Part 5: The Final Judgment
Derek stumbled to the wall panel and pressed the talk button, his heart pounding in his ears. “Who is it?”
“Miami-Dade Police Department, Mr. Vance,” a stern voice crackled through the speaker. “We are downstairs with a representative of the building’s management. We have an emergency injunction and a temporary restraining order issued against you. We need you to open the door and step out into the hallway immediately.”
Derek fell back against the wall, his legs barely supporting his weight.
Suzanne was already in tears, frantically grabbing her purse. “I can’t be here for this! Derek, do something! You said you had her under control!”
“She was never under control,” Derek whispered, staring blankly at the empty hallway.
He realized then the gravity of his mistake. He had mistaken Skylar’s patience for weakness. He had believed that because she loved him, she would tolerate his cruelty forever. He had used his sister as a shield and his temper as a weapon, never realizing that Skylar was ten steps ahead of him the entire time.
Slowly, Derek opened the front door.
Two uniformed officers stood in the hallway, their expressions deadpan. Behind them stood Skylar’s divorce attorney, holding a clipboard, alongside two security guards from the building.
“Mr. Vance,” the officer said, holding up a official document. “You are being served with a temporary restraining order. You have ten minutes to gather your immediate personal essentials. Anything else left behind will be handled by legal counsel. Step away from the unit.”
As Derek was escorted out of the building he had lived in for three luxury-filled years, he saw a black SUV parked across the street.
The window rolled down just an inch.
Through the glass, he saw Skylar. A neat, sterile bandage covered her left cheek, but her eyes were clear, bright, and entirely devoid of fear. She didn’t look at him with anger, or sadness, or regret.
She looked at him as if he were nothing more than a stranger she had finally cleaned out of her life.
She rolled the window back up, the SUV pulled away from the curb, and she vanished into the bright Miami night.
Today, Derek is working a minimum-wage job, living in a cramped studio apartment with Suzanne, desperately trying to pay off the court-ordered restitution to avoid a lengthy prison sentence.
Skylar’s burn healed, leaving only a faint, silver mark on her cheek—a quiet reminder of the day she decided that she would never let anyone burn her again.
