m of the refrigerator and Warren's heavy,

ird beating against the cage of her ribs. Warren's phone was on

it. Her

cold beneath her feet. The air in their bedroom was

st rise and fall. He was completely

vy and limp. This was the hand that had once held hers during the birt

lifted his hand and guided his th

first attempt fail. Th

g onto his side. Beverly froze, her blood turning to ice water. She th

hat felt like an eternity. His breath

shaky exhale. Get

e certain this time. She pressed h

ic

n lit up.

made her dizzy. She snatched the phone, turned the brightness dow

guest room. She closed the door, stuffing a towel alon

urrounded by her own cl

The conversation with the contact

f her. They called her "the warden," "the ball and chain." Beverly's stomach twisted, but

Warren, sent the night his mo

ld witch gone y

nearly cleared. But just divorcin

her off

at like a cold hand. This wasn't just about him wanting to leave

did h

etimes watched late at night. Husbands who tampered with the brakes on their wiv

, living thing, coiling in her gut. The man sleeping in the

for money or dignity. Thi

. With steady hands, she began to photograph the screen of his, capturing ever

hoto. Click,

ded every single picture. As a final precaution, she attached them to an email a

her phone's camera roll and clear

She could return it to the nightstand, plug it in, arrange his hand exactly as it had

the phone in her

had proven he wanted to hurt her. They ha

n, then tapped it lightly before it c

r knee and pressed both hands over her mouth, forcing he

It was a cage. And the zookeeper

d to g

aken everything from him. His mo

thing but the ruins of the