Chapter 8 - The Girl Who Remembered Everything
Z
Mia began drawing the same picture every day.
A black car.
A woman standing beside it.
A broken window.
And a small star with one missing point.
At first, Dominic thought the drawings were connected to the accident that killed Isabella. But when Chloe showed them to a child psychologist, the specialist explained that drawings could express a child's feelings without necessarily providing a literal account of events.
They needed to ask Mia gently, without suggesting answers.
So Chloe sat with Mia in the conservatory and placed three blank sheets of paper on the table.
“You can draw anything you want,” she signed.
Mia chose the black crayon.
She drew the car again.
Then she pointed to the woman.
“Mama,” Chloe signed.
Mia nodded.
She drew a second figure beside the car.
A tall man.
Then she looked at Dominic's photograph on the wall.
Her hands moved.
Uncle.
Dominic, who had entered quietly, stopped in the doorway.
Chloe immediately turned toward Mia.
“Are you telling us that Uncle Salvatore was there when Mama was in the car?”
Mia shook her head.
She tapped the drawing, then pointed toward the mansion.
Her signs were fragmented, and Chloe resisted the urge to fill in the gaps.
“Show me,” she signed. “You can take your time.”
Mia drew another picture.
This time, she drew the front entrance of the mansion and a car parked near the gates.
She pointed toward the drawing of Salvatore.
Then she made the sign for angry.
Dominic lowered himself into the chair opposite her.
“Was Uncle Salvatore angry with Mama?”
Mia nodded.
“Did you see them argue?”
Another nod.
“Where?”
Mia pointed to the study.
Dominic's face went pale.
Isabella's accident had happened on a night when she had left the mansion after an argument with Salvatore. Dominic had known about the disagreement but believed it concerned business.
Mia had been inside the house.
She had witnessed something.
But the details remained unclear.
The child psychologist cautioned them not to assume the drawings proved that Salvatore had caused the crash. Mia's memories could be incomplete, and the family needed independent evidence.
Dominic accepted that.
He did not want his daughter turned into a witness before she was ready.
Instead, he asked Rachel to review the timeline alongside the financial records and the original accident investigation.
They discovered that Salvatore had made a call to a private security contractor less than an hour before Isabella's car left the property.
The contractor had later received payments through one of Northstar Logistics' shell companies.
It was a lead, not proof.
Rachel passed the information to the investigators.
That evening, Dominic sat beside Mia while she drew.
He signed:
You can tell me anything. You don't have to tell me everything today.
Mia watched his hands.
Then she signed a sentence slowly.
Mama said Uncle bad.
Dominic's eyes closed.
Chloe placed a hand on his shoulder, then withdrew it when he turned toward her. She didn't want to comfort him in a way he hadn't asked for.
He took a breath.
“Thank you for telling us,” he signed, using the words Chloe had taught him.
Mia leaned against his arm.
For the first time, Dominic understood that listening to his daughter was not merely a way to discover the truth about Isabella.
It was a responsibility he should have embraced long before now.
Later, Chloe stepped outside to answer a call from Toby.
When she returned, Dominic was standing at the window, holding Isabella's photograph.
“Someone followed you home last week,” he said.
Chloe went cold.
“What?”
“My security team confirmed it. The driver of that sedan has been identified.”
“Who is he?”
“A man who works for Salvatore.”
Dominic turned toward her.
“I'm sorry. I should have recognized the danger sooner.”
Chloe looked at him for a long moment.
Then she said the one thing he needed to hear.
“Don't apologize by trying to control my life. Apologize by helping make sure nobody else gets hurt.”
May you like
He nodded.
And this time, he understood.
