Chapter 1 - The Metal Door
The heavy garage door shuddered under a violent pounding from the outside. I lay on the cold concrete with my arms wrapped tightly around my pregnant belly. My husband stood over me holding a glowing red iron bar. His mother froze near the workbench as the pounding grew louder. A deep voice screamed for them to open the door immediately. My husband panicked and dropped the hot iron bar onto the floor. He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me toward the corner of the garage. He whispered that I needed to tell the police I had burned myself. Before I could answer, the wooden side door splintered and crashed inward. Two police officers rushed into the dark space with their weapons drawn. They aimed their guns at my husband and ordered him to get on the ground. His mother immediately began crying fake tears and pointing her finger at me. She told the officers that I was deeply mentally unstable and had been trying to harm my unborn baby. My husband dropped to his knees and claimed he was only trying to stop me from hurting myself. One officer lowered his weapon slightly, looking at my blistered skin with hesitation. I tried to speak, but the smoke in my lungs made me cough uncontrollably. The officer radioed for an ambulance while stepping closer to my husband. It looked as though they were actually going to believe his twisted lies. Then a man walked through the broken door holding his cell phone high in the air. It was my neighbor, and he told the police he had the entire attack recorded on video. My husband lunged forward to grab the phone, but the officer tackled him to the concrete. They clamped heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists and dragged him out to the police cruiser. Paramedics rushed into the garage and gently lifted me onto a stretcher. As they wheeled me down the driveway, my mother-in-law leaned close to my ear. She whispered that the new girlfriend was a judge, and I would never win this fight.
