Pretending to Be an Untouchable Crime Boss-Chapter 399: Confusion and the Red Folder.
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It took some time for Olivia to fully understand the words and the meaning behind what Linda had just told her, and for a moment she looked completely shocked, which honestly felt strange even to Linda herself.
The earthquake destroyed many lives, killed countless people, and even now many of the bodies still had not been found, but seeing Olivia’s reaction made it feel as if she truly believed James was untouchable or something like that, because her eyes were filled with worry, and the more Linda looked at her, the more confused she became, even though she already knew the reason behind Olivia’s concern.
It was not really about helping others. It was about the power that came with helping others, and it was honestly obvious that Olivia was not only here because she wanted to save people, because by helping people she would also gain power, recognition, and influence. It was a little hard to explain, but Linda understood it very well. Olivia wanted to use James’s money to help people, yes, but at the same time, by helping them she would become more important in their eyes, people would start talking about her and her organization, they would place their hopes on her, they would stand by her side, and sadly, in this country and especially in this capital, everything was rotten to the core with corruption, and without power it was almost impossible to succeed.
Though corruption was not really the right word when it came to Olivia.
Olivia truly wanted to help people, because she had all the tools for it, she had volunteers, workers, and people willing to support her cause, but for a humanitarian organization to truly have freedom and the ability to work properly, it needed connections and protection, and Linda knew that very well, because many humanitarian organizations had stopped working and disappeared over the years because of the government itself.
There was even a law for it, though on paper it sounded reasonable.
The government claimed that every humanitarian organization needed a special permit in order to operate legally, because they said it was necessary to prevent fraud, fake charities, money laundering, and foreign influence. At first, most people agreed with it, because it sounded like the government was only trying to protect donations and make sure the money actually reached the people who needed it.
But over time, people started realizing that the law was not really about protection.
Every organization had to go through endless inspections, paperwork, interviews, and background checks, and even after all of that, most applications were still rejected without any clear reason. Some groups waited years for approval and never got it, while others were shut down after suddenly losing their permits.
At the same time, the government kept promoting its own humanitarian department, telling people that it was safer, more reliable, and easier to trust than private organizations. Rich businessmen, celebrities, and even billionaires started donating there instead, because they did not want problems with the government or accusations that they were funding illegal groups.
In the end, the law gave the government complete control over who was allowed to help people and who was not.
That was why Linda immediately knew something was strange when Olivia said who she was and what kind of work she did.
Because there was no way Olivia could run an organization like that without connections, and not just small connections either. Someone powerful had to be protecting her, because without protection, the government would have buried her in paperwork, frozen her accounts, or shut her down completely.
In short, the government created the law so they could control where the donations went, and in the end most of the money ended up in their hands instead.
They called it regulation and public safety, but everyone knew that a large part of those funds never reached the people who actually needed help, though at least now Linda finally had her answer.
James helped her get a permit... that doesn’t make any sense at all. Linda thought, because in her mind it seemed completely impossible.
James was far too busy with his own empire.
And even if, somehow, he had managed to find the time, the idea that it could remain hidden seemed absurd. Someone would have had to notice, someone would have had to talk.
Whether it was one of the officials, one of the bureaucrats, or even one of the countless people who knew James’s moves, there was no way the process could have gone completely unseen.
The more she thought about it, the less sense it made. It was one thing for someone to secure a permit through normal channels, it was another entirely to do it without leaving a single trace, without anyone noticing.
"Olivia, do you even know what James looks like? Have you ever actually seen him yourself, or did you just see the gun and the engraving on it? The man who came to you, did he have anything unique? Scars, tattoos, anything?"
"Just the gun." Olivia admitted, her voice steady, but Linda could tell she was holding something back. There was a certainty in her words, yes, but also restraint. "Everybody knows him by name."
"How did that man look? Hair, skin, eyes... how tall was he?" Linda pressed further.
"I can’t tell you that." Olivia said now even more firmly, almost as if she hadn’t even allowed herself to think about it. "I made a promise."
That was enough for Linda. Whoever the man with the money had been, it was not James, and that much was obvious. First, James always has bodyguards with him after what happened; he never moves alone. Second, he never reveals his gun unless it is absolutely necessary and sometimes he doesn’t even carry one at all. And there is no way, not with his bad leg and the pain he lives with every day, that he could carry that much cash in a bag.
But if it wasn’t James... then who was the man, and why did he do all of this?
It had to be—-
There was a knock on the door again, faster this time, and before Linda could even react properly, one of her secretaries stepped in, holding a red folder in her hand and with that in that instant, Linda snapped back to reality, realizing just how much time she had wasted talking with Olivia while people outside were still dying and waiting for help and more so the fact that the folder in the secretary hand was red.
Which ment something was fucked once again.
"Well, like I said, I can talk to him." Linda began, trying to sound calm. "But it will take time. There are losses on his side, delays, and... maybe it would be better if you went and talked to him yourself."
She smiled faintly as she stood up from the chair, glancing at Olivia, who had stayed seated, stunned into silence. The hesitation on Olivia’s face, shock and surprise mixed together made Linda pause for just a moment, realizing that her words might have sounded reckless, like she was sending Olivia straight into danger.
But then Olivia stood up too, and they shook hands and Olivia turned and left and as Linda watched her go, and only then did she fully realize that she might have said the wrong thing at the wrong time, that perhaps suggesting Olivia go herself had been careless.
But the words were already out, and there was nothing she could do to take them back.
And it didn’t matter, not really. There were bigger things happening, lives at stake that needed attention, and waiting any longer, debating what was or wasn’t the right choice, was no longer an option.
The world outside her office didn’t care about timing or hesitation, it just kept moving, and she had to move with it and well when she opened the red folder she just realized that she truly wasted time... because something big was happening.
"Is this real...?" She asked as looked up at her secretary and her eyes were just widened in disbelief.
"Yes, and they want you to write an announcement about it." The secretary began. "Or, more precisely, they want you to make up a story, a story that a fight broke out, that things got out of control, and that there was no other way to handle it than... this."
"And who was sent to deal with it?" Linda asked as she looked up from the folder.
"Benjamin."
The silence was just pure shock, because the red folder in front of Linda was about something she hadn’t even thought about.
The prisons were hit too, and one of the prisons had been taken over by the inmates... and well the one sent to "handle" it was him.
Benjamin... or more accurately, Benjamin Bellini. And well... after the operation, Linda knew she didn’t just need to write an announcement, she had to fucking create a cover-up story for a massacre, because she knew that Benjamin would fucking kill everybody in that prison.
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PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR’S THOUGHTS.
PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR’S THOUGHTS
