Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Saved My Life Had Become the Person I Could No Longer LoseVictor disappeared to Europe.
The federal government seized most of his assets.
But the research was missing.
Lorenzo wanted to destroy it.
I wanted to protect it.
“It could save people,” I said.
“It could also kill people.”
“Only if used badly.”
He looked at me.
“That's what everyone says before they become monsters.”
He wasn't wrong.
But I trusted science.
We built a legal research team.
Doctors.
Ethicists.
Scientists.
Investigators.
We recovered some of the research.
Not all.
Victor had kept the final formula.
Isabella helped us.
She testified against her father.
Marco testified too.
Salvatore was sentenced.
My father entered protective custody.
My grandmother recovered.
And Daniel?
He became attached to me.
He called me Aunt Mia.
I liked it more than I expected.
One afternoon, we were walking through the garden.
He looked at me.
“Are you going to marry Dad?”
I almost tripped.
“Why?”
“Because he looks at you differently.”
“He looks at everyone.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not like that.”
I laughed.
“Your father is complicated.”
“So are you.”
“You're six.”
“I notice things.”
He did.
That evening, Lorenzo found me in the library.
“You're avoiding me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“I don't know how to be with someone like you.”
“Like me?”
“Powerful.”
“Dangerous.”
“Complicated.”
He smiled.
“You don't have to be anything.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
I swallowed.
“I don't want to be part of your world.”
“I don't want you to be.”
“What?”
“I want to leave it.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because I saw what it cost my family.”
“And?”
“I don't want Daniel to inherit it.”
I realized he meant it.
He would dismantle the empire.
The warehouses.
The clubs.
The illegal businesses.
Everything.
“I'll help you.”
He looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because that's what your son deserves.”
He smiled.
“And what do I deserve?”
I didn't answer.
He kissed me.
This time, I kissed him back.
The moment was interrupted by an emergency call.
Victor had returned.
He had taken my father.
And he wanted me.
We drove to the airport.
The plane waiting for us was private.
The destination:
Milan.
Victor had one final laboratory there.
We found him.
He stood beside the research.
And my father.
Victor smiled.
“Come home, Mia.”
“This isn't home.”
“It was.”
“No.”
He looked at Lorenzo.
“You stole her from me.”
Lorenzo raised his gun.
“She was never yours.”
Victor laughed.
“The girl belongs to the research.”
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“She belongs to herself.”
I pulled the emergency shutdown.
The lab began locking down.
Victor lunged.
Lorenzo stopped him.
The research servers started deleting.
I had built a backup earlier.
Victor realized.
“No.”
I smiled.
“The research survives.”
“But you don't control it.”
The authorities entered.
Victor was arrested.
May you like
My father was free.
For the first time, the war was truly ending.
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