The Billionaire Twins Need A New Mommy!

Chapter 823: One Less Evil

Meanwhile...

In another ward, Haji stood beside the bed. His eyes were on the man lying there.

"Vito," he called, watching Vito open his eyes.

The man was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. And from what Haji knew, Vito would never be the same again. He had been in a location that was just too close to the explosion. It was even a miracle he was alive, albeit barely.

"Man... I can’t believe I’d ever see you in such a state," Haji clicked his tongue and huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets. Then he whispered, "I really can’t."

Every memory Haji had of the guy was not even remotely close to this. For him, Vito was untouchable—a psychotic prick who did things solely for himself. A man who had sacrificed his humanity and lived for entertainment.

Someone who didn’t care if he trampled one person or a hundred for his own amusement.

That was the kind of person Vito was to him.

So seeing him now gave Haji mixed feelings.

A shallow breath escaped Haji as he reached for the pillow under Vito. He carefully held the back of Vito’s head and pulled the pillow away.

"Uh..." Vito let out a jagged breath, but couldn’t form a word. Even his breathing, assisted by the oxygen, sounded like a struggle.

Haji straightened and looked him straight in the eye.

"Do you know that you might die like this?" he asked. "You’re barely clinging to life."

Vito’s body was not the only thing burned—his lungs were as well. So there was never going to be a full recovery for the man.

"You might survive," Haji added under his breath. "But you don’t want to live like that, do you?"

Vito couldn’t answer, but he stared at Haji.

"I hate you with all my life," Haji whispered as he slowly pulled away Vito’s oxygen. The second he did, the latter began gasping. "But at the same time, I owe you. With this, we’re finally even."

As those words rolled out of Haji’s lips, he placed the pillow over Vito’s face and pressed it down. Vito’s body jerked violently—a natural reaction he wouldn’t have been able to control.

Meanwhile, Haji looked away as he pressed the pillow harder until Vito stopped jerking. Yet he didn’t remove it immediately. If anything, he pressed down one last time before lifting it away and putting it back underneath Vito’s head.

Then he put the oxygen mask back.

The flatline echoed in the room, but Haji didn’t rush. If anything, he stood beside the bed and stared at the man.

"Now we’re even," he whispered.

He stared for a while before turning and walking away from the ward. The nurses would be there soon.

But as Haji stepped out of the room, he paused upon catching Scarlet leaning against the wall.

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue and pretended not to see her, walking past her—only to stop when she spoke.

"Why?" Scarlet turned her head from the door to his back. "Why would you spare him? He doesn’t deserve mercy."

Haji might have ended Vito, but all that was was an act of mercy for the man. Vito would rather die than live in the hospital like that. So ending him now was simply mercy.

"Don’t know," was all he said before he resumed walking. "Just get off my case, damn it."

Scarlet arched a brow as he walked away, shaking her head slightly. When she turned to the other side, the nurses and doctors were already sprinting toward Vito’s room.

"What a softie," she whispered. "That guy... doesn’t deserve the slightest bit of mercy."

Although Vito helped them, that would never erase the suffering he had caused others as an underground kingpin. If not prosecuted, he should suffer in this hospital for the rest of his life.

But Haji was a softie.

The corners of Scarlet’s mouth hooked upward as she let out a weak chuckle.

"How pathetic," she whispered, peeling her back from behind the wall before walking in the opposite direction Haji had taken.

*****

"I see."

Lola nodded in understanding as she listened to Allen’s report right outside Atlas’s room. She smacked her lips and forced a smile before turning to Allen.

"There’s no need to bring him back to his men. They wouldn’t want him anyway," she said. "Just bury him or spread his ashes. There’s no need for a funeral, even if he helped us one way or another."

Allen nodded while Lola turned toward the door. But before she could leave, he spoke.

"Madam."

His call made her stop.

"About Vito’s death—"

"He had a cardiac arrest," Lola intervened, looking back at him. "After being blown away near the explosion, Vito barely survived. However, due to complications from his burns and lung damage, he ended up with cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure."

She nodded to him. "That’s how he died."

Silence settled between them as they held each other’s gaze. Allen hadn’t told her what Haji did, but it seemed he didn’t need to.

After all, they had promised to transfer Vito’s custody to Interpol since he was an internationally wanted criminal.

Interpol needed more information from him.

But by ending him, Vito would bury everything he knew. That included Lola, Haji, and Amala’s involvement in his organization. Although the Order could simply erase their traces, this meant less work for them.

"I understand, Madam," Allen lowered his head. "I’ll send that to Interpol right away."

Having said that, Allen walked away while Lola stared at his back. She sighed and shook her head.

Then, when she entered the room, she noticed the children had fallen asleep on the bed with Atlas—though Atlas was still awake.

"Is everything alright?" he asked as she walked inside.

"Mhm," Lola hummed as she sat down beside the bed. "It’s just that Vito is dead. I agreed to send him to Interpol, but there’s no need for that anymore."

"I see," Atlas nodded in understanding. "It seems Haji had cut the last thread of his leash."

She let out a weak laugh. "I guess we can treat it like that."

"That guy," she sighed, shaking her head. "He’s just too kind."

Only Haji would give Vito this kind of mercy, because everyone—even Lola—would rather let Vito live and spend the rest of his life suffering.

"But I guess he closed that Chapter for all of us," she added, lowering her eyes with a subtle smile. "I don’t even know if it’s right to call it taking one for the team."

But at the end of the day, without Vito, that was one less evil in the world.