“What apartment?” Eleanor asked, looking from Derek to me.

“He has a lease under a corporate shell company,” Annika said.

“The rent is twelve thousand dollars a month, paid from the trust account.”

Derek turned fully toward me now, his shoulders hunched.

He looked smaller, but far more dangerous.

“You think you are clever, don’t you?” he said.

He spoke in a low register, the tone he used when we were alone in our bedroom.

It was the voice that meant I was about to be punished.

“I gave you a home,” he said, taking a step.

“I tolerated your weakness.”

“Arthur, stop him,” Eleanor said, though she did not move.

Arthur reached out to grab Derek’s shoulder, but Derek shoved his father’s hand away.

“Don’t touch me,” Derek snapped.

His eyes never left my face.

“You think you can just take my life away and walk out the door?” he asked.

“The locks have already been changed on the city apartment,” Annika said.

“And a restraining order has been filed.”

Derek ignored her completely, his focus locked entirely on me.

“You are nothing without me,” he said.