Chapter 11
Bernadette’s attorney stopped calling the incident a misunderstanding.
The evidence had become too broad.
Instead, the defense shifted toward intent.
She never meant to injure anyone.
She believed the amounts used were small.
She believed the children were safe.
She believed she was correcting behavior.
Vittorio heard all of that through Claire.
His answer remained the same.
“She wasn’t their doctor.”
“No.”
“She wasn’t their parent.”
“No.”
“She lied because she knew the parents wouldn’t agree.”
“Yes.”
That last point mattered most.
Bernadette could describe herself as old-fashioned.
She could describe Vittorio as permissive.
She could sincerely believe children benefited from stricter discipline.
But she had concealed what she was doing.
Concealment destroyed her argument that this was merely a generational disagreement.
She knew permission would be refused.
So she fabricated permission instead.
The other Rossetti parents reacted differently.
One wanted Bernadette arrested immediately.
Another struggled to believe her own aunt had intentionally given her child anything.
A third blamed herself for laughing at her son’s sleepiness.
Vittorio stopped that conversation.
“You didn’t know.”
She looked at him.
“Neither did you.”
He accepted it.
That was true too.
No parent in the family had noticed.
Vittorio simply had more power than the others and therefore less excuse for creating a household where staff feared questioning a relative’s instructions.
The state child-welfare investigation substantiated unsafe caregiving practices.
Bernadette was prohibited from unsupervised contact with Luca and the other children immediately.
Her authority over household staff ended.
Not ceremonially.
On paper.
Passwords revoked.
Keys returned.
Medical and school access removed.
Written notices distributed.
For the first time in decades, Bernadette could not convert seniority into an instruction.
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Some relatives considered the measures humiliating.
Vittorio considered them late.
