Chương 11
The woman from the front table—the one who had called Sofia princess—could be heard laughing after nearly every slap.
When reporters gathered outside the courthouse, Carmen wore dark glasses and a navy suit. She did not look at the cameras. Javier did.
He appeared thinner. For one terrible second, Sofia watched the footage and said, “He looks scared.”
I turned off the television.
“He should be.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“It should.”
“No, Mom. It makes me remember loving him.”
I sat beside her.
“I don’t know what to do with that.”
“You don’t have to do anything.”
“I want to hate him correctly.”
“There may not be a correct way.”
She leaned her head against my shoulder, careful of her healing rib.
The settlement offer was withdrawn.
Javier’s attorney shifted strategy. He claimed Javier had believed Carmen was conducting a private property discussion and had not understood the severity of the assault. The statement about Sofia’s face, his attorney suggested, was a clumsy attempt to reduce harm.
Sofia read that argument twice.
“He wants credit for managing the injuries.”
Maya closed the filing.
“He wants doubt.”
“I can give him doubt.”
Maya studied her.
“What do you mean?”
“I loved him. I can explain every warning away. I did it for two years.”
“That doesn’t make his explanation true.”
“It makes it possible to people who want it to be true.”
The criminal case moved toward trial. Carmen refused every plea that included incarceration. She insisted the recording had been manipulated, then argued it lacked context, then claimed her actions were justified by Sofia’s disrespect.
Those positions contradicted one another. They did not need to be consistent to keep her family loyal.
Javier considered a plea separately.
Through his attorney, he offered to testify against Carmen if prosecutors reduced his exposure. The news devastated Sofia in a way Carmen’s denials had not.
“He’ll blame his mother.”
“He may tell the truth about her,” Maya said.
“He’ll tell enough truth to save himself.”
“Probably.”
“Does that help me?”
“It may help the case.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Maya removed her glasses.
“No,” she said. “It may not help you.”
The plea discussions failed because Javier minimized his own role. Prosecutors believed the recording and video showed planning, not passive presence.
A trial date was set for eleven months after the wedding.
Time moved in ways that felt insulting.
Carmen remained under restrictions but attended church, family dinners, and business meetings. Javier lived with an uncle and began working for a car dealership outside the city. Sofia attended physical therapy for her wrist and counseling for trauma. The Robles banquet halls entered restructuring. One closed.
People began treating the case like an old story before Sofia had reached the witness stand.
She returned to work full-time. She changed teams after a client asked whether she had “resolved the domestic situation.” Marlene apologized, but Sofia transferred anyway.
At home, she replaced the condo’s front door with one that had a stronger frame. She hated that the old door had never been broken.
“It did nothing wrong,” she said as the installer carried it away.
“Doors don’t have feelings,” I replied.
“That’s why I feel guilty. It can’t defend itself.”
Her humor returned before her sense of safety.
Alexander came to Dallas once a month. Sometimes he stayed with a friend. Sometimes he slept on my sofa, which caused us both to behave like people defusing an explosive device.
He fixed a drawer in my kitchen without asking. I became so angry that he removed the screws and returned it to its broken state.
Two days later, I asked him to fix it again.
We did not reconcile. We stopped punishing each other for not reconciling.
Sofia met with prosecutors repeatedly. Each preparation session made her feel as though she were being accused by polite people.
They asked whether she drank at the reception. She had consumed two glasses of champagne.
They asked whether she had ever told Javier the condo would become “ours.” She had used the word ours when discussing furniture.
They asked why she did not scream continuously. She did not know.
They asked why she could remember Carmen removing her rings but not the order of every slap. She did not know.
They asked whether Alexander’s purchase of the condo created pressure to keep it outside the marriage. Yes.
The prosecutor, Rachel Hines, was careful but direct.
“The defense will suggest your father influenced your accusation to protect the property.”
“He wasn’t there.”
“They may say he shaped what happened afterward.”
“He tried.”
Alexander, seated behind her, lowered his eyes.
Sofia continued, “I didn’t let him.”
Hines nodded.
“That answer matters only if it’s true.”
“It is.”
The defense subpoenaed records from Sofia’s counseling sessions. Maya and prosecutors fought to limit disclosure. Some material remained protected; some related statements could be challenged if Sofia testified about certain emotional effects.
Privacy became another thing the case demanded from her.
She began reconsidering whether to testify.
The recording existed. The hotel footage existed. Ana would testify. The medical evidence existed. Prosecutors said they could proceed without Sofia, though her testimony would make the case stronger.
“I’ve already told the truth,” she said. “Why do I have to perform it?”
“You don’t,” Maya replied.
“Everyone keeps saying that in a way that means I should.”
“No. I’m saying the choice has costs in both directions.”
“What happens if I don’t testify?”
“The defense may argue the state is hiding you because your account cannot withstand questions.”
“And if I do?”
“They’ll ask questions designed to create doubt.”
“They’ll call me a liar.”
“More politely than that.”
Sofia stood at the window.
“I don’t want Carmen hearing my voice shake.”
“That is not a legal reason to testify or not testify.”
“I know.”
“It is a human reason.”
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The week before trial, Javier requested a meeting.
His attorney proposed that it occur through counsel. He wanted to make a final plea offer and claimed he had information about Carmen’s financial planning that prosecutors did not possess.
