Chapter 14 - THE TRIAL BEGAN
The trial began nine months later.
Enzo pleaded not guilty to nearly everything.
Isabella reached an agreement in exchange for testimony.
Her decision enraged Enzo.
That pleased nobody more than Isabella.
Alessandro testified for two days.
He hated every minute.
Private family history became public.
His father’s trust.
Enzo’s resentment.
Isabella’s affair.
The altered food.
The fake insurance policy.
The plan to remove Luca.
Then Sofia’s name entered the courtroom.
Alessandro’s expression changed.
The prosecutor asked about the child.
He answered carefully.
He would not turn her into entertainment.
“She noticed something adults missed.”
“What?”
“A pattern.”
“Which pattern?”
“Miss Moretti handled my breakfast more often than she admitted.”
“And then?”
“She warned me.”
Enzo’s lawyer tried to attack Sofia’s credibility.
“She was six.”
“Yes.”
“Children imagine things.”
“So do adults.”
“Mr. Romano.”
“Ask your question.”
The attorney suggested Sofia had been coached.
Alessandro looked toward the jury.
“No one coached her to recognize Enzo’s voice.”
Enzo’s jaw tightened.
Then Isabella testified.
For the first time, she described the entire plot under oath.
Enzo approached her first.
She accessed security using Luca’s code.
She placed medication into Alessandro’s butter in gradually increasing amounts.
She helped arrange the fraudulent insurance policy.
She opened secret accounts.
She planned to marry Alessandro.
Then after enough documented medical episodes, his death would be staged as a sudden cardiac event.
The courtroom became silent.
The prosecutor asked.
“What changed the plan?”
Isabella looked toward Alessandro.
“The girl.”
“Sofia?”
“Yes.”
“She saw me.”
“What did Mr. Romano do?”
“He gave me the bread.”
“And why didn’t you eat it?”
Isabella swallowed.
“Because I knew what was on it.”
That answer ended every remaining illusion.
Alessandro felt no triumph.
Only finality.
Then the prosecutor asked about Enzo’s instruction regarding Sofia.
Isabella hesitated.
Enzo stared at her.
She closed her eyes.
May you like
“He said witnesses become problems.”
Enzo’s face went white.
