Chapter 219: Find a way
Maria met his eyes, steady but fading. "I have less than a month. Maybe less. My organs are failing. They caught it too late. I might not even live to see my court date."
Ethan staggered a step back like the words physically hit him.
"No," he murmured, breath caught. "No, no, no. Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you—"
"What would it change?" Maria said, her voice laced with painful clarity. "They’d still label me a murderer. Isabella would still be placed into care. I’d still die in here, behind bars."
Ethan’s hands trembled as he held the file. He stepped forward. His voice was raw, desperate. "I will do anything to make sure you don’t spend the rest of your days in this place. I don’t care what it takes. I will not let you die in here."
Maria shook her head slowly, sadness dimming her eyes.
"You can’t get me acquitted," she said softly. "Even if it was self-defense... there’s blood. There’s a motive. There’s silence. No jury will care what I meant to do. Only what I did."
Ethan stepped closer, lowering the file to his side.
"Then I won’t ask them to acquit you," he whispered. "I’ll ask them to understand you. To see you. The real you. A mother. A survivor. Not a monster."
Rafa, who had remained respectfully quiet, finally cleared his throat.
"There’s another way," he said. "A medical release. Compassionate grounds. If we act fast and prove her condition, she can be transferred to hospice."