Chapter 2 - The Morning Everything Broke
Six hours earlier, Skylar had been standing in the same kitchen making coffee.
She had not slept.
Derek had disappeared the night before after telling her he had an emergency meeting downtown. He had ignored every call, then sent one message at 2:13 a.m.
Don’t wait up.
Skylar had seen messages like that before.
For two years, Derek had been coming home later, locking his phone, and moving money between accounts without explaining why.
Whenever she questioned him, he smiled as though she were a confused child.
“You don’t understand business.”
Whenever she asked about unexplained charges, he accused her of being unstable.
“You should be grateful I handle everything.”
Skylar had once believed him.
After her mother died, grief had hollowed her out. Derek had stepped in, answered calls, paid bills, and told her she did not need to think about anything difficult.
By the time Skylar understood what he was doing, nearly every password had changed.
That morning, his car keys were missing, but his spare phone sat charging beside the toaster.
It lit up.
A message appeared.
Suzanne: Did she sign yet? I’m not waiting another month for that apartment.
Skylar’s fingers went cold.
Another message followed.
Once her name is off the property, you can throw her out.
Skylar stared at the words until the screen dimmed.
Then the front door opened.
Derek walked in wearing yesterday’s suit.
Suzanne entered behind him.
She was still dressed for a party.
Neither of them looked surprised to see Skylar.
Suzanne placed her purse on the counter and glanced around the apartment as though choosing furniture.
Derek loosened his collar.
“We need to talk.”
Skylar kept her voice steady.
“About the apartment?”
A flicker passed between them.
Then Derek smiled.
Not warmly.
Not apologetically.
Like a man who believed the outcome had already been decided.
He slid a folder across the counter.
“Sign these, and we can avoid making this ugly.”
Skylar did not touch it.
May you like
She had no idea that refusing would expose just how far Derek was willing to go.
👉 The papers were not divorce documents—and the signature Derek needed would have erased Skylar from her own home.
