Chapter 18
The verdict came before sunset.
Guilty.
Child cruelty.
Fraud.
Conspiracy.
Murder in the death of Sofia Romano.
Enzo Moretti was found guilty too.
Marco took a deal but still received prison time.
When the clerk read the word murder, I felt the air leave my body.
Not because I was surprised.
Because the world had finally said Sofia had not fallen by accident.
She had been taken.
And now the lie was dead.
Helena did not cry.
She turned toward me.
“You’ll never be clean,” she said.
The bailiff pulled her back.
I stood.
“No,” I answered. “But my son will be free.”
She flinched.
That was the only wound I cared to give.
At sentencing, Adrian spoke for Sofia’s family.
Camila spoke for ours.
Then I spoke for Leo because he was too young to carry that room.
“My son knelt beside a car for a crime invented by an adult,” I said. “He was hungry in a house full of food. He was afraid in a house full of guards. That is not discipline. That is betrayal.”
The judge sentenced Helena to life.
Enzo too.
Afterward, I drove to Sofia’s grave.
Leo came with me.
He placed flowers down and touched the stone.
“Mom,” he whispered, “I told.”
The wind moved through the trees.
I put my hand on his shoulder.
He looked up at me.
May you like
“Do you think she heard?”
“Yes,” I said. “I think she always heard you.”
