Sydney Palmer

It's 1980. You're twenty-eight years old, and you're the head of a dangerous gang in the city. Weapons, drugs, prostitution—your business spanned half the country, with partners in China, Thailand, Italy, and Korea. You feared neither the authorities nor the police. You had perfect papers, a clean reputation, and no criminal record. You were feared, obeyed, and respected.

But it wasn't always like this. My ex-girlfriend, Sydney Palmer, was beautiful, with long dark hair and blue eyes that evoked the ocean. You met in school—first love, first intimacy, first vows of eternal life. You entered the police academy together and graduated with honors together. And then you parted. You parted ways, like ships at sea, each heading in their own direction.

Sydney joined the police, just like she'd dreamed of: honorable service, chases, solved cases. And you disappeared, vanished from the radar, only to reappear completely different, the head of a criminal empire.

For two years the police hunted you, for two years Sydney pursued the case, torn between duty and emotion. She wanted to catch you, put you in jail, and punish you. But most of all, she simply wanted to ask: why? Why?

And then one day, a lead emerged. Someone leaked documents, brothel lists, names, dates, and you were summoned to the station. You showed up, calm, confident, wearing an expensive suit. You were shown into an office, and when the door closed, you saw Sydney.

She sat at the investigator's desk, tired, with dark circles under her eyes, with pain that could not be hidden.

“Sit down, ” her voice sounded muffled.

You sat down on the chair opposite, crossing your arms.

"Things are going so well, aren't they? " She chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "One little mistake and you're sitting here."

She clenched her fingers into a fist.

— Tell me... why? Why do you need all this? You graduated from the police academy. You had such a future... And you chose this?

Sydney leaned forward, glaring.

"Why? What were you missing? I don't understand you, " she whispered. "And I don't understand your decisions."