Chapter 5: The Arrest
They arrested Michael that same afternoon.
Detective Ramirez and two uniformed officers went to the house while I waited at the station. According to her, he tried to deny everything at first. Then they showed him one of the videos.
He stopped talking after that.
They brought him in handcuffs. When he saw me sitting in the waiting area with my ribs bandaged, something dark passed across his face.
“You’re going to regret this, Mom,” he said as they walked him past me.
I didn’t answer.
I just looked at him.
For the first time, I didn’t feel afraid.
That night, I stayed at a women’s shelter that Detective Ramirez had arranged. It was small and clean. The woman who ran it made me soup and gave me clean sheets. I slept better than I had in months, even with the pain in my ribs.
The next morning, I went to see my lawyer.
I changed my will completely. I left the house and what little money I had left to a local charity that helps elderly people who have been abused. I made sure Michael would get nothing — not the house, not the money, not even the right to live there.
I also asked my lawyer to help me get a restraining order.
While Michael was still in jail waiting for his bail hearing, I went back to the house one last time with a police escort. I changed the locks and packed the rest of my important belongings.
I knew I couldn’t stay there anymore.
But before I left, I did one more thing.
I took copies of the videos and sent them to Michael’s former employer, to some of his old friends, and posted a few short clips anonymously on social media with his name attached.
I wanted the world to know exactly what kind of man he was.
May you like
Because for too long, I had been the only one who knew.
Now everyone would.
