Chapter 10 - THE SYNDICATE BOSS WHO CHOSE THE TRUTH
Casimir found Delia sitting outside the annex.
She had packed her belongings into one cardboard box.
A calculator.
A coffee mug.
A framed photograph of her late mother.
He approached quietly.
“Are you all right?”
Delia looked up.
“I lost my job.”
He glanced at the box.
“Your father fired you?”
“Disowned me, technically.”
Casimir sat beside her.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Delia asked:
“Did my father try to arrange a marriage between you and Vivian?”
Casimir's expression changed.
“He suggested it.”
“And?”
“I told him no.”
“Why?”
Casimir looked at her.
“Because marriage isn't a payment method.”
Delia gave a shaky laugh.
“He seems to disagree.”
Casimir smiled faintly.
Then his expression became serious.
“Delia, there's something you should know.”
She looked up.
“My organization has operated in places where the law and power don't always agree.”
“I know.”
“I'm not going to pretend my past is clean.”
She studied him.
“But I am trying to change what I can.”
Delia looked down at her box.
“Why?”
Casimir was quiet.
“Because my younger brother died cleaning up a mistake I should have prevented.”
His voice tightened.
“And I decided I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life pretending that power excuses everything.”
Delia looked at him.
For the first time, she saw something beyond the feared syndicate boss.
A man carrying regret.
May you like
A man trying to become different.
And someone who had noticed her when everyone else had looked away.
