Chapter 6 - The Woman Wearing My Uniform|
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
The woman in the photograph had my hair color.
She had my approximate height.
She was even wearing the same style of housekeeper's uniform.
But she wasn't me.
I zoomed in on the picture.
Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail.
I always wore mine in a low bun when I worked.
She had a silver bracelet on her right wrist.
I didn't own a silver bracelet.
And there was something else.
A small black mark near the base of her thumb.
I stared at it.
"That's not my hand."
Detective Torres remained on the phone.
"We believe the footage supports the possibility that someone impersonated you."
"Why would she wear my uniform?"
"That's one of the questions we're investigating."
I looked through the glass at Lily.
She was laughing with her dance instructor.
For a moment, I wished I could step back into the life we'd had before the gala.
A life where our biggest worry was the rent.
But that life was gone.
The next morning, an unfamiliar car sat outside our apartment building.
A man with a camera stood near the entrance.
When I stepped outside, he hurried toward me.
"Grace Miller?"
I stopped.
"Yes?"
"Can you explain why the foundation's financial records show you received twelve thousand dollars?"
My stomach dropped.
"Who gave you those records?"
He raised his phone.
"An anonymous source provided documentation suggesting you falsely claimed your scholarship was missing."
I felt cold all over.
"That's not true."
"Did you endorse the check?"
"No."
"Then why does your signature appear on it?"
I stepped backward.
"Please leave."
He kept approaching.
"Did Roman Bellini offer you money to make this controversy disappear?"
I turned and hurried inside.
By the time I reached our apartment, my hands were shaking.
Someone was leaking selected evidence.
Not enough to explain the fraud.
Just enough to make people believe I was responsible.
I called Roman.
He listened without interrupting.
Then he asked for the reporter's name and the details of what had been shown.
"Someone wants you discredited," he said.
"Your brother."
"Possibly."
I nearly shouted.
"Roman, how many times does Matteo get to hurt us before you stop saying possibly?"
Silence filled the line.
Then he answered.
"You're right to be angry."
I closed my eyes.
"Angry doesn't begin to describe it."
"I won't ask you to trust my family."
"Good."
"But I will cooperate with whatever the investigation requires."
I looked toward the hallway.
Lily had just emerged from her bedroom.
She was carrying a drawing.
It showed the two of us standing beneath a rainbow with music notes around our heads.
Above us she'd written, We keep dancing.
My throat tightened.
"Roman, I don't need another promise."
"I understand."
"I need my daughter to be safe."
His voice softened.
"So do I."
That afternoon, I received a call from Lily's school.
A boy in her class had shown other children an article claiming her mother might be involved in scholarship fraud.
Lily had argued with him.
When he called her a liar, she'd pushed his notebook off his desk.
The principal wasn't angry.
She was concerned.
But when I arrived, Lily was sitting outside the office with tears running down her cheeks.
"Mom, everybody thinks you stole the money."
I knelt beside her.
"Not everybody."
"Why would somebody say that?"
"Because people sometimes repeat things before they know whether they're true."
She wiped her nose.
"Did that man steal my scholarship because he doesn't like us?"
I wanted to tell her the world wasn't that cruel.
But I wouldn't lie to her.
"I think he was afraid of being caught doing something wrong."
Lily looked down.
"Then why didn't he just tell the truth?"
I brushed her hair away from her forehead.
"Because telling the truth takes courage, and not everybody has as much as you."
She leaned against me.
"Do you think people will believe us?"
"Some will."
"And the others?"
"We'll keep telling the truth anyway."
That evening, Naomi Chen visited our apartment.
She carried a folder containing Lily's original audition score, rehearsal schedule, and gala performance notes.
"I thought you should have these," she said.
I studied the score sheet.
Lily had earned ninety-seven points out of one hundred.
The second-place performer had earned ninety-one.
Naomi smiled.
"She was never a questionable choice."
I swallowed.
"Thank you."
Then Naomi's expression turned serious.
"There's something else."
She explained that the music interruption during Lily's performance hadn't been caused by a defective speaker.
The sound system had received a remote command to stop playback.
The technician had reviewed the access log.
"Who had permission to do that?" I asked.
"Only three event administrator accounts."
She placed another sheet on the table.
Two of the accounts belonged to technical staff who had been working at the sound booth.
The third belonged to the foundation's executive office.
I stared at the name.
Matteo Bellini.
Naomi quickly added that the log identified an account, not necessarily the person who used it.
But it was evidence the detective needed to examine.
I felt sick.
The stolen scholarship hadn't been enough.
Matteo had apparently wanted to ruin Lily's performance even after Roman restored her place onstage.
Naomi took my hand.
"Grace, there's one more reason I came."
I looked up.
"What's that?"
She hesitated.
"Someone asked me to destroy Lily's original audition recording."
My heart stopped.
"Who?"
May you like
Naomi's answer came in a whisper.
"Marcus Vale."
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