ELENA POV
The next few weeks were a blur of trial preparation.
Martina drilled me relentlessly. Mock cross-examinations. Witness prep. Evidence review.
Every day, for hours, we worked.
"The prosecution is going to try to break you on the stand," he said during one of our sessions. "They'll bring up your father's crimes. Your mother's fugitive status. They'll make you seem like a criminal's daughter who learned violence from her family."
"How do I defend against that?"
"By being honest. By showing vulnerability. By making the jury see you as a victim of circumstance, not a villain."
We practiced for hours every day. Martina is playing the role of the prosecutor, asking brutal questions designed to make me crack.
"Ms. Castellano, isn't it true that your father taught you how to lie? How to cover up crimes?"
"No. My father made terrible choices, but he never taught me."
