The Nanny Smashed the Bottle to Save Him

CHAPTER 3 - The Woman Nobody Questioned

At the preliminary hearing, Natalia presented herself as a worried sister.

"Isabel needs treatment. I only want to protect Noah."

Her attorney mentioned Isabel's grief, medication and the slap.

No one discussed the bottle until Marta requested permission to testify.

Natalia looked at her with contempt.

"She is a resentful employee."

Marta sat before the judge.

"I have cared for children for thirty years. I know when a baby is tired and when a baby has been sedated."

She described each of Noah's episodes and provided notes containing dates, times and the names of everyone present.

Every incident happened after Natalia prepared his milk.

Natalia's attorney attempted to discredit her.

"Isn't it true that Mrs. Isabel struck you?"

"Yes."

"And you are still defending her?"

Marta looked at Isabel.

"I am not defending what she did. I am defending the truth."

Isabel began to cry.

For the first time, she understood that Marta was not trying to replace anyone. She was protecting a mother and her child, even after being humiliated.

The hearing was suspended while the evidence was examined.

That afternoon, Marta remembered that the baby monitor automatically saved recordings to a digital account Michael had created.

Isabel recovered the password.

The footage showed Natalia entering the nursery during the night. She removed the sedative from her pocket and added several drops to a bottle.

But the audio revealed something worse.

Natalia was speaking on the phone.

"One more medical episode, and the judge will declare Isabel unfit. Then I will control the trust."

Michael had left most of his estate to Noah. If Isabel were declared incapable, Natalia would become guardian and manage the money until Noah turned twenty-one.

Isabel listened to the recording three times.

She remembered every occasion when Natalia called her fragile, unstable or ungrateful.

Her sister had not come to help her through grief.

She had come to exploit it.

Marta then discovered messages sent from Isabel's phone while she was sleeping. In them, Isabel supposedly admitted confusing Noah's medication.

Natalia was not simply trying to take Noah. She was creating a version of Isabel no court would trust as a mother.