Chương 10
“I don’t want review.”
“You may have legal claims.”
“I don’t want claims.”
Sophia sat across from her, hands in her lap.
“I’m sorry they pulled you into this.”
Rosa looked at her wrist.
“You are the woman in the new video.”
“Yes.”
“And the little girl is yours.”
“Yes.”
Rosa’s expression softened and then closed again.
“They showed her face everywhere.”
“I know.”
“People are cruel about children.”
“I know.”
The waitress brought tea and asked whether they wanted pie. Rosa said no. Sophia ordered a slice of apple she did not want because the waitress seemed disappointed.
After she left, Maya placed a copy of the 2014 confidentiality agreement on the table.
“We have reason to believe the theft accusation may have been false,” she said.
Rosa did not touch the paper.
“It was false.”
“Who placed the bracelet in your locker?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who struck you?”
Rosa looked at Sophia rather than Maya.
“You have a child?”
“Yes.”
“Then you understand why people answer some questions once and never again.”
Sophia nodded.
“My daughter heard Isabella threaten me. She spoke at the wedding because she thought adults had failed to notice.”
Rosa’s fingers tightened around the tea bag string.
“Children notice everything.”
“Did your son?”
“He was sixteen.”
“What happened to him?”
Rosa looked down at the cup.
“He was arrested two weeks before the bracelet disappeared. Marijuana in a school locker. It was not his, but that did not matter much then. Mr. Romano paid an attorney. The charge was reduced. After the bracelet, he said the attorney would withdraw if I made trouble.”
Maya said, “An attorney cannot simply undo a plea agreement.”
“No. But I did not know that. I believed he controlled the judge.”
“Did Isabella know?”
“She brought me the confession.”
“In the video, you told her you had not stolen anything.”
“She said it no longer mattered.”
Rosa’s mouth tightened.
“After I signed, they gave me a check. My son and I moved to Pennsylvania. He finished school. We came back years later.”
“Why didn’t you challenge them?”
“My son begged me not to. He was afraid they would reopen the case. Then my husband got sick. Then life kept going.”
The apple pie arrived. Sophia cut off a corner and put it in her mouth. It tasted of cinnamon and refrigerator air.
Maya asked, “Do you know why Isabella said you would do this to the next one?”
Rosa looked toward the window again.
“Because I had seen her threaten another girl.”
“What girl?”
“A housemaid named Elena Torres. She found invoices in Mr. Romano’s office. He blamed her for leaking them to a lender. Isabella told Elena that her mother’s immigration application could disappear.”
Sophia stopped chewing.
“What invoices?”
“Repairs that were never done. The estate borrowed money for roof work, but the money paid Carlo’s debts.”
“Did Elena sign anything?”
“She left before they could make her.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you testify about this?”
Rosa’s eyes filled, but no tears fell.
“No.”
Maya leaned back.
“That is your decision.”
“You think I am a coward.”
“I think you survived the way you could.”
Rosa looked at Sophia.
“What will you do?”
Sophia stared at the untouched half of the pie.
“I don’t know.”
“Then do not let rich people decide quickly for you. They are very good at making their emergency feel like your duty.”
On the drive back, Sophia watched traffic slide past the rain-streaked window. A delivery truck blocked an intersection. A man in a baseball cap leaned on his horn even though no one could move.
Maya drove with both hands on the wheel.
“You don’t have to become the public face of this,” she said.
“I already am.”
“You can reduce exposure.”
“How?”
“We can seek an injunction against further use of Emma’s image. We can negotiate with Bell & Finch. We can file a civil claim privately.”
“And the recordings?”
“Those are separate.”
“If Rosa won’t speak, people will say the old video proves nothing.”
“It proves coercive conduct. It may not prove the theft accusation was false.”
“What about Elena?”
“We find her if she wants to be found.”
Sophia pressed her forehead against the cool glass.
“I used to think brave people weren’t afraid.”
Maya glanced at her.
“Brave people are usually terrified and irritated.”
“I’m mostly irritated.”
“That will carry you farther.”
The foundation board met on Friday.
By then, Moretti Development had lost one municipal bid because a council member did not want the company’s name attached to “an unresolved family fraud matter.” Two lenders requested clarification regarding any pending obligations to the Romano estate. The union representing Moretti warehouse workers posted the wedding video with a statement asking whether domestic employees deserved less protection than corporate staff.
Alessandro’s board wanted a narrow response.
The proposed statement condemned “all forms of workplace intimidation,” announced an independent review of the grant application, and emphasized that no foundation funds had been distributed.
It did not mention Sophia, Isabella, forged signatures, disabled cameras, or the older recording.
“It is accurate,” Daniel said.
They sat in the Moretti headquarters conference room on the twenty-sixth floor, where glass walls overlooked Manhattan and every chair appeared designed to prevent relaxation.
“It is incomplete,” Alessandro said.
Board member Frank Delaney adjusted his cuff links. “Public statements are not depositions.”
“The public watched a child stop my wedding.”
“The public watched a stolen video.”
“A real video.”
“Context is disputed.”
Alessandro looked around the table.
Twelve people had attended. Four had known him since childhood. Three had worked for his father. One, Elise Ward, ran a pension fund that held a substantial share of Moretti debt and had no patience for family sentiment.
She tapped the draft statement.
“What exactly do you propose to add?”
“That the foundation application included a letter with my unauthorized signature.”
Daniel shifted in his chair.
May you like
Frank said, “That is not established.”
“I did not authorize it.”
