Chapter 5 - What Roman Was Willing to Lose
Roman didn't respond with violence.
Instead, he did something Vincent never expected.
He released the evidence.
Every account.
Every transaction.
Every shell company.
Copies went simultaneously to attorneys, investigators, financial institutions, and rival members of Vincent's own network.
Vincent's leverage disappeared in minutes.
The empire Roman had inherited began collapsing.
Sadie watched him sacrifice decades of power without hesitation.
“Why?” she asked later.
Roman looked at her.
“Because I spent my entire life protecting something that never protected anyone I loved.”
That sentence changed Sadie's understanding of him.
Roman wasn't afraid of losing money.
He was afraid of becoming his father.
Within weeks, Vincent's allies abandoned him.
Marcus agreed to testify.
Evelyn finally returned publicly.
And the Costa organization began transforming into legitimate businesses.
Roman sold properties.
Closed companies.
Dismissed men who had spent decades living through intimidation.
The mansion itself became strangely quiet.
Then one morning Sadie entered the kitchen.
A bouquet waited beside the sink.
Pink carnations.
Her heart stopped.
Roman stood behind the island.
“You bought these?”
“Yes.”
“Three dollars?”
“Seventy-eight.”
Sadie stared at him.
“You paid seventy-eight dollars for carnations?”
“The florist assured me they were premium.”
She burst out laughing.
Roman looked offended.
Then Sadie noticed an envelope beside them.
Her culinary-school acceptance letter.
Roman had paid the tuition.
Sadie's smile disappeared.
“I can't accept this.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't want to owe you.”
Roman stepped closer.
“You don't.”
“Then why are you doing it?”
He struggled with the answer.
Finally:
“Because I want you to have a life outside this house.”
That was when Sadie realized something.
Roman wasn't trying to keep her.
He was giving her the freedom to leave.
And somehow that made leaving much harder.
She accepted the school placement.
Three months later, she moved into Manhattan.
Roman never asked her to stay.
But every Friday afternoon…
pink carnations arrived.
Without a card.
She always knew who had sent them.
Until one Friday when nothing arrived.
Then Saturday passed.
Then Sunday.
Sadie finally called the estate.
Nobody answered.
On Monday morning, she drove back to Long Island.
The gates stood open.
The mansion was empty.
Roman Costa had disappeared.
On his desk sat only one object.
The original carnation Toby had given her, preserved carefully beneath glass.
Underneath it was a handwritten note.
You deserved someone who could love you without making you afraid.
Sadie read it twice.
Then she whispered:
“Idiot.”
Because Roman still didn't understand.
May you like
She had stopped being afraid of him a long time ago.
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