"I'll pay for the best plastic surgeons in the country."
He looked directly at the burns on my neck.
"Otherwise..."
He shrugged.
"I guess you'll have to get used to looking like this."
I felt something inside me go completely still.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Resolve.
"You really believe I'm finished."
He smiled.
"I know you are."
The moment Julian left, I reached toward my handbag.
It sat untouched on the chair beside the hospital bed.
Inside...
Beneath my wallet...
Was a tiny black recording device.
Three years earlier, after Julian forged my signature on a business loan and dismissed it as "a misunderstanding," I had stopped trusting promises.
From then on, every important conversation was recorded.
Especially conversations about money.
Especially conversations with Eleanor.
With trembling fingers, I pressed play.
The room filled with familiar voices.
Eleanor shouted:
"After everything we did to make those inspectors approve his buildings, you still won't save us?"
Julian answered immediately.
"Pour it."
Then...
The horrifying sound of boiling oil.
My scream.
Eleanor's laughter.
And finally...
Julian kneeling beside me.
"I’m divorcing you."
"I refuse to live with this ugly monster anymore."
I listened until the recording ended.
Then I smiled for the first time since the attack.
Very slowly...
I pressed the nurse call button.
A few minutes later, Nurse Allison entered.
"Are you in pain?"
"Yes."
"But that's not why I called."
She looked concerned.
"I need to speak with the police again."
"They've already taken your husband's statement."
"I know."
"They haven't taken mine."
She hesitated.
"Mrs. Bennett..."
"If this is about accusing your husband..."
"You should understand these cases are difficult."
I gently lifted the recorder.
"It won't be difficult."
Her eyes widened.