Page 29 of Born of Vengeance

Senator Paulo Silveira didn’t show up for a scheduled press conference. His house was empty by dawn.

His security detail claimed he’d taken “an unplanned leave of absence.”

No one believed them.

________________________________________

In São Paulo

Senator Renata Vasques canceled her re-election campaign. She deleted all her social media. Her law office was ransacked by protestors within a week. She boarded a private flight to a country with no extradition treaty.

Her new name hadn’t yet made it to any records.

But Rafael would find her.

________________________________________

In Warsaw

Krzysztof Jakub, a Polish diplomat turned political powerbroker, issued a public statement denying “baseless allegations from foreign agitators.” Two days later, his private yacht disappeared off the Baltic coast.

They found the boat. But not him.

________________________________________

Somewhere in the dark corners of the world, a few powerful people started sleeping with guns under their pillows.

Because they knew—

Valderrama was just the beginning.

________________________________________

And in Colombia…

The papers moved on. The news cycle spun. Politicians debated cartel violence. Valderrama was buried in a closed-casket ceremony, mourned by people who had never known who he truly was.

No one spoke of the stranger who burned down his empire and vanished without a trace.

Except in whispers.

________________________________________

At the edge of the Caribbean, a man in a black jacket stood alone on the beach.

The same stretch of sand where Ana once danced in the moonlight.

Rafael looked out at the waves. The wind carried her laughter, still. Somewhere in the memory between the surf and the stars.

He lit a match.

Tossed it into the notebook he’d copied and sent to Milo—the original, burning to ash at his feet.

Then he whispered:

“One down.”

And walked away.

---