Chapter 2
The front door burst open before the sirens even cut out.
Three uniformed officers rushed in, their hands hovering over their guns.
The lead one, a woman with a scar across her left cheek, took one look at my face and stepped between me and Tyler.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
I nodded, touching the stitches I’d get later, the blood still sticky on my skin.
“I’m fine. The evidence is on the table.”
I pointed to the two open folders.
Then up at the chandelier.
“Camera feeds everything straight to the FBI. Audio and video.”
Tyler finally found his voice, high and panicky.
“She’s lying! She fell! She hit her head on the table and is making this up!”
Karen jumped in, her voice shrill.
“That’s right! She’s always been crazy, we’ve been trying to get her help for years!”
Jenna nodded so fast her ponytail bounced.
“She threatened us first! We were scared!”
The lead officer, Sergeant Torres, didn’t even look at them.
She picked up the group chat transcript, flipped through three pages, and her jaw tightened.
She waved two other officers over.
“Detain all three. Read them their rights.”
Tyler started screaming when the cuffs went on.
“You can’t do this! She’s my wife! It’s a domestic, it’s our business!”
Sergeant Torres leaned down, her voice cold.
“Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon isn’t ‘your business.’ And federal coercion of a trust asset? That’s way above my pay grade.”
She ran Tyler’s name through her tablet.
Her eyebrows shot up.
“Looks like you’re already on felony probation for investment fraud. Three years left. You didn’t disclose that to your wife, did you?”
I froze.
I’d had no idea.
Six years of marriage, and he’d hidden a felony record from me.
Tyler’s face went even whiter, if that was possible.
“That’s old news—”
“Probation violation means no bail,” Sergeant Torres said, cutting him off.
“Enjoy holding.”
They dragged Tyler out first, his screams echoing down the hallway.
Karen went next, kicking and screaming that I’d ruined her life, that I’d never get away with this.
Jenna went quiet, her eyes wide, as the cuffs clicked around her wrists.
She looked at me like she was seeing me for the first time.
Like she’d never realized I’d fight back.
Sergeant Torres knelt down in front of me, her voice softening.
“Paramedics are outside. They’ll check you out, take you to the hospital if you need stitches. A detective will meet you there to take your full statement.”
I nodded, my hands finally starting to shake now that it was over.
“Thank you.”
She squeezed my shoulder.
“You did good, ma’am. Most people don’t have the guts to do what you just did.”
The paramedics walked in, their kit in hand, and I let them lead me outside.
The night air was warm on my face, the sirens fading in the distance.
I looked up at the dining room window, the chandelier light still glowing.
My dad had always said the camera would be there if I ever needed it.
I’d thought he was being paranoid.
Turns out he was just being a dad.
The paramedic helped me into the back of the ambulance, and I leaned my head back against the seat.
The first wave of exhaustion hit me, hard.
But under it, something else was growing.
A spark.
A feeling that for the first time in my adult life, I was in control.
The ambulance pulled away from the curb, and I closed my eyes.
May you like
The fight was just beginning.
But for the first time, I knew I was going to win.
