“Because it makes this whole thing look like a setup.” Sophie pulled out files. “I’m taking your case. Pro bono. Let’s make them pay.”
The trial began on a Monday. The courtroom was packed.
Eleanor had turned it into a media circus. Reporters filled the back rows. Photographers waited outside. Headlines screamed: “Housemaid Betrays Trust, Steals From Family.”
Lucia walked in wearing her old uniform. It was the only professional outfit she owned.
Daniel sat beside his mother. He looked miserable.
Dr. Victor Hale rose, six feet tall in a thousand-dollar suit. “Ladies and gentlemen, this case is simple. The defendant exploited a family’s kindness and stole a priceless heirloom.”
He painted Lucia as calculating, cold, ungrateful. Called witnesses who’d “seen her acting strange.” All Eleanor’s friends and allies.
“She was always in that room,” one woman testified. “Always touching things.”
“That was my job,” Lucia whispered to Sophie. “I dusted the display cases.”
When Lucia took the stand, she told the truth.
“I loved that family,” she said quietly. “I loved Noah like my own son. I would never hurt them.”
“But you needed money,” Hale pressed.
“I’ve never needed money badly enough to steal.”
“You’re a single woman with no family. No prospects. No future. That ruby could change your life.”
“I don’t want a new life. I wanted to keep the one I had.”
The courtroom was silent. Lucia looked at Daniel. He looked away.
Outside, social media exploded. Greedy maid. Fake tears. Lock her up.
That night, Sophie paced in Lucia’s apartment. “We need Noah’s testimony.”
“He’s seven years old. They’ll never allow it.”
“He’s our only witness.”
“Daniel would have to approve. And he won’t go against Eleanor.”
Sophie stopped pacing. “What if we force his hand?”
The next morning, Sophie filed a motion to allow Noah Aldridge to testify. The media went wild. “Lawyer Wants Child to Testify Against Grandmother.”
Daniel finally called Lucia. His voice was strained. “Is this necessary?”
“You know I’m innocent,” she said.
“I don’t know anything anymore.”
“Yes, you do. You’ve always known. You’re just too afraid to admit your mother is a liar.”
Silence.
“Let Noah tell the truth,” Lucia continued. “Please, Daniel. For him.”
He hung up.
But the next day, his lawyer contacted Sophie. “Mr. Aldridge will allow his son to testify.”
Eleanor was furious. She arrived at court the next morning with fire in her eyes.