Chapter 14 - THE TRIAL BEGINS
The trial drew national attention.
Mónica entered wearing a pale blue dress.
She wanted the jury to see softness.
Ricardo wore dark glasses and refused to look at Alejandro.
Camila had already pleaded guilty.
She testified for the prosecution.
The jury heard how Isabel’s medication was changed.
They heard how Valentina was sedated.
They heard how medical language turned abuse into supposed behavioral treatment.
Rosa testified for two days.
Mónica’s attorney attacked her education.
Her salary.
Her delay in reporting.
He suggested she wanted money from Alejandro.
Rosa looked at the jury.
“I wanted to keep my job.”
“I wanted my family safe.”
“I was afraid.”
“None of that makes the child’s bruises disappear.”
The attorney asked why she kept notes.
“Because Mrs. Mónica said no one would believe a servant.”
“I thought paper might have a louder voice.”
The notebook became one of the strongest exhibits.
Valentina did not enter the open courtroom.
Her forensic interview was played privately for the jury.
She described the tapping signal.
The cold shower.
The missing meals.
The locked toy cabinet.
When asked why she never told Alejandro during calls, she answered:
“Because Mónica stood behind the camera.”
“She said Daddy would get hurt if I made him come home.”
Alejandro left the courtroom before the video ended.
He stood in the hallway with both hands against the wall.
Javier remained nearby.
“You could not have known every word,” Javier said.
“I should have known the silence.”
The distinction would stay with him forever.
May you like
He could not rewrite the past.
He could become the father who noticed differently afterward.
