Chapter 7 - The Part He Never Expected
Skylar stayed that night with her coworker Maren in Coral Gables.
The pain medication helped her sleep for three hours. At dawn, she woke to twenty-six missed calls, twelve texts from Derek, and a voicemail from Suzanne that began with crying and ended with threats.
She saved everything.
By noon, the temporary protective order was granted. Derek was required to stay away from Skylar and the apartment. He could retrieve essential belongings later under officer supervision.
Two days after that, Skylar’s bank confirmed that a device linked to Derek’s email had accessed her online account multiple times over the previous month. Suzanne’s failed transactions came from the same IP address as Derek’s work laptop.
The salon deposit was not the only attempt.
There had been applications for store credit, a luxury rental account, and a personal loan using Skylar’s information. Most were denied because of security freezes she had placed after the first bank alert.
Derek had not exploded over a single refusal.
He had exploded because Skylar’s no threatened a scheme already in motion.
Her attorney filed for divorce with emergency financial protections. The court ordered Derek to preserve records and barred him from disposing of joint assets. Suzanne was named in the financial complaint after bank logs connected her to attempted unauthorized charges.
Derek’s family called Skylar cruel.
His mother left a message saying a wife should not ruin a man over “one bad morning.”
Skylar listened once, saved it, and never called back.
At the first hearing, Derek wore a navy suit and tried to look wounded. He claimed Skylar exaggerated the coffee incident because she had been looking for an excuse to leave. Then Skylar’s attorney submitted the medical photographs, police report, bank records, and the hospital statement made before she ever returned home.
Derek stopped looking wounded.
Suzanne stopped looking at the judge.
The apartment remained Skylar’s. Derek was ordered out. The unauthorized access became a separate investigation. The divorce moved forward with no possibility of him turning her property into leverage.
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Skylar did not feel triumphant.
She felt tired, sore, and cleanly awake.
