Chapter 9 - THE LAST CHOICE
Victor refused to believe Evelyn had betrayed him.
Tessa didn't either.
“She could have escaped months ago,” she said.
Victor stared at the photograph.
“Then why meet Richard?”
“Maybe she was negotiating.”
“For what?”
“Your life.”
They tracked the photograph to a private clinic outside Boston.
Evelyn was there.
So was Richard.
But Richard wasn't holding a weapon.
He was dying.
Cancer.
He had weeks left.
The entire conspiracy suddenly looked different.
Richard had not been trying to escape.
He had been trying to make one final exchange.
The original ledger.
In return for protection for the remaining families connected to the network.
Victor refused.
“No.”
Richard looked at him.
“You think justice means destroying everyone.”
“No.”
Victor placed the evidence on the table.
“Justice means stopping the system.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“Your father would be proud.”
Victor turned away.
Then Richard said:
“There's one thing you don't know.”
Victor stopped.
“Your mother wasn't protecting me.”
He looked at Evelyn.
“She was protecting you.”
Evelyn began crying.
Richard continued.
“Your father didn't die because of the ledger.”
“Then why?”
“Because he planned to confess.”
Victor went silent.
Richard looked at Tessa.
“And your father wasn't killed for helping him.”
Tessa stepped forward.
“Then why?”
Richard's voice became quiet.
“Because your father saved Victor's life.”
Tessa froze.
Years earlier, Victor's father had arranged for his son to be killed during a dispute.
Tessa's father discovered the plan.
He intervened.
He saved Victor.
And paid for it with his own life.
Tessa's eyes filled.
Her father had not been a villain.
He had been protecting a child.
Victor looked devastated.
The man he had spent years hating had been the reason he was alive.
He looked at Tessa.
“I don't know how to repay you.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
She took his hand.
“You live differently.”
Victor nodded.
That was his answer.
He turned over the evidence.
The network collapsed over the following months.
Victor surrendered control of his legitimate businesses.
He sold the rest.
The money went into a foundation for families crushed by organized crime.
Tessa became its director.
Liam entered treatment for his gambling addiction.
Evelyn recovered enough to walk with a cane.
The Romano estate was sold.
The massive gates came down.
For the first time in decades, the property looked like a house instead of a fortress.
Victor stood beside Tessa on the front lawn.
“What will you do now?”
She smiled.
“Sleep.”
He laughed.
“Fair.”
She looked at him.
“And maybe learn how to cook.”
Victor frowned.
“I've been cooking.”
“You've been committing crimes against vegetables.”
He laughed again.
This time, it wasn't unfamiliar.
It felt natural.
Tessa leaned against his shoulder.
“You're not the Ghost anymore.”
Victor looked at her.
“No.”
“Who are you?”
He thought for a moment.
Then answered:
“Someone trying to deserve the life you gave me.”
May you like
She kissed him.
And for the first time, Victor believed that maybe he could.
