Chapter 25 - LUCIA CALLS IT BALANCE
Lucia testified.
Her lawyer did not want her to.
She insisted.
At sixty-five, she had spent too many years explaining the family to people who did not ask.
She believed this jury needed instruction.
She admitted moving Luca.
No point denying.
“Why?”
“To create time.”
“For what?”
“For Massimo to think.”
“Think about giving one newborn to Serena?”
“About sharing responsibility.”
The prosecutor waited.
“Did Gianna consent?”
“No.”
“Massimo?”
“No.”
“Then what gave you authority?”
Lucia looked at me.
“Family necessity.”
There.
No law.
No medicine.
Necessity she defined.
Then Baby Mercer.
“Did his parents consent?”
“No.”
“Did you know his mother was having a medical emergency?”
“I knew staff were distracted.”
A terrible answer.
Then:
“You used another mother’s emergency?”
“I used an opportunity.”
Even worse.
Her lawyer closed his eyes.
Then the bracelet.
“Did you intend to attach Luca’s band to Baby Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To delay recognition.”
“Delay for how long?”
“Long enough.”
“Long enough for what?”
“For Serena to become part of Luca’s care.”
Then:
“Did you believe the hospital would release an infant to Serena based on this?”
Lucia hesitated.
“I believed Massimo could make it happen.”
I felt sick.
My own reputation had been part of her plan.
She expected me to override systems.
Expected money, name, and fear to convert absurdity into procedure.
The prosecutor asked:
“Why did you believe that?”
Lucia looked directly at me.
“Because that is how this family has always survived.”
Silence.
Then:
“Did you believe Gianna having two sons was unfair to Serena?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“One branch had everything.”
“Children are branches?”
“In families like ours, yes.”
The prosecutor shook his head slightly.
“Were Nico and Luca people?”
Lucia’s expression hardened.
“Of course.”
“Then why did you think one could be reassigned?”
Long pause.
“Because he would still be loved.”
There.
The philosophy.
Love without consent.
Love as justification.
Love as ownership.
Then the dirty water.
“Why dump it on Gianna?”
Lucia looked embarrassed for the first time.
“She insulted Serena.”
Gianna had said:
“You are never taking my son.”
Apparently that was an insult.
Then:
“Did you expect Massimo to choose you over Gianna?”
Lucia’s voice changed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I am his mother.”
That was the deepest answer.
Not empire.
Not succession.
Not even Serena.
Lucia believed motherhood gave her lifelong command over the son she had raised.
May you like
She could not accept that my wife and children had become the center of my decisions.
So she tried to rearrange them until the old hierarchy returned.
