Chapter 14 - The Woman Behind the War
By morning, the videos had spread across Chicago.
News channels called Norah a conspirator.
Social media called her a mafia princess.
Strangers posted photographs of her apartment.
The police announced investigations.
The Mercer organization fractured.
Dominic disappeared underground.
Norah stayed beside Elena.
“You need to leave,” Elena told her.
“No.”
“You've already lost enough.”
“I found you.”
Elena smiled sadly.
“You found a mother you never knew.”
“I found my mother.”
Dominic entered.
“We have a problem.”
Norah looked up.
“What?”
“The restaurant.”
“Leo?”
“He disappeared.”
“Where?”
“Airport records show he bought a ticket to Mexico.”
Elena shook her head.
“He won't go there.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because the person he's meeting is in Chicago.”
“Who?”
Elena hesitated.
Then:
“The mayor.”
Norah stared.
“The mayor?”
“Yes.”
Dominic immediately stood.
“We need evidence.”
Elena pointed at the ledger.
“You have enough.”
“Not enough for court.”
“We don't need court.”
Norah frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Dominic looked at her.
“For twenty years, people like them survived because everyone was afraid.”
He closed the ledger.
“Now we're going to make them afraid of each other.”
They leaked one page.
Only one.
Within an hour, three judges resigned.
By noon, two police commanders disappeared.
By evening, the mayor's office denied everything.
Then Leo appeared on television.
He claimed Dominic had threatened him.
Norah watched in disbelief.
“He's lying.”
“Yes,” Dominic said.
“How do we prove it?”
“We don't.”
Norah looked at him.
“What?”
“We let him lie.”
“Why?”
“Because liars eventually contradict themselves.”
He turned toward the window.
Norah followed.
“Dominic.”
He looked back.
“Yes?”
“If everything ends tomorrow…”
He waited.
“…what happens to us?”
Dominic didn't answer immediately.
Then he walked toward her.
“I don't know.”
“That's honest.”
“I've spent my life knowing exactly what would happen next.”
“And now?”
“Now I don't.”
Norah smiled faintly.
“Good.”
He looked at her.
“Good?”
“Maybe uncertainty isn't always bad.”
Their eyes met.
For the first time, neither moved away.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
A pause.
“Say that again.”
Norah watched him.
He slowly lowered the phone.
“What happened?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Leo was found dead.”
“Where?”
“In the restaurant.”
Norah froze.
“Who killed him?”
Dominic's eyes met hers.
“Someone left a message beside his body.”
“What message?”
Dominic swallowed.
“Stop looking for the ledger.”
Norah whispered:
“Who wrote it?”
May you like
Dominic's answer chilled her.
“My uncle.”
