Chapter 5 - Behind Bars
Three days later, I visited King County Correctional Facility.
The visitor’s room was cold, smelling faintly of industrial floor cleaner and stale air. A thick partition of reinforced glass separated the booths, with heavy black telephone handsets resting on metal hooks.
I sat down on the hard plastic chair and waited.
A minute later, the heavy metal door on the opposite side opened, and a guard led Daniel inside.
He looked unrecognizable. He was wearing an oversized orange jumpsuit, his hair was unwashed and messy, and dark, heavy circles hung beneath his bloodshot eyes. His hands were bound in front of him by a heavy waist chain that clinked loudly with every step he took.
He sat down heavily across from me, his eyes fixing on my face through the glass. He picked up the black handset with trembling fingers.
I picked up mine.
"Sarah," Daniel rasped through the earpiece. His voice sounded thin, broken, and hollow. "Sarah, please... you have to get me out of here. The judge set bail at $750,000. My lawyer says the DA is adding grand larceny and wire fraud charges. I can't survive in here, Sarah!"
I looked at him calmly, resting my hands in my lap. "Hello, Daniel."
"Why are you doing this?!" Daniel suddenly slammed his bound hands against the glass, making the guard near the door step forward warningly. "I admitted I made a mistake! I drank too much! I shouldn't have put my hands on you! But this?! You’re trying to destroy my entire life over a stupid argument!"
"A stupid argument?" I asked, my voice smooth and crystal clear through the line. "Daniel, you hit me four times. You split the inside of my cheek. You let your mother mock me while I bled. And then you went to sleep laughing on the phone about how I would be 'begging' by morning."
Daniel swallowed hard, his eyes darting away from mine. "I... I was angry, Sarah. I didn't mean it."
"You did mean it," I said. "You meant every second of it because you believed you owned me. You thought that because I was quiet, because I didn't brag about my wealth, because I let you feel like the big man in front of your friends, I was your helpless property."
"Sarah... please," Daniel began to weep, heavy, desperate tears spilling down his pale cheeks. "I'll do anything. I'll go to therapy. I'll sign a complete postnuptial agreement. I'll give you full control of everything! Just pay the bail! Don't let me go to trial!"
"The trial is already set, Daniel," I informed him coldly. "And Mr. Vance has handed over all your offshore bank records to the federal prosecutors. You aren't just facing state assault charges. You are facing ten to fifteen years in federal prison for securities fraud and money laundering."
Daniel’s face drained of what little color it had left. He pressed his forehead against the cold glass, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Why?" he choked out. "If you hated me this much... why didn't you just leave me three years ago?"
"Because three years ago, I thought you were just foolish," I answered truth. "I thought you were ambitious and clumsy, but redeemable. I stayed because I wanted to see if there was a real man under all that insecurity. But six months ago, when you laid your hands on me for the first time and promised it would never happen again... I realized what you really were."
I leaned closer to the glass, looking straight into his broken eyes.
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"I didn't leave, Daniel, because leaving leaves room for you to hurt someone else. I stayed to build a cage big enough to keep you in for the rest of your youth."
I hung up the black handset, set it back on its metal hook, stood up, and walked out of the room without looking back once.
