Chapter 12 - THE FIFTH FILE
Her name was Rebecca Sloan.
No relation to the detective.
She had dated Derek for seven months.
Three years earlier, she moved to another state without telling most of her friends.
At least that was the story Brenda told everyone.
The file in the hidden cabinet suggested something different.
Rebecca had accused Derek of stealing $62,000.
She had also drafted a police complaint.
But it had never been filed.
Investigators eventually located her.
Alive.
Living under her middle name in Oregon.
She had not disappeared.
She had run.
When Detective Sloan spoke with her, Rebecca agreed to return.
Her story completed the pattern.
Derek chose women with assets.
Sometimes family money.
Sometimes businesses.
Sometimes property.
He moved slowly.
Love.
Dependence.
Isolation.
Humiliation.
Financial control.
Then threats.
Brenda reinforced every stage.
Rebecca had escaped after discovering Derek trying to open credit accounts in her name.
When she confronted him, he told everyone she was unstable.
Brenda contacted Rebecca's employer.
Wesley contacted her friends.
Within days, Rebecca felt as if no one believed her.
So she left.
Her statement gave investigators another victim.
Natalie's evidence gave them another.
Mine gave them the current offense.
And Mallory gave them the inside records.
The case moved quickly after that.
Derek was arrested on multiple financial fraud and forgery allegations.
Brenda was arrested two days later.
Wesley turned himself in after his attorney contacted investigators.
The wedding had lasted fourteen hours.
The criminal investigation would last months.
During those months, Derek fought everything.
He denied.
Blamed.
Threatened.
Changed lawyers.
Changed stories.
At one point, he claimed I had fabricated the entire conflict because I wanted to avoid sharing marital property.
That argument collapsed when my father's trust documents showed the assets had always been separate.
Then Derek claimed he had permission to access my phone.
The bedroom camera destroyed that claim.
Then he claimed the forged signatures were misunderstandings.
Digital records destroyed that too.
The most satisfying part was not watching him lose.
It was watching evidence refuse to care about his charm.
Evidence does not get intimidated.
It does not feel guilty.
It does not remember anniversaries.
It simply remains.
Three months after our wedding, I received the annulment hearing date.
Derek opposed it.
Of course he did.
He wanted leverage.
The courthouse was crowded the morning of the hearing.
Reporters had learned about the fraud investigation.
Derek entered wearing a navy suit.
For a fraction of a second, I saw the man I had once loved.
Then he looked at me with contempt.
And the illusion disappeared.
His attorney argued that our marriage was valid and should proceed through ordinary divorce.
Martin argued fraud.
The judge reviewed the evidence.
The forged documents.
The financial searches.
The secret recordings.
The pre-wedding planning.
Then she looked at Derek.
“Mr. Matthews, is it your position that you entered this marriage in good faith?”
“Yes.”
He lied without blinking.
Martin stood.
“Your Honor, may I introduce one additional item?”
Derek's lawyer turned sharply.
I had no idea what Martin meant.
He placed a printed email on the screen.
It was dated four months before our wedding.
Derek had written it to Wesley.
Only seven words mattered.
Once I marry her, the leverage changes.
The courtroom went silent.
May you like
And for the first time since this began, Derek had nothing to say.
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