Chapter 10
The criminal hearing was the first time I saw Vanessa again.
She wore a cream blouse and small pearl earrings.
She looked elegant.
Soft.
Wronged.
When she saw me, her eyes hardened.
Then she looked at the bruise fading on my cheek and smiled.
Just a little.
Alicia saw.
“Do not react,” she whispered.
“I won’t.”
But my hands shook.
Derek appeared by video from jail.
He looked frightened.
Less loyal now.
Funny how jail changes family devotion.
He admitted Vanessa gave him the spare key.
Admitted she told him the office camera password.
Admitted she planned to delete the footage.
Admitted she expected Mr. Harrison to accuse me.
The prosecutor asked, “Why Maria?”
Derek said, “Vanessa said nobody would believe the maid over the wife.”
The courtroom went silent.
My eyes burned.
There it was.
The whole plan in one sentence.
Nobody would believe the maid over the wife.
Mr. Harrison sat behind the prosecutor.
His face collapsed.
May you like
Good.
He needed to hear the exact shape of what he had believed.
