I did.
The scanner turned blue.
“Now Lily.”
Elena led her from behind the glass.
My heart stopped at the sight of her walking into the open hall.
She looked very small beneath the enormous ceiling.
Salvatore knelt.
“So you are the famous Lily.”
She studied him.
“You are Adrian’s daddy.”
“I am.”
“You are not nice.”
A murmur moved through the station.
Salvatore smiled tightly.
“Children should be careful what they say.”
Lily held Buttons closer.
“Brave people can say true things.”
I nearly smiled.
Salvatore reached for her wrist.
I caught his hand.
“Do not touch her.”
His expression hardened.
“Authorize the transfer.”
Lily placed her palm on the scanner.
The terminal flashed.
**SECONDARY AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.**
Salvatore looked at me.
I pressed my hand beside hers.
A countdown began.
Ten seconds.
Salvatore’s eyes gleamed.
At zero, the screen changed.
**ALL ACCOUNTS RELEASED TO PUBLIC AUTHORITIES.**
Silence.
Then phones began ringing across the station.
Every hidden ledger, payment, recording, and name had been sent simultaneously to federal agencies and international journalists.
Salvatore stared at the screen.
“What did you do?”
“I ended it.”
His face transformed.
The charming mask vanished, revealing the tyrant beneath.
He pulled a pistol from his coat and aimed at Lily.
Elena screamed.
I moved between them.
A shot rang out.
But Salvatore’s weapon fell before he fired.
Isabella stood behind him with smoke rising from her gun.
My father looked at her in disbelief.
“You chose him?”
“No,” she said. “I chose my children.”
Salvatore collapsed.
The station erupted as federal agents poured through every entrance.
Vincent had arranged the raid.
Men who believed themselves untouchable were dragged from the shadows.
Salvatore, still alive, was placed in handcuffs.
As agents carried him away, he looked at me.
“You think this ends with me?”
“It ends with her,” I said, looking at Lily. “Because she will grow up free.”
For the first time, my father looked afraid.
# **PART 7 — THE LAST BETRAYAL**
The Romano empire collapsed before sunrise.
Bank accounts froze.
Judges resigned.
Politicians vanished from public view.
Men who once controlled entire cities began bargaining for prison cells with windows.
I expected relief.
Instead, I found another message waiting in the safe house.
It was written in Matteo’s handwriting.
**LILY IS STILL IN DANGER. ASK ISABELLA ABOUT THE FIRST CHILD.**
I confronted my mother in the kitchen.
She stood at the sink washing paint from Buttons’ torn ear after Lily attempted to make him “fancier.”
“What first child?” I asked.
The cup slipped from her hand.
It shattered.
