Chapter 3: The Recording

“Fine. You want evidence, right?”

Adriana stared at me, her voice trembling with rage.

I nodded.

“Yes. And I hope you understand the consequences of what you’re alleging.”

She whispered a few words to her lawyer, then took a USB drive from her bag.

“This is the evidence.”

“I request that it be played in court.”

A few minutes later, a recording filled the courtroom.

The sound was unpleasant even in the daytime; at night, it would have been torture.

It sounded like someone dragging furniture—chairs, cabinets, heavy objects—back and forth across a bare floor, the scraping sharp and grating.

Mixed in were the sounds of children running and laughing.

Kevin, who was sitting nearby, suddenly clutched his chest.

His face went white, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

I immediately signaled the court staff to stop the recording.

Judging by Kevin’s reaction, the sound truly did affect him.

After the recording stopped, it took him a long moment to recover, his color slowly returning.

Someone in the gallery immediately shouted at me.

“That sound is pure torture!”

“Who makes that kind of noise in the middle of the night?”

“This wasn’t an accident. That was deliberate.”

I looked toward the gallery.

“Please, everyone, calm down. I don’t know where that recording came from or who is trying to frame me, but I did not make that noise.”

A chorus of angry voices drowned me out.

“She hears the recording and still denies it.”

“She’s shameless.”

“Why didn’t she just stop when she was asked?”

I didn’t raise my voice. I just said to the judge,

“I admit the sound in that recording is disruptive.”

“But it still does not prove it came from my apartment.”

Adriana lifted her hand and pointed at me.

“I recorded it myself. How could I have gotten the wrong apartment?”

“I knew you’d deny it, so I stood right outside your door to record it.”

After saying that, she started crying again.

“My Nonna spent her whole life helping people.”

“And in the end, this is what happened to her.”

“I just want to get justice for her. Why is that so hard?”

Many people in the room were visibly moved. Some were already dabbing their eyes with tissues.

I didn’t back down.

The judge made no ruling, instead asking Adriana to submit any further evidence.