Chapter 3
The argument began beside the dining table.
Sunlight was coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bright and clean, almost cruel in how normal it made the apartment look.
I had just come home from a client meeting.
Suzanne was already there.
That was the first problem.
She sat at the table with her white purse open, scrolling through her phone, acting annoyed that I had entered my own home.
Derek stood near the kitchen counter holding a coffee mug.
Not drinking from it.
Holding it.
Waiting.
“Why is the card declined?” he asked.
I set my handbag down.
“Because I froze it.”
Suzanne looked up sharply.
“You froze the family card?”
“My business card.”
Derek’s face darkened.
“Skylar.”
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted.
I had not said no like that before.
Clear.
Immediate.
Without apology.
Suzanne scoffed.
“I was buying things for Mom.”
“You were buying silver heels and a hotel brunch.”
Her face flushed.
“You checked?”
“It is my account.”
Derek stepped closer.
“You humiliated my sister at the register.”
“I protected my business account.”
“She is family.”
“Then your family can ask before spending my money.”
The mug in his hand shifted.
I saw it.
Not consciously.
Not enough to step back.
Just enough for my body to understand danger before my mind did.
Derek said quietly, “You always make me look small.”
I stared at him.
“No, Derek. You feel small when I stop paying for the image.”
The mug flew from his hand.
Hot coffee struck my dress and the side of my face as the ceramic shattered against the edge of the table.
For a second, I could not make sound.
Suzanne screamed, but not for me.
For the mess.
Derek froze.
Then immediately said, “Look what you made me do.”
That sentence saved me.
Not because it softened anything.
Because it clarified everything.
I touched my cheek.
My fingers trembled.
May you like
Then I picked up my handbag, stepped around the broken mug, and left before either of them could turn the injury into a debate.
Read the full story 👉 Derek scalded Skylar and blamed her for it, but that sentence finally made her stop protecting him.
