CHAPTER 6: The Fall
Julian looked around at the men who’d stood with him for months, his eyes wide with disbelief and fury. “You’d choose him over me? After everything I gave you?”
“We choose what’s right,” the older man said, setting his gun gently on the concrete floor. “And you’ve never been right. You only ever took. He gave.”
The others followed suit—one by one, weapons clattering against the hard ground, the sound loud and final in the quiet space.
Julian let out a short, broken laugh that sounded more like a sob. “You’ll regret this. All of you. He’ll throw you away the second you’re not useful anymore.”
“Leave the city, Julian,” Victor said, his voice steady, no anger left in it—only pity. “Take what you have left and go. And never come back. That’s the only mercy you’ll ever get from me.”
“I don’t want your mercy!” he screamed, reaching for his own gun at his hip.
But before he could lift it, sirens wailed loud along the river road, growing closer by the second. Police cars skidded to a halt outside, lights flashing blue and red through the open doors. Julian froze, his hand still clamped around the weapon, his face draining of all color.
“You called them?” he hissed, like he couldn’t believe it.
“I called the ones who play by the rules,” Victor said. “For once. I promised myself a long time ago I’d stop solving problems with bullets. Today I kept that promise.”
As officers moved in to take Julian into custody, he looked at me one last time—pure venom burning in his eyes. “This isn’t over. You haven’t seen the half of it.”
Victor watched them lead him away in cuffs, then turned to the men who’d stood down. “No one gets punished for what happened today. You made the right choice. And I won’t forget it. Any of you.”
On the drive back home, I sat quiet beside him, watching the city roll past. “You really would have let him walk away? If he’d just gone?”
“I would have,” he said quietly. “For you. Because you deserve a world where people can choose to do better. Even if they don’t deserve it.”
He reached over and squeezed my hand, his grip warm and solid. “But if he ever comes near you again… there won’t be any mercy left in me.”
