The woman who had been sleeping with my husband kicked me in the stomach while I was eight months pregnant.

Two weeks later, the day before Maya and I were scheduled to be discharged from St. Catherine’s, Daniel Bennett had his day in preliminary court.

I attended the hearing.

I wore a tailored dark-green suit that Marcus Vance’s office had arranged for me, my hair pulled back into an elegant knot, my posture straight despite the faint ache that still lingered beneath my waistband. Beside me sat Marcus Vance and Dr. Whitmore.

Across the courtroom, Daniel sat at the defense table.

He looked unrecognizable. In two weeks of confinement, he had lost fifteen pounds. His orange prison jumpsuit hung off his collarbones like a sack. His expensive haircut was gone, his beard was patchy and graying, and his hands were cuffed to a chain wrapped tightly around his waist.

When the bailiff escorted him to the podium, his eyes darted frantically around the gallery until they landed on me.

A flicker of desperate, pathetic hope sparked in his face. He leaned toward his public defender, whispering frantically, gesturing toward me with his bound hands. The defender shook his head with a weary, defeated sigh.

The judge—a stern, sharp-featured man named Judge Harrison—adjusted his glasses and looked down at the docket.

“Mr. Bennett,” Judge Harrison said, his voice echoing through the wood-paneled room. “You are charged with seven counts of wire fraud, grand larceny in the first degree, forgery, and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury. How do you plead?”

Daniel stepped up to the microphone. His voice was cracked, barely audible.

“Not guilty, Your Honor.”

Judge Harrison looked over his spectacles at the prosecutor. “Ms. Davis, what is the state’s position regarding bail?”

The prosecutor stood up immediately.

“Your Honor, the state requests that the defendant be remanded without bail. Mr. Bennett has demonstrated extensive attempts to divert millions of dollars into non-extradition jurisdictions. Furthermore, the evidence shows that Mr. Bennett systematically coordinated a scheme to financially exploit and medically endanger his pregnant spouse, Claire Bennett, culminating in an assault that nearly resulted in the death of their newborn daughter.”

Daniel suddenly lunged toward the microphone, rattling his waist chains with a violent, metallic crash.

“That’s a lie!” he screamed, his voice cracking into high-pitched hysteria. “Claire! Tell them! Tell them you love me! Tell them Vanessa made me do it! I did everything for our family! For our baby!”

The courtroom exploded into murmurs.

Judge Harrison slammed his gavel down with three thunderous cracks.

“Silence! Mr. Bennett, control yourself or you will be removed and held in contempt!”

Daniel didn't stop. He turned his face entirely toward me, tears streaming down his hollow cheeks, his lips flecked with spit.

“Claire, please! Don’t let them do this to me! You took vows! In sickness and in health! You promised to stand by me! Look at me, Claire! Look at me!”

I slowly stood up from the wooden bench in the gallery.

The entire courtroom went dead silent. The bailiffs paused. Even Judge Harrison lowered his gavel, watching me.

I looked across the ten feet of space that separated us.

For eleven years, this man’s approval had been the sun around which my world orbited. I had worried about his stress, his career, his happiness. I had spent countless nights wondering if I was pretty enough, smart enough, supportive enough to keep his love.

Now, looking at him thrashing in his chains like a rabid animal, I felt nothing. No anger. No grief. Only a deep, clean, liberating emptiness.

“I kept my vows, Daniel,” I said, my voice ringing clear and calm through the silent chamber. “You are the one who broke them. And now, you are going to pay the bill.”

I sat back down and turned my eyes toward the judge.

Daniel’s knees gave out. He collapsed against the defense table, weeping uncontrollably as two bailiffs grabbed his arms and hoisted him back into his chair.

“Bail is denied,” Judge Harrison announced coldly. “The defendant will remain in custody pending trial. Court is adjourned.”

As they dragged Daniel through the heavy metal door leading to the holding cells, his screams of my name faded down the stone corridor until the heavy latch clicked shut.