her. “Not just courage. Documents.”
So Audrey collected them.
Photos.
Messages.
Bank records.
Medical records.
The cruel voicemails from Dominic’s mother.
The texts where Dominic threatened to leave her with nothing.
The hidden trust clause Sophia found in the prenup Dominic assumed Audrey was too poor and too scared to understand.
If Dominic cheated, abandoned her during medical crisis, or used family influence to intimidate her, Audrey was entitled to an immediate protective filing, temporary residence rights, emergency support, and access to her own frozen medical records.
Dominic had signed it years earlier because he thought Audrey would never read it.
That was the thing about men like Dominic.
They mistook kindness for stupidity.
That night, Audrey walked down the estate staircase with her bag.
Dominic’s mother saw her first.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Audrey gripped the banister.
“To a hotel.”
“With whose money?”
“My own.”
The older woman laughed.
“You have no own. Everything you have came from my son.”
Audrey looked at her.
“Then he can explain that to my attorney.”
That wiped the smile off her face.
Dominic appeared behind his mother, phone in hand, jaw tight.
“You called Sophia?”
Audrey did not answer.
His eyes dropped to the bag.
Then to the medical folder.
Then to the divorce envelope under her arm.
For one second, panic flashed across his face.
Not regret.
Panic.
“What did you do?” he asked.
Audrey touched her stomach.
“I was going to tell you something tonight.”
Dominic’s mother stepped forward.
“Oh, please. Not another dramatic pregnancy fantasy.”
Audrey went still.
Dominic looked away.
That was when she understood.
He already knew the transfer might have worked.
The clinic had called him too.
And instead of coming home, he went to the yacht.
Audrey walked toward the front door.
Dominic grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t walk out while I’m talking to you.”
She pulled free.
“I’m done listening.”
His mother blocked the door.
“You leave tonight, you don’t come back.”
Audrey looked at both of them.
“Good.”
She pushed past them.
Rain was falling outside.
She made it halfway down the driveway before Dominic came after her, shouting.
She did not stop.
A car turned too fast through the estate gate.
Headlights cut through the rain.
Audrey heard Dominic yell her name.
Then everything became sound.
Brakes.
Metal.
A scream.
May you like
Darkness.
👉 Audrey tried to leave with the truth in her bag — but Dominic’s panic sent another car racing through the gate.
