The energy shifted the moment the judge agreed to the hearing.
It wasn't immediate. It wasn't loud. But it was there—subtle, electric, like the air before a storm finally breaks.
For the first time since Alessandro's arrest, Sienna felt it.
Hope.
Not the fragile, desperate kind she'd been clinging to in the dark. This was different. Sharper. Stronger. Built on something real.
Evidence.
The prosecution's office was no longer confident.
Jennifer could see it in their filings—longer, more defensive, less aggressive. Where before there had been certainty, now there were qualifiers. Where there had been bold claims, now there were cautious arguments wrapped in legal jargon.
"They're rattled," Jennifer said one evening, flipping through a freshly printed response brief.
Sienna sat across from her, exhaustion lining her face but determination burning in her eyes. "Because of the recording?"
