Chapter 5: Justice Served

At the police station, Tanya shrank into a hard plastic chair, her bravado gone. She insisted it was a system glitch, voice quivering. She played the innocent, wide-eyed and desperate, reciting lines about protecting men from gold diggers.

"Guys just get tricked so easily," she sniffled. "I was just trying to help. Sorry, Mr. Grant. Really."

She even angled herself away from me, as if I were invisible. Derek’s face softened. I saw him look at her, then at me, and the memory of him once standing up for me stung. Now, uncertainty flickered in his eyes.

"Forget it," he muttered. "If it was a bug, it’s not her fault. Officer, we’re willing to mediate. Don’t make things hard for her."

His tone was gentle, like smoothing over a family squabble—not a personal attack on me. I grabbed his arm, my voice low but fierce. "Derek, she slandered me. Why do you get to forgive her for me?"

He looked genuinely surprised. "Nat, isn’t this just like those videos where staff warn women about bad men? Why is it different if the warning’s for me?"

I stared at him, stunned. "How is that the same? She knew what she was doing. Why should I just swallow it?"

He sighed, already exhausted. "We’ll have to postpone the license anyway. Don’t make a scene, okay?"

Tanya rolled her eyes, her tone pure daytime TV: "Oh, come on, not everyone wants your man."

The police officer looked between us, wishing he were anywhere else. My dignity, my plans—put on hold because someone else couldn’t stand to see me happy.