He Let Me Grieve a Lie, Now He Begs Forgiveness novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Miracle Return
The villa garden had been set with sixty white chairs and a podium.
Three television crews stood behind a rope.
A man from the insurance company sat in the third row with a folder on his knee.
Chiara's father stood at the podium in a blue suit, alive and shaved and calm.
"We were gravely injured in that crash," he said. "We were taken from the wreck by strangers and treated abroad, under names that were not ours."
"For three years we were told nothing of our own survival."
"A clerical error declared us dead. We came home as soon as we were able."
Cameras clicked.
Chiara's mother sat in the front row with a handkerchief to her mouth.
Luca stood at the edge of the stage with his arms folded.
Gemma sat beside the podium in a white dress with a ribbon, her curls pinned, her hands folded in her lap.
"Our daughter Chiara survived the crash," her father went on. "She has suffered terribly since. She is fragile, she has no memory of us, and we ask the press for patience and privacy."
He held out his hand toward the back of the garden.
"Chiara. Come, sweetheart."
Chiara walked up the center aisle in her gray dress.
Taylor was three steps behind her on the left, carrying her big canvas bag.
Elio was three steps behind her on the right, in a black suit, with his hands at his sides.
The cameras swung around.
She had never been looked at by so many strangers at once.
Three years ago they had looked at her like this on the courthouse steps, and called her a killer.
She climbed the two steps onto the stage.
Her father put his arm around her shoulders.
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