Chapter 8 - The Price of Staying Silent|
Sunday morning arrived beneath a gray Chicago sky.
I had slept less than three hours.
My uniform was still hanging over the chair in my small room behind the kitchen.
For the first time since being hired, I couldn't bring myself to put it on.
Something about the forged medical document had changed everything.
I wasn't just a maid who had witnessed something terrible.
I had become part of the evidence.
And I was terrified.
At seven thirty, my mother called.
"Annie?"
Her voice was still slightly uneven after the stroke.
But she sounded stronger than she had in months.
"Morning, Mom."
"You sound tired."
"I didn't sleep much."
"Are you sick?"
"No."
I hesitated.
"Something happened at work."
She was quiet.
Then she said, "Tell me."
So I told her about Evelyn.
The coat.
The dinner.
The forged documents.
And Scarlett's threat to fire me.
My mother listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she asked one question.
"Did you leave that woman alone?"
"No, Mom."
"Good."
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.
"But I might lose my job."
"I know."
"And your therapy isn't cheap."
"I know that too."
My voice broke.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
Mom took a slow breath.
"Anna, when you were little, I worked two jobs so you could have a better life."
"I remember."
"I wasn't working that hard to teach you to be afraid of cruel people."
I covered my mouth.
She continued.
"I may need help walking now."
"I may need help getting dressed."
"But I can still tell you when you've done the right thing."
I began crying.
"Mom."
"Stand beside that woman, honey."
Her voice softened.
"And whatever happens next, we'll figure it out."
After we hung up, I sat on the edge of the bed and cried until I could breathe normally again.
Then I put on a clean blouse and went downstairs.
Rosa was waiting in the kitchen.
She looked exhausted.
"Matteo wants to see us."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Both of us?"
She nodded.
"His attorney is here."
Mara Chen stood in the study beside Matteo.
She was a composed woman in her early fifties with silver-rimmed glasses and a leather briefcase.
She greeted me politely.
Then she placed the forged medical authorization on the desk.
"Anna, I need to ask whether you recognize this signature."
"No."
"Did you authorize anyone to sign your name?"
"Absolutely not."
"Do you know the person who prepared this document?"
"No."
Mara studied me.
Then she nodded.
"I believe you."
The relief was so sudden that my knees weakened.
But she wasn't finished.
"Unfortunately, your name may still be used to suggest you helped arrange Mrs. Russo's removal."
I stared at her.
"How?"
"Someone could claim that you witnessed her condition or participated in preparing the transfer."
Matteo stepped forward.
"She didn't."
Mara turned toward him.
"I know what you believe, Matteo."
"But I need independent evidence."
I swallowed.
"I was at the pharmacy on Friday when Scarlett says the document was signed."
Mara looked interested.
"Can you prove that?"
"I picked up my mother's medication."
I opened the pharmacy application on my phone.
The purchase receipt showed my name.
A timestamp.
And the location.
Mara nodded.
"That's useful."
Then I remembered something else.
"My mother called me while I was waiting."
I checked the call history.
There it was.
A seventeen-minute conversation overlapping the time shown on the medical authorization.
Mara wrote down the information.
"Good."
Matteo looked toward the window.
"This is ridiculous."
Mara closed her notebook.
"That's why we need to handle it carefully."
Then she turned back to me.
"Anna, I recommend that you have independent legal representation if anyone attempts to accuse you personally."
I nodded slowly.
"I can't afford an attorney."
Before Matteo could speak, Mara raised a hand.
"I can refer you to a legal aid organization and explain the circumstances."
She paused.
"And Mr. Russo should preserve all your employment records without altering anything."
Matteo agreed immediately.
I appreciated that neither of them had asked me to trust a family lawyer simply because Matteo paid the bills.
It was the first time all weekend that I felt my own future was being considered.
Then my phone vibrated.
An unfamiliar number had sent a message.
At first, I thought it was a wrong number.
But the message included a photograph.
It showed my mother outside the rehabilitation clinic.
She was standing beside her caregiver, holding her walking cane.
Beneath the photograph were seven words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN OFF THE COAT.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Matteo noticed immediately.
"Anna?"
I handed him the phone.
His expression hardened.
Mara leaned closer.
She read the message.
Then she looked at me.
"Do not reply."
I nodded.
My hands were shaking uncontrollably.
"Can they hurt my mother?"
Mara answered carefully.
"We're going to report this to the police and ask them to assess the threat."
Matteo was already reaching for his phone.
But I stopped him.
"Mr. Russo."
He looked up.
"I don't want anyone going after these people because of me."
He studied my face.
Then he slowly lowered the phone.
"Neither do I."
I swallowed.
"I want my mother safe."
"That's what we're going to work on."
He turned toward Mara.
"Call the detective handling Nadia's complaint."
Mara nodded.
Then Matteo looked back at me.
"And Anna, there's something else you should know."
I waited.
"Scarlett has been contacting members of the household."
My heart sank.
"Why?"
"She's offering money for statements about Mom's supposed confusion."
I stared at him.
"Has anyone accepted?"
His expression was grim.
"One employee has already been approached."
Then he opened a message from Victor.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
It showed a typed declaration claiming that Evelyn had repeatedly wandered through the mansion at night and forgotten where she lived.
At the bottom was a familiar signature.
Rosa Delgado.
I looked toward Rosa.
Her face had turned white.
She stepped closer to the desk.
"I never wrote that."
Matteo stared at the document.
May you like
Then Rosa whispered,
"But I know who asked me to."
