Pretending to Be an Untouchable Crime Boss-Chapter 397: Everybody Knows.

Linda got the answers she had been searching for about Thomas, and while at first it shocked her, it did not stop there, it quickly became something far worse than mere surprise, because what she realized in that instant was that everything surrounding this situation, everything that had led to this moment, was nothing more than complete bullshit that had been building for decades without anyone even noticing, or perhaps pretending not to.

There was really only one word that could describe it all... bullshit.

She thought about a country where the leaders of agencies the very people meant to guide and protect were left to poison themselves under the weight of their own sins, where enduring emotional torment and post-traumatic stress was nothing compared to the physical pain they inflicted on themselves through pills, through poison, through desperate measures they believed were their only way out.

What kind of reality allowed this to happen?

How could all of this have gone so horribly, catastrophically wrong, and why had nobody stopped it when they first saw it beginning to unravel?

These questions spun endlessly in her mind, but there was not a single answer to be found, not a single explanation, not even a glimpse of understanding, because the rot had started decades ago, decades of corruption, decades of disastrous and mismanaged decisions, decades of so-called democracy that had existed only in name.

"All of this because of money and power..." She whispered, her voice trembling as she looked up at the ceiling. "But... what is the greater good, then?"

That question that she kept thinking about because if there was no greater good, then what had anyone been fighting for, and why had so many lives been destroyed in the process?

What had been the goal behind all the bloodshed, the corruption, the lies, and the endless suffering?

She thought about the people who had died, the innocent lives erased, the families torn apart, and she could not imagine a single justification for any of it, no purpose, no plan, no noble cause, nothing that could explain it and now it is just once again a circle.

The borders were open again, and with that came new waves of violence, the cartels walking into the country and of course the elephant in the room, the disaster that had triggered all of this, the earthquake that had destroyed homes, claimed tens of thousands of lives, and left the economy on the edge of collapse, leaving the government scrambling to secure foreign loans that, while meant to rebuild, came with strings attached, allowing outsiders to interfere in ways that could make the corruption far worse, far more visible, and far more dangerous to everyone involved.

"All the loans, all the foreign aid." She whispered again, closing her eyes, knowing perfectly well that each offer carried its own price, a price of influence, power where those who claimed to be helping would instead be probing for weaknesses, exploiting and potentially uncovering the largest corruption scandal the continent had ever seen, while ordinary civilians, exhausted and terrified, already filled the streets in massive protests against a government.

And as she imagined all of it, the sheer impossibility of fixing anything, the magnitude of human suffering, the relentless weight of greed and incompetence crushing everything, a thought rose in her mind. "I should just fucking shoot myself and be done with it."

In Linda’s mind, the pills... they meant nothing.

Why should she bother?

She could just pull the fucking trigger and be done.

"But I can’t." she whispered again. "I am the Attorney General of this crushed, fucking bullshit coun—"

"Miss Linda." There was a sudden knock on the door, followed by a man opening it. "Miss Olivia has arrived for the meeting."

"Olivia? Who is that?"

"Uhm... well." Gery looked down at his notes. "I’m not really sure, but she went through the checking, so... I guess you need to see her." His words were careful, though Linda’s eyes were... not exactly welcoming, to say the least. "I can send her—"

"No. Get her in." Linda said as she got up from the chair wiping the blood off the table.

Olivia... who is she... Linda wondered, but she had no idea. Her days passed in endless meetings with people from the government, just to make them feel important and of course she talked with civilians too, a lot of them and the fact that Olivia went through the security checks meant she must really want to meet her.

So Linda cleaned her hands on the table, tossed the pill into the trash, and sat down, putting on a fake smile or at least she tried to put one on, but because of the stress the smile came out weird, more manic than warm or welcoming one, though her struggle to smile didn’t stop the door from opening.

"Miss Olivia, nice to meet you." Linda said as she stood up to greet her, putting on the impression that she knew exactly who she was meeting with.

"Likewise, nice to meet you, Attorney General, and thank you for making time for me." Olivia said and Linda immediately felt it... Olivia was different from everyone else she had met so far.

All of the others who came to her had that choked, trembling voice, that weak one searching for help, wanting advice and comfort, wanting reassurance that she would help them, that the government would help them. But Olivia’s voice was different. Not just her voice, but her whole demeanor, her eyes... she looked certain about something.

Yeah, she had come to Linda with certainty.

"So, what exactly would you like to discuss with me?" Linda asked, though she did not use the same soft tone or attitude as with others, because she already knew that Olivia was not there for nice and comforting words.

"I am the president of the New Life Humanitarian Organization. We were the ones who reconstructed four villages and helped more than four thousand people eat and live as they deserved." She looked at Linda for a moment. "We received close to four hundred million dollars in donations and we would like to help on the government side, but." She eyed Linda a little longer. "Our donations stopped coming, or more so our biggest donor stopped with the founding."

"Well, a lot of things happened, Olivia. Maybe they ran with their wealth when our situation began. You know, a lot of criminal organizations donate large portions of money and—"

"James Bellini." She interrupted Linda. "What I am here for today is to ask you to allow James Bellini to use the National Bank to donate his money and help others. My organization cannot accept foreign banks because of the sanctions and that’s why he stopped."

"I don’t know who James Bellini is—"

"Attorney General, everybody knows who James Bellini is."