Chapter 7

509words
The past drifted away like smoke, scattering like passing clouds.
Before boarding the plane, I sat inside a cafe at Logan International Airport and began my final preparations.
I was never the type to accept being bullied. All these years, as the so-called "decorative wife", I hadn’t wasted my time. I had been quietly gathering evidence.

Evidence on both Dante and Olivia.
I organized the real financial statements of the Olivia Ricci Foundation.
They clearly showed that she had siphoned large amounts of research funding for personal use: Hermes bags, Cartier jewelry, and a vacation estate in the Hamptons. More importantly, those accounts were directly tied to the family’s money-laundering network.
I also compiled the complete access logs, showing how she stole data from my private cloud server.
Login IPs. Download timestamps. Full file lists.
That evidence alone was enough to prove her academic fraud and corporate espionage.

More than that, I had something even deadlier. I had proof that Dante bribed the hospital and caused my mother’s death.
That day at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, even while I was drowning in grief, I kept a sliver of clarity.
I secretly recorded conversations between doctors and nurses. They mentioned that the dialysis equipment failure was no accident. Someone had paid them cash to cause a small accident at the critical moment.
Those recordings were safely stored.

Now, it was time to let the evidence speak.
First, I sent the proof of Olivia’s academic fraud to the National Institutes of Health and the American Medical Association.
Then I sent evidence of her embezzlement and money laundering to the Internal Revenue Service and to major media outlets, including The Boston Globe and The Washington Post.
Finally, I forwarded the evidence implicating Dante in intentional homicide and organized crime to the Massachusetts State Police and the FBI’s Organized Crime Task Force, copying multiple media organizations.
Only after confirming that every email had been successfully delivered did I finally exhale.
Online hatred toward me still flooded the internet. When I clicked into any random Twitter topic, I could see my face photoshopped into grotesque images meant for ridicule.
Meanwhile, on Olivia’s Instagram page, her deeply moving statement was still pinned at the top. It was posted on the day I was forced to publicly recant the marriage certificate.
"Olivia Ricci: Keep your heart pure. The truth will prevail. Let them throw stones. I sleep soundly every night knowing I’ve helped save lives. Thank you all for the love and support. Together, we spread healing. #TruthPrevails #HealingHands"
The comments beneath were overflowing with sympathy and praise.
"Olivia is truly kind. Even facing such a vicious woman, she never loses her principles."
"This is real grace. People who rely on dirty tricks to slander others will never understand."
"Dr. Ricci is my role model. I want to learn from her and do more good."
"Stand with Dr. Ricci! Justice always wins!"
I curled my lips into a mocking smile and let out a quiet laugh.
'Very soon, you’ll learn what "federal justice" really means.'
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