Chapter 8 - The Departure
The preparations were swift. Private jets, security details, and shell corporations were arranged within hours.
On the tarmac, as we boarded the plane, I looked back at the house one last time. Alessandro stood at the base of the stairs, leaning on a cane, watching us.
Emma waved frantically. “Bye-bye, Cookie Man!”
He didn't wave back. He simply watched, his hand resting over his heart.
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I knew, in that moment, that I would never see him again. The life of a billionaire crime lord and a cleaner from the slums didn’t intersect. We were two ships passing in the night, saved by a three-year-old’s kindness.
But as the jet climbed into the sky, I felt a strange sense of loss. I realized I had seen the man behind the monster, and the monster behind the man. And I realized that, despite everything, I cared.
