Chapter 10 - THE CHOICE THAT COST HIM EVERYTHING
Jack began cooperating with the investigation.
Not because he suddenly became innocent.
Not because years of criminal activity could be erased by one good decision.
But because he had finally understood the cost of the life he'd built.
He provided records relevant to Marco's conspiracy.
He separated legitimate businesses from criminal operations.
He retained attorneys and began addressing his own legal exposure.
Some of his associates abandoned him.
Others threatened him.
Several lucrative contracts disappeared.
The newspapers called it the fall of a mafia empire.
Jack called it the first honest thing he'd done in years.
I didn't know whether to believe him.
But I watched.
And slowly, I saw the difference.
He stopped making promises he couldn't keep.
He stopped using fear as his first answer.
He began listening.
One evening, he visited my apartment.
Noah was building a robot on the floor.
Jack sat beside him.
I watched from the kitchen.
“Mr. Moretti,” Noah said.
“Yes?”
“Why do people say you're scary?”
Jack looked at him.
For a moment, he seemed unsure what to say.
Then he answered:
“Because I've done things that frightened people.”
Noah considered.
“Were they bad things?”
Jack nodded.
“Some were.”
Noah looked down at the robot.
“Are you still doing them?”
Jack was quiet.
Then he said:
“I'm trying very hard not to.”
Noah nodded solemnly.
“Good.”
Jack smiled faintly.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
Noah held up the robot.
“Because broken things can still work.”
Jack looked at me.
His eyes were wet.
And I realized my six-year-old son had just said something no powerful man in Chicago had ever dared to tell him.
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That change was possible.
But only if he did the work.
