Behind the Glass
Dante
Behind the one-way mirror, I watch Bianca without her being able to see me.
Andrea stands to my right with his arms crossed. Mara remains a little farther back, motionless, attentive to every detail. Sanders agreed to let us observe as long as we stayed silent and out of sight.
Valeria isn’t here.
We decided it was wiser that way. Stress isn’t good for her—or for the baby.
I promised I would tell her everything.
Inside the room, Bianca has just snapped at her lawyer.
Inspector Sanders immediately understands she’s ready to talk. He slowly sits back down.
“I’m listening.”
Silence stretches between them. Sanders doesn’t move. Neither does the lawyer. He removed his hand from Bianca’s arm, as if he already understands he’s lost control of the situation.
So has she.
Even through the glass, I can see the fear on her face.
Thirty years.
Sanders threw out that number a few minutes ago with the calm precision of a man who understands exactly how much words can weigh.
Thirty years is enough to break almost anyone.
I wonder which frightens her more.
Growing old behind bars. Or watching her child grow up without her.
Sanders waits.
He lets the fear settle in. It works.
“If I talk…” she finally says in a dry voice, “what do I get?”
Her lawyer straightens abruptly.
“Madam, no.”
“Shut up.”
She doesn’t even turn toward him. Her eyes stay fixed on Sanders.
“That depends on what you have to offer,” he replies calmly.
“Full cooperation. Names. Payments. The boat. Everything.”
Beside me, Andrea exhales slowly.
“And in exchange?” Sanders asks.
“I want a deal. I’m pregnant. I’m not carrying my child in prison.”
Her lawyer drags a weary hand across his face.
“Madam…”
“I said shut up.”
Sanders folds his hands together.
“I never promise what I can’t guarantee. But substantial cooperation will be passed on to the prosecutor. And it will carry weight.”
It’s the best offer she’ll get and she knows it.
“Fine.”
She closes her eyes for a second. When she opens them again, something has changed.
It isn’t remorse. It’s survival instinct.
“Peltier approached me,” she finally says. “We were having an affair.”
“And he learned about NRX-889 through you?”
Bianca hesitates for a second before admitting:
“Yes. It was through Valeria that I realized its potential.”
My hands curl into fists before I even realize it.
“He saw it as an opportunity,” she continues. “He introduced me to Wald. They offered me two hundred thousand euros if I helped them. At first, I was only supposed to pressure Valeria into signing with Ciphera Corp.”
Hearing my wife’s name in her mouth makes me sick.
Beside me, Andrea slightly turns his head. He knows I’m two seconds away from walking into that room.
“But Valeria dragged her feet,” Bianca continues. “She didn’t trust them. She wanted to wait. I told Wald, and he said he’d handle it.”
Andrea’s hand settles lightly on my shoulder.
“He hired someone. He said it was only meant to scare her… pressure her into giving in and keeping quiet.”
For the first time, her voice wavers slightly.
“I was only supposed to isolate her and open the door for Wald’s man. Gaspard was standing guard.”
She stops.
“But when the man came in with the syringe… I understood.”
Her breathing turns uneven.
“I realized what they had really planned.”
Silence.
“It was too late. I froze. I was scared.”
My fingers curl so tightly my knuckles burn.
For two years, I believed I had lost my wife to an accident.
The truth was far worse.
It wasn’t an accident.
It was her.
“Valeria fought back. The hitman threw her violently backward, and her head struck the corner of the counter. She collapsed instantly.”
I almost stop breathing.
“Gaspard… Gaspard came in right after. He checked her pulse. He said she was dead. That we had to cover our tracks. The hitman opened a storage cabinet and grabbed a container of accelerant. He splashed it across the counters, the walls… then ordered us to leave. Two minutes later, the fire alarm went off.”
A rage so violent tears through me I can barely breathe.
I remember that day.
While I was frantically searching for Valeria in the panicked crowd, Bianca told me she’d seen her heading in another direction. She deliberately sent me the wrong way. She stopped me from reaching my wife.
I want to smash through that glass and force every word back down her throat.
Every excuse.
“I didn’t know…”
Her voice breaks. As though she’s the victim.
“You participated in the crime and stood by while it happened. Legally, that makes you an accomplice to attempted murder, Ms. Fabre.”
His voice cracks like a whip, and Bianca goes pale.
For the first time, she understands that lying won’t save her anymore.
“And what was your role afterward?” Sanders asks.
“I was supposed to get close to Dante and convince him to sign with Wald.”
“But Ms. Ivanov’s body was never found, and Mr. Ivanov refused to accept her death.”
She looks away.
“Who were you taking orders from?”
She hesitates. Then decides to drag them all down with her.
“Wald.”
Her voice shakes.
“He wanted Valeria’s research at any cost. They offered me half a million euros if Dante signed with them quickly.”
“So you started seducing him… for money.”
Bianca lowers her eyes.
“At first, it wasn’t about the money.”
Her voice nearly breaks.
“I really loved him. I still do.”
She lets the woman I love—injured and unconscious—be thrown overboard and calls that love.
A cold rage rises inside me, so violent it almost makes me dizzy.
Andrea tightens his grip on my shoulder.
A reminder: not here and not now.
Sanders slowly rubs a hand over the back of his neck before closing the file.
A few seconds later, he joins us in the observation room.
“Between the suspicious financial transfers, Gaspard Peltier’s testimony, and hers,” he says, “we have Wald. It’s only a matter of days now.”
“And her?” I ask in a voice I barely recognize.
“She cooperated. The prosecutor will take that into account.”
He pauses.
“But don’t fool yourself. Even with a deal, she’s going to prison.”