Under everyone's watchful eyes, a man in a dark suit stepped out of the second vehicle and walked to the lead car. He opened the rear door with the practiced deference of someone who had done this a thousand times and would never be thanked for it.
Out stepped Davide, dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, his tie knotted with precision, exuding a charisma that instantly drew the attention of the crowd. He adjusted his cufflinks as he surveyed the courtyard. His handsome appearance and distinguished aura caught everyone's eye. He carried himself like a man who believed he owned the ground beneath him.
I knew better. He was wearing borrowed authority like a stolen coat.
"Isn't that Mr. Ferraro?"
"Yes, it's him! Look at the cars. Even his entrance is so grand."
"And he's so handsome too. No wonder that shameless woman was trying so hard to cozy up to him."
The whispers circled the courtyard like smoke. The parents who had been pinning me to the ground moments ago now stood at a respectful distance, smoothing their clothes, adjusting their expressions into something presentable. As if they hadn't just beaten a woman in front of her child.