I did not need to shout across that courtroom, or perform my pain, or convince anyone of anything.

I had done the convincing in advance, in a hospital bed, one preserved file at a time.

All I had to do in that room was sit, and watch, and let the truth do its slow and heavy work — and feel, a little more each day, the weight of it lifting off me and settling where it belonged, onto the people who had earned it.

Chapter 26 — Rebuilt

Ximena was convicted for her part.

On her way out of the courtroom she looked for Andres, and asked whether he was really going to end their marriage over this.