Chapter 14 - The Truth Under Oath
By the time the first hearings began, the baby had dropped lower, and Dr. Ruiz had ordered me to reduce travel and rest more often. I wanted to attend every proceeding. My lawyer and doctor persuaded me that protecting my health was not the same as surrendering my voice.
I gave a recorded statement with Bennett and a victim advocate present. I described the phone call to Bianca, the job offer, the secrecy she demanded, the engagement dinner, and the forms I had never knowingly authorized. I showed them my ring and the courthouse photograph.
I did not try to sound brave. Sometimes my voice shook. Sometimes I asked for a break. I told the truth anyway.
Investigators had now authenticated several key records. The courthouse confirmed my marriage. Forensic examiners found evidence that the disputed medical documents had been altered after their stated dates. Financial investigators traced payments from Romano-controlled entities to Northbridge and the clinic. The truck company produced maintenance and dispatch records inconsistent with the original accident report.
Adrian's lawyer began discussions about cooperation. Richard Romano was charged in connection with financial crimes and the alleged conspiracy involving the clinic; additional charges relating to Matteo's death were under review. Bianca faced charges stemming from document concealment and related conduct. Every defendant remained entitled to challenge the accusations in court.
I needed that distinction. I had spent months being condemned by people who never let me speak. I would not build my peace on pretending a charge was the same as a verdict.
The day Nora was reunited with Lily, she sent me a photograph of two hands holding each other across a table. There were no faces, no public announcement. The message said only: She knows my song.
I sat on the bed and cried until Leonardo knocked to ask whether I was all right.
“Something good happened,” I told him.
He looked startled. “I almost forgot what that sounds like.”
Nora later explained that reunification would be gradual and supported by specialists. Lily had been living with a family who had believed the placement was lawful. They were devastated, too. Nora did not have to pretend the situation was simple to be grateful that her daughter was alive.
“I want her to know she was loved while she was gone,” Nora said. “Even if people lied about why she was there.”
I thought of Matteo's quiet kindness. There was room in the world for love and terrible wrongdoing to exist in the same story. The work was learning which one to carry forward.
Meanwhile, Leonardo announced that his companies would suspend the Romano merger, submit to independent compliance review, and cooperate with authorities. The decision cost him partners and money. Newspapers called it a crisis. I called it the first decent choice he had made without waiting for a disaster to force him.
One night he brought a small wooden box to my room. Inside were Matteo's old watch, a set of apartment keys, and a folded note written in the crooked handwriting I knew by heart.
“Leo found these in storage,” he said. “They belong with you.”
The note was a grocery list. Milk. Pasta. Lemons. Coffee. At the bottom Matteo had written: Ask Em if she's tired of me yet.
I laughed and cried at the same time.
“He was impossible,” I said.
“He was my brother,” Leonardo answered. “I wish I'd told him I was proud of him.”
“You can tell his child.”
Leonardo looked at my stomach. “If you'll let me.”
“I want you in the baby's life,” I said. “But not because you feel guilty. Because you want to be here.”
“I do.”
We sat in silence, and for once silence did not mean that somebody was hiding a secret.
A week later Bennett called with an update. Adrian had agreed to provide information about the financial scheme and the transfer operation, subject to verification and court approval. He had also identified communications that investigators believed could establish who arranged the truck's position on the night Matteo died.
“Does it point to Richard?” I asked.
“The evidence is pointing that way,” she said. “But I won't promise you a verdict.”
“Thank you.”
“That's a strange thing to thank a prosecutor for.”
“Everyone else spent months telling me what they wanted me to believe.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Then we'll keep showing you what we can prove.”
That evening my contractions began.
At first I thought they were the familiar tightening Dr. Ruiz had warned me about. I drank water, changed position, and timed them. But they grew closer together, and a low ache spread across my back.
I called Dr. Ruiz. She told me to come to the hospital for evaluation immediately.
Leonardo reached for his car keys, then paused.
“Which hospital?” he asked.
I looked at the overnight bag I'd packed myself, with my own medical records and my own choices written down.
“The one I chose,” I said.
He opened the door.
May you like
And together we went to meet the future Matteo had never lived to see.
END OF CHAPTER 14
