Chapter 5 - The Bathroom Sanctuary
Back in the present, the metallic taste of blood anchored me to the hardwood floor. Derek stood over me, his chest heaving with exertion, his fists still clenched at his sides.
He kicked my heavy winter coat, which had been slung over a chair, directly at my face. It hit me with a soft, insulting thud.
“Go clean the downstairs office right now,” Derek commanded, pointing toward the hallway. “I have major investors coming to the house at eight o'clock this morning, and the place is a disaster.”
Marlene smiled, a cold, venomous stretching of her lips. “And make sure you cover your face with makeup before the staff arrives. You look utterly embarrassing. I won't have you ruining my son’s professional image.”
I rose slowly from the floor, leaning heavily on the bedframe, intentionally pretending to sway as if my equilibrium was entirely shattered. I kept my head down, hiding the sharp, calculated clarity in my eyes.
“I’ll go wash my face,” I mumbled weakly.
I stumbled into the master bathroom and shut the heavy oak door, throwing the deadbolt lock as quietly as possible. I leaned over the marble sink, grabbing a white hand towel and pressing it firmly against my split, bleeding lip. The pain was sharp and hot, but I ignored it.
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I pulled my encrypted phone from its hiding spot beneath the bathroom sink cabinet. I quickly accessed the camera network’s secure server. The footage from 3:07 a.m. was perfectly rendered in high-definition night vision. I watched Derek drag me down. I heard the punch. I heard Marlene’s laughter.
My thumb hovered over the screen. I hit ‘Send’, uploading the brutal recording directly to a secure, cloud-based folder shared exclusively with my attorney, Elena Ruiz.
