FigTree, I agree that it all seems a bit scripted.
I'm trying to figure out if TS is still solidly under HM's control. Post-appeal, are these three (TS, HM and Kia) all going to be pulling together or is HM going to dump TS?
I don't know what to make of HM's nonsense about the truth coming out AFTER the appeal. I still don't see the point: or does she think she's going to become a famous spokeswoman, advocating for the children of (allegedly) narcissistic mothers?
Kia's version of the 'truth'. Kia suggests that the story we have now is not the 'truth'. She's not going to want to expose a 'truth' that makes her son look even worse. That means the 'truth' makes either HM or SWM look bad. Surely Kia is smart enough to realize that it's going to be very difficult to go to a US court and convince a judge/jury that anything SWM allegedly did in that room (or before) justifies cold-blooded murder. Not only is there's HM's history of violence, HM was also committed for treatment - twice.
Longshot guess: could Kia be hoping to get HM declared mentally unsound? Here's the hypothetical story. HM texts TS about a hitman; he thinks it's all a big joke. He starts to get a little bit concerned that she's cray-cray, particularly when she springs it on him that she's pregnant. OK, so she's a pregnant wild child, but she's still really rich. Get to Bali, everything spirals out of control. He realizes she's serious about killing her mom, gets worried, goes down to the mother's room to head off trouble, and HM has already struck the worst blows and there's nothing left to do except finish the job. He's terrified, he's the robot, he goes along with everything she says.
If this is Kia's narrative, it reverses the HM/TS roles. If HM is found to be mentally unsound, there are grounds in the US to try to remove Stella from her custody on that basis. Like it or no, in the US, authorities try to find family placements for kids. If SWM's family can't take Stella, Kia will be more than willing to do so - along with her $500K, of course.