Chapter 20
Livia read the transcript of Elena’s final recording when she was thirteen.
Not the audio.
Not yet.
Her choice.
She already knew Marco found her mother alive.
She already knew he delayed calling for help.
Children heard more than adults intended.
Family history did the rest.
Still, the transcript was different.
Call.
Call 911.
Please.
Three lines.
Livia stopped.
Domenico sat across from her.
Not beside.
She had asked for space.
“Was Mommy awake?”
“Yes.”
“Could talk.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“We don't know.”
She looked at him.
“Would she live if he called?”
There it was.
The question the medical review had refused to answer.
The question Marco's worst choice had created.
Domenico did not soften.
“We don't know.”
Livia became angry.
“Doctors know things.”
“They know a lot.”
“Then why not this?”
“Because they could not recreate exactly what happened inside her body minute by minute.”
She looked back at the transcript.
“Five minutes.”
“Maybe five to seven before another motorist called.”
“That's long.”
“Yes.”
“Could save.”
“Could have.”
“Could not.”
“Yes.”
She hated that.
So had Domenico.
For years.
Livia pushed the paper away.
“Did Uncle Marco kill Mommy?”
Domenico felt the room narrow.
Evidence.
Emotion.
Language.
He remembered what Rachel had taught him.
Don't jump ahead.
“No evidence showed he caused the crash.”
Livia's eyes filled.
“He left.”
“Yes.”
“He took phone.”
“Yes.”
“He deleted.”
“Yes.”
“Mommy asked.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
Domenico looked at her.
“He made a terrible choice while she needed help.”
“That killed her.”
“We don't know that.”
Livia stood.
“Why protect him?”
“I’m not.”
“Sounds.”
Fair.
She was thirteen.
Nuance could feel like defense.
Domenico did not force resolution.
She left the room.
For two days, she barely spoke to him.
Then she went to Rachel.
Not Domenico.
That also mattered.
Rachel explained the difference between moral certainty and factual certainty.
Marco's conduct could be unforgivable without claiming evidence proved something it did not.
Livia returned home angry.
Still.
At dinner:
“Rachel says you're right.”
Domenico wisely said nothing.
“Don't look happy.”
“I’m not.”
“You are inside.”
Possibly.
Then Livia asked:
“Do you forgive him?”
“No.”
Immediate.
She looked surprised.
“But you said don't know.”
“Those are different questions.”
There it was.
He did not need certainty that Marco's delay caused Elena's death to judge the choices he knew Marco made.
Livia sat.
“Do you hate him?”
Domenico thought.
“Sometimes.”
“That allowed?”
“Yes.”
“What do you do?”
“Nothing to him.”
Another distinction.
Feeling.
Action.
Anger management had taught him that long before Livia knew why he attended those sessions.
She looked at him.
“Because you hit him before.”
“Yes.”
“And Camilla.”
“Yes.”
“Wrong?”
“Yes.”
No defense about protecting her.
Context did not erase action.
Livia became quiet.
Then:
“Adults have too many different questions.”
Domenico almost laughed.
“Yes.”
She took the transcript upstairs.
Not the original.
A copy.
Three months later she returned it to the archive.
She did not ask for the audio.
May you like
Not yet.
That was also an answer.
