Chapter 80 - Chapter 80: The Shadow of the Trial

The pre-trial hearings for Vega and the Alcantaras became a slow, grinding process reported in the local paper. Legal maneuvers, delays, and procedural arguments. Each article was a reminder that it wasn't truly over. The shadow of the trial loomed, a postponed ending to our story. I learned to read the updates with a detached focus, filing them away as sources for my project. I was learning to hold the story at arm's length, to examine it instead of being consumed by it.