Chapter 10: The Night Nonna Died

The hearing resumed two days later.

This time, the courtroom felt completely different.

No one in the gallery whispered about murder.

No one called me heartless.

Everyone was waiting for the truth.

The prosecutor stood first.

“Your Honor, we have obtained the emergency medical records and building surveillance footage requested by the court.”

The judge nodded.

“Proceed.”

A medical examiner's report appeared on the screen.

I read the first few lines and felt my chest tighten.

The cause of death listed was acute cardiac failure.

But there was something else.

The report stated that Nonna had suffered a serious medical episode several hours before the alleged noise disturbance.

The prosecutor continued.

“The medical records show that Ms. Ferraro's grandmother had already been experiencing severe symptoms before midnight.”

Adriana lowered her head.

The prosecutor turned toward her.

“Ms. Ferraro, why did you tell this court that your grandmother's condition was triggered by noise in the middle of the night?”

Adriana didn't answer.

The judge looked at her.

“Answer the question.”

She finally whispered.

“Because I was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“Losing her.”

The prosecutor's expression remained firm.

“You knew she was already seriously ill.”

“Yes.”

“You knew she needed medical attention.”

Adriana's eyes filled with tears.

“Yes.”

“Then why didn't you call an ambulance immediately?”

The courtroom became completely silent.

Adriana's face crumpled.

“I did.”

The prosecutor shook his head.

“No. According to the emergency dispatch record, the call was placed forty-seven minutes after your grandmother's first documented symptoms.”

I stared at Adriana.

Forty-seven minutes.

The prosecutor continued.

“During those forty-seven minutes, you made three phone calls.”

A screen appeared.

The call records showed the first call was to Daniel Mercer.

The second was to an unknown number.

The third was to a private investigator.

Only after those calls did Adriana contact emergency services.

A murmur spread through the gallery.

Adriana covered her mouth.

The prosecutor turned to the next piece of evidence.

“Now let's examine the security footage.”

The screen showed the hallway outside Unit 1708.

The timestamp was clear.

September 18.

11:42 p.m.

Adriana left her apartment.

She carried a small black bag.

She walked downstairs.

She stopped outside Unit 1608.

Then she stood there for several minutes.

I frowned.

“That's my apartment.”

The prosecutor nodded.

“Yes.”

Adriana returned upstairs shortly afterward.

Then, at 12:17 a.m., she left again.

This time she carried a portable speaker.

My blood ran cold.

The next footage showed her entering a service corridor connected to the renovation area.

She disappeared from view.

The courtroom erupted.

“What is she doing?”

“Is that where the recording came from?”

The judge struck the gavel.

“Silence!”

The prosecutor paused the video.

“We believe Ms. Ferraro used the building's service corridor to access an electrical outlet near the vacant unit.”

“The speaker was then used to reproduce the sounds contained in the recording.”

I stared at the screen.

So that's how they had made it sound as though the noise came from my apartment.

But there was still more.

The prosecutor displayed another security clip.

Daniel Mercer appeared in the corridor.

He handed Adriana something.

A small device.

Then he looked directly at the security camera.

My stomach dropped.

Daniel had known.

The prosecutor turned toward him.

“Mr. Mercer, what was in the device you handed Ms. Ferraro?”

Daniel's lawyer stood immediately.

“My client declines to answer.”

The judge's expression hardened.

“That refusal may be considered in the context of the evidence.”

Daniel remained silent.

Then the prosecutor played one final recording.

It was an audio file recovered from Daniel's office computer.

His voice was unmistakable.

“Once she is blamed for the disturbance, she'll have no choice but to sell.”

Adriana's voice answered.

“And Nonna?”

Daniel replied coldly.

“Your grandmother's condition has nothing to do with her.”

“If anything happens, we'll make sure everyone believes it was the noise.”

The courtroom went dead silent.

I closed my eyes.

For days, I had wondered whether I had somehow missed something.

Whether my children had really disturbed someone.

Whether I had somehow caused a tragedy without even knowing it.

Now I knew the truth.

They hadn't just accused me.

They had deliberately built a story around a dying woman and used her death as a weapon against me.

The judge looked toward Adriana.

“Ms. Ferraro, do you have anything to say?”

She slowly stood.

Her face was soaked with tears.

“I didn't know what else to do.”

“I couldn't afford to lose Nonna.”

“When she got worse, I panicked.”

I looked at her.

“You didn't lose her because of me.”

“You lost her because she was sick.”

“But you almost destroyed my family to avoid accepting that.”

Adriana broke down.

The judge ordered an immediate investigation into the fabricated evidence, attempted fraud, and potential obstruction of justice.

Daniel was instructed to surrender his access credentials and remain available to investigators.

As I stepped out of the courtroom, reporters crowded around me.

But I didn't stop.

For the first time since this nightmare began, I wasn't trying to prove I was innocent.

The evidence had already done that.

I only had one thought left.

I had bought my apartment for a fresh start.

Now I wanted to know who had been behind the scheme from the very beginning.