Chapter 7
The courthouse smelled like wet coats, old paper, and fear.
Reporters crowded the steps.
Cameras turned the second I stepped out of the SUV.
“Valeria, did you assault your husband?”
“Did you kidnap your son?”
“Is Noah safe?”
I kept walking.
Sophia stayed on my left.
Daniel on my right.
Frank behind me.
Detective Hart had warned me not to speak outside.
Gregory wanted a public fight.
He wanted tears.
He wanted one cracked sentence he could twist into proof.
Inside the courtroom, he sat at the front table in a gray suit, a bruise darkening his jaw.
He looked wounded.
Perfectly wounded.
Carmela sat behind him with a rosary wrapped around her fingers.
When she saw me, she smiled.
It was small.
Cruel.
Like she still believed the room belonged to her.
Gregory’s lawyer stood first.
“Your Honor, my client is terrified for his son’s safety. Mrs. Romano has shown erratic behavior, violent outbursts, and a pattern of emotional instability following her father’s death.”
There it was.
The story he had written for me.
The judge looked over his glasses.
“And the child?”
Gregory stood.
His voice broke at exactly the right moment.
“I just want my son home.”
My stomach turned.
Then his lawyer played the clip.
Me driving Gregory into the coat rack.
Gasps filled the courtroom.
Carmela lowered her eyes like a grieving saint.
The judge turned to me.
“Mrs. Romano?”
My lawyer, Rachel Kim, rose beside me.
“We have context, Your Honor.”
Gregory’s lawyer objected before she finished.
Rachel did not blink.
“Mr. Romano locked his child in a concealed room during a public event.”
“Alleged,” Gregory’s lawyer snapped.
Rachel placed photographs on the screen.
The hidden door.
The small bed.
The red marks on Noah’s wrists.
The courtroom changed.
Not loudly.
But I felt it.
Gregory did too.
His hand curled into a fist beneath the table.
Rachel continued.
“We also have witness statements from twenty-three guests who heard Mr. Romano order Mrs. Romano to put the child back where he was.”
Gregory’s lawyer went pale.
The judge looked at him.
“Is that true?”
Gregory leaned toward his attorney.
Whispered.
His attorney swallowed.
“Emotions were high.”
Rachel clicked again.
Audio filled the room.
Gregory’s voice.
Clear.
Cold.
“Put the boy back where he was.”
Carmela’s smile vanished.
I looked straight ahead, but my hands trembled under the table.
Rachel lowered her voice.
“Your Honor, we are requesting immediate protective custody for Mrs. Romano and the minor child, suspension of Mr. Romano’s visitation, and preservation of all estate security footage.”
Gregory stood.
“This is a setup.”
The judge snapped, “Sit down, Mr. Romano.”
For the first time, Gregory did not obey fast enough.
Two officers moved closer.
He sat.
Then Carmela rose.
“My son is being persecuted by a hysterical woman who never understood our family.”
The judge’s face hardened.
“Ma’am, sit down.”
“She is not fit,” Carmela said. “Her own doctors will say so.”
Rachel turned slowly.
“Which doctors?”
Carmela froze.
It was a tiny mistake.
But in court, tiny mistakes bleed.
Rachel lifted Sophia’s folder.
“We would like to enter evidence of a planned fraudulent mental incapacity petition prepared before last night’s events.”
Gregory whispered, “Mother.”
Too late.
The judge ordered a recess.
As everyone stood, Gregory turned toward me.
His wounded mask was gone again.
“You think this protects you?” he said softly.
Daniel stepped between us.
Gregory smiled.
“Ask your aunt what happened to the last woman who tried to take a Romano child.”
Sophia went still.
I looked at her.
“What is he talking about?”
Her face drained of color.
Rachel touched my elbow.
“Not here.”
But Gregory saw the damage land.
He leaned closer.
“Your father lied to you too, Val.”
Then Detective Hart entered through the side door with two officers.
She walked straight to the judge’s clerk and handed over a sealed envelope.
The judge opened it.
His expression changed.
He looked at Gregory.
“Mr. Romano, remain seated.”
Gregory laughed once.
“Why?”
May you like
The judge’s voice went cold.
“Because Chicago PD has just issued a warrant for your arrest.”
