Chapter 29 - THE FINAL ECHOInside the maximum-security federal penitentiary, Inmate 488-902 sat alone in his dimly lit isolation cell.
His hair was entirely white, his body frail, and his world had shrunk down to the four damp concrete walls that surrounded him. No visitors ever came. No letters were ever delivered. The outside world had moved on, leaving him behind as a forgotten footnote in the history of Wall Street excess.
Roman reached out with a trembling hand and picked up a small, worn piece of paper—the only item he had managed to keep through all the transfers and beatings. It was a printed copy of the five words Mara had left on the hospital table seven years ago:
You received every call.
May you like
He traced the letters with his finger, finally understanding the true, devastating depth of what those words meant. It wasn't just a record of a phone log; it was the mathematical proof of his own undoing. He had been given every warning, every chance, every opportunity to choose loyalty, family, and humanity over arrogance, deception, and greed. And every single time, he had chosen wrong.
A heavy silence settled over the cell block as the evening guard walked past, tapping his baton mechanically against the bars. Roman didn't look up. He simply laid back down on his thin metal bunk, pulled the scratchy woolen blanket over his shoulders, and closed his eyes to the endless dark.
