Chapter 13 - THE TRIAL OF THE MORETTI WOMEN
The trials lasted eleven months.
Ryan Bennett pleaded guilty to kidnapping, fraud, domestic abuse, and conspiracy.
Marissa accepted a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony.
Carlo refused every deal.
He claimed Alessandro had fabricated the evidence to seize legitimate businesses.
The public divided into camps.
Some believed Alessandro had changed.
Others believed a mafia boss never changed.
Sophia testified for six hours.
Carlo’s lawyer tried to humiliate her.
“You were a maid in the Moretti estate?”
“Yes.”
“You entered private rooms?”
“To clean them.”
“You had access to confidential conversations?”
“Sometimes.”
“You became pregnant using Alessandro Moretti’s genetic material?”
“Without my informed consent.”
“You later lived under his protection?”
“After your client tried to have my child killed.”
The courtroom became silent.
The lawyer changed direction.
“Did Mr. Moretti promise you money?”
“No.”
“A house?”
“No.”
“Marriage?”
“He announced it publicly without asking me.”
Several jurors looked toward Alessandro.
The lawyer smiled.
“And yet you remained with him.”
Sophia looked at Alessandro.
“I remained near him because our daughter deserved the chance to know whether her father could become a better man.”
“Has he?”
Sophia paused.
“Some days.”
A quiet laugh moved through the courtroom.
Alessandro almost smiled.
Lucia testified next.
She described eighteen years under Carlo’s control.
The isolation.
The training.
The lies.
Carlo stared at her without remorse.
“You would be dead without me,” he said.
Lucia faced him.
“I survived despite you.”
Isabella was the final witness.
She entered wearing a plain navy suit.
No diamonds.
No silk.
No guards.
She admitted helping lure Elena to the warehouse.
She admitted authorizing storage of Alessandro’s genetic material.
She admitted protecting family crimes for decades.
Her confession destroyed Carlo’s defense.
It also guaranteed her own prison sentence.
Before she left the stand, Lucia spoke.
“Did you ever love my mother?”
Isabella looked at her granddaughter.
“No.”
The honesty was brutal.
“But she loved Alessandro enough to challenge everything I believed.”
“I hated her for that.”
“And now?”
Isabella’s eyes filled with tears.
“Now I know she was the only brave person in the room.”
Carlo was convicted on every major charge.
He received life in federal prison.
Isabella received twelve years.
The sentence caused national controversy.
Some called it too harsh for a cooperating witness.
Others called it too lenient for a woman involved in murder.
Outside the courthouse, reporters surrounded Lucia.
“Do you forgive your grandmother?”
“No.”
“Do you forgive your father?”
Lucia looked toward Alessandro.
“Forgiveness is not a public performance.”
She walked away.
That evening, the family gathered at a small rented house outside the city.
No guards stood in the dining room.
No marble covered the floors.
Emma sat at the table eating spaghetti.
She had sauce on both cheeks.
Alessandro looked at the mess.
“You have food in your hair.”
Emma shrugged.
“You had flowers on your face.”
Sophia laughed.
Lucia did too.
It was the first time Alessandro heard his eldest daughter laugh.
He looked at her.
She immediately became serious.
“You heard nothing.”
“Of course.”
After dinner, Lucia handed him a small box.
Inside was Elena’s necklace.
“I kept it all these years.”
Alessandro touched the silver chain.
“You should have it.”
“I do not want to carry her death anymore.”
He looked at Lucia.
“What do you want?”
She thought for a moment.
“To study architecture.”
“To live somewhere no one knows my name.”
“To make mistakes that belong to me.”
He nodded.
“I can arrange—”
Lucia raised one eyebrow.
Sophia watched him.
Alessandro corrected himself.
“Would you like help?”
Lucia considered it.
“Yes.”
“One condition.”
“Name it.”
“No surveillance.”
He hesitated.
Sophia kicked him beneath the table.
Alessandro looked at her.
Then at Lucia.
“Agreed.”
Later that night, Emma fell asleep on the sofa.
Alessandro carried her to bed.
Sophia watched him pull the blanket over her.
He touched the yellow flower Emma had drawn on the bedframe.
“You kept it,” he said.
“She insisted.”
He looked at Sophia.
“It has been almost a year.”
“Yes.”
“I sold the remaining legal companies.”
“I know.”
“I placed Emma’s share in a trust you control.”
“I know.”
“I have not asked you to marry me again.”
“I noticed.”
He took a breath.
“May I ask now?”
Sophia looked at him for a long moment.
“Ask properly.”
He lowered himself onto one knee.
There was no ring.
No audience.
No announcement.
No claim of ownership.
Only a man trying to learn another way.
“Sophia Bennett.”
“I do not need you to save me.”
“I do not expect you to repair what my family broke.”
“I cannot promise that my past will disappear.”
“But I can promise that your choices will remain yours.”
“I can promise to ask instead of command.”
“To listen before acting.”
“And to spend the rest of my life becoming a man our daughter will not fear.”
“Will you marry me?”
Sophia’s eyes filled with tears.
She opened her mouth.
Then the front window shattered.
A bullet struck the wall above Alessandro’s head.
He pulled Sophia to the floor.
Lucia ran in with a weapon.
Outside, a black motorcycle disappeared down the road.
A note had been tied to the bullet.
Alessandro opened it.
The message contained one sentence.
May you like
Carlo was never the last Moretti.
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