Chapter 3 - What Rosa Recorded
Rosa had installed the camera 19 days earlier.
She had purchased it with cash from a small electronics shop in Queens.
It was hidden inside a decorative clock on a bookshelf in Garrett’s private study.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Rosa said.
Alessia sat across from her at the kitchen table.
“You could have come to me.”
“I wanted to.”
“But?”
Rosa’s eyes lowered.
“You loved him.”
The answer hurt because it was true.
Alessia had defended Garrett too many times.
When staff members complained about his temper, she called him stressed.
When her chief financial officer resigned after arguing with him, Alessia believed Garrett’s explanation that the man had mishandled accounts.
When Lily stopped asking Garrett to read bedtime stories, Alessia assumed she was growing more independent.
Every warning had arrived separately.
Garrett had made certain of that.
“What did the camera capture?”
“I haven’t checked all of it.”
“You have access?”
Rosa reached beneath her apron and removed a small memory card.
Alessia stared at it.
“I copied 2 nights.”
“Where’s the original?”
“Still recording.”
Alessia took the card.
“Rosa, listen carefully. From now on, you do nothing different. You don’t confront him. You don’t look frightened. If he asks questions, you know nothing.”
Rosa nodded.
“What about Lily?”
“I’m taking care of Lily.”
Alessia wanted to take her daughter and leave immediately.
Every instinct demanded it.
But Garrett had access to company accounts, attorneys, security personnel, and documents bearing Alessia’s forged signature.
If he realized she knew, he could destroy evidence.
Worse, if he had already prepared a claim that Alessia was mentally unstable, disappearing with Lily might help him.
She hated the calculation.
But she would not lose her daughter because she acted before understanding the trap.
At 11:05 p.m., Garrett was asleep.
Alessia locked herself inside the bathroom, inserted the memory card into a small laptop, and put in earphones.
The first recording showed Garrett entering his study alone.
He made 3 phone calls.
Two were ordinary.
The third was not.
“Stephen, I need the assessment ready before the gala.”
Alessia stopped breathing.
Garrett continued.
“No, she doesn’t have to agree to treatment. That’s the point. You document the instability first.”
A pause.
“I know what the trust says.”
Another pause.
“Yes, once she’s temporarily removed as trustee, I control Lily’s interest.”
Alessia closed her eyes.
Jonathan had been right.
Garrett was planning to use a psychiatric evaluation to seize authority over Lily’s trust.
She continued listening.
“The anniversary gala is perfect. Too many witnesses. We provoke her, she loses control, and everyone remembers the scene.”
Alessia paused the recording.
The ballroom.
Hundreds of witnesses.
Garrett did not merely intend to steal.
He intended to manufacture a public breakdown.
Her hands started trembling.
She forced them still and resumed.
Garrett laughed softly.
“Evelyn knows how to push her.”
The recording ended.
Alessia opened the second file.
This one was from 3 nights later.
Evelyn sat in Garrett’s study.
Her posture was rigid.
“You’re moving too slowly,” she said.
Garrett poured himself a drink.
“She trusts me.”
“She trusts you less every day.”
“She suspects nothing.”
“Lily does.”
Garrett’s face hardened.
“She’s 6.”
“She saw the papers.”
Alessia leaned closer to the screen.
What papers?
Garrett swore.
“I told you not to leave anything in the west room.”
“She followed me.”
“And?”
“I handled it.”
Alessia’s pulse quickened.
Garrett set down his drink.
“If Lily tells Alessia anything, everything becomes harder.”
Evelyn looked almost amused.
“Children can be taught silence.”
The recording ended.
Alessia sat frozen.
Then she replayed the last 20 seconds.
Children can be taught silence.
She removed the earphones.
For several seconds, she could hear nothing except her own breathing.
When she returned to the bedroom, Garrett was awake.
He looked at her.
“Where were you?”
“Bathroom.”
“For 40 minutes?”
Alessia forced a tired smile.
“Are you timing me now?”
Garrett watched her.
Then he laughed.
“Sorry.”
She climbed into bed.
He reached for her waist.
Every muscle in Alessia’s body recoiled.
She forced herself not to move.
Garrett kissed her shoulder.
“You know I love you.”
Alessia stared into the darkness.
“I know.”
It was the hardest lie she had ever spoken.
The following morning, she called Jonathan from a burner phone.
They met in a private conference room at one of the Moretti hotels.
She played the recordings.
Jonathan listened without interruption.
When they ended, he removed his glasses.
“This changes things.”
“How?”
“We are no longer dealing only with financial fraud.”
“They’re planning to frame me as mentally incompetent.”
“Yes.”
“And they did something to Lily.”
Jonathan nodded grimly.
“I think so.”
Alessia stood.
“I’m taking her out of that house.”
“I agree. But carefully.”
“I’m done being careful.”
“Alessia.”
She turned.
Jonathan’s voice softened.
“If you leave suddenly, Garrett may file for emergency access as her stepfather, especially if he claims you’re having a breakdown. It may fail, but he only needs confusion.”
Alessia hated that he was right.
“What do you suggest?”
“Get Lily somewhere safe under a normal explanation.”
Alessia thought.
“My aunt’s house in Connecticut.”
“Good.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Good.”
“And then?”
Jonathan slid the memory card into an evidence envelope.
“Then we find out what Lily saw in the west room.”
That night, Alessia sat beside Lily’s bed.
She did not ask about Garrett.
She did not ask about bruises.
She simply said, “Tomorrow you’re going to Aunt Cecilia’s house.”
Lily looked at her.
“Without Garrett?”
“Yes.”
“And Grandma Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
For the first time in days, Lily smiled.
Then her smile vanished.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Are you coming too?”
“Soon.”
Lily studied her face.
May you like
Then she whispered something Alessia would remember for the rest of her life.
“Don’t let them know you know.”
