CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE - TRUTH IN THE SILENCE

One evening, as Alessandro sat in his study reviewing financial records, Amelia appeared in the doorway. Her face was pale, her eyes red-rimmed from crying. "Amelia," Alessandro said, rising from his chair. "What is it? What's wrong?" Amelia's voice was barely above a whisper when she spoke. "Where were you the night before the accident?" Alessandro's brow furrowed in confusion. "What? I was at the office, working late. You know that." "Do I?" Amelia's tone was sharp, accusatory. "Because I called the office that night, Alessandro. They said you'd left hours earlier." Alessandro felt his heart rate quicken. "I... I must have gone somewhere else. A client meeting, maybe. Amelia, what's this about?" Amelia's eyes flashed with a mixture of pain and anger. "It's about the fact that my husband is lying to me. It's about the fact that our son is dead, and I don't even know if I can trust the man I married to tell me the truth about what happened!" Her words hung in the air between the