Chapter 13 - Ethan's Choice
Ethan took the oath.
Bianca watched him closely.
Her attorney began.
"Mr. Cole, did Robert Balboa know his daughter was being considered for boarding school?"
Ethan looked at Robert.
Then at Bianca.
"Not that I know of."
Bianca's smile disappeared.
Her attorney paused.
"Did Ms. DeLuca tell you he knew?"
"Yes."
"So you understood the plan was mutual?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because Bianca lies."
A murmur moved through the courtroom.
The judge silenced it.
Ethan continued.
"She lied to me when we were married. She lied about money. She lied about why she wanted the Connecticut property. And when she came to my house after the canceled wedding, she lied about Robert attacking her for no reason."
Bianca's jaw tightened.
Her attorney tried to interrupt.
Ethan wasn't finished.
"Then my daughter recorded Bianca saying Livia was supposed to be gone."
He looked directly at Bianca.
"And that was when I realized she hadn't changed."
The prosecutor later asked Ethan one final question.
"Why did you agree to testify?"
Ethan looked toward Sophie, seated behind him.
"Because years ago, I kept quiet about things Bianca did because I thought protecting my daughter meant avoiding conflict."
He swallowed.
"I was wrong."
Robert looked down.
That sentence belonged to him too.
Silence wasn't protection.
Sometimes silence was permission.
Then came the financial expert.
Then the handwriting expert.
Then the trust attorney.
Then the security footage.
Bianca watched herself shave Livia's hair on the courtroom monitor.
Her face finally cracked.
Not from shame.
From rage.
"This is ridiculous!"
Her lawyer grabbed her arm.
"Bianca."
"No!"
She stood.
"He hit me!"
The judge's voice sharpened.
"Sit down."
"He assaulted me and everyone's acting like I'm the criminal because his family has money!"
Robert said nothing.
The prosecutor calmly displayed the notebook.
Bianca went silent.
Page after page.
Dates.
Plans.
Money.
Livia.
Rosalie.
The wedding.
The trust.
The prosecutor read one line aloud.
Child must associate resistance with punishment.
Several jurors visibly recoiled.
Bianca's face drained.
Her attorney closed his eyes.
That afternoon, Adrian changed his plea.
He agreed to cooperate.
And with that agreement came the final missing evidence.
Emails.
Hundreds of them.
Between Adrian and Bianca.
Dating back nearly four years.
Including one sent ten days before Bianca "accidentally" met Robert.
He's speaking at the St. Vincent auction Friday. Caroline's been gone eight months. Go slowly. The child is the key.
Robert felt physically ill.
Bianca had not only chosen him.
She had chosen the exact moment grief made him vulnerable.
Another email read:
Don't compete with the dead wife. Become useful to the daughter first. He'll trust whoever she trusts.
Rosalie began crying quietly.
Robert couldn't look at Livia's empty seat beside them.
She wasn't in court.
He had refused to let her see this.
The final email was dated the morning of the wedding.
From Bianca to Adrian.
After today, I'm done pretending to love that child.
Robert closed his eyes.
May you like
There was no defense left.
👉 Bianca had built her entire relationship with Robert around gaining Livia's trust—but the final email proved the little girl she pretended to love had always been the obstacle she planned to remove.
