"A more moderate budget proposal, one that we can all accept."

"For example, renovating a few parks, or getting the fire department a few new trucks. As long as it’s within that scope, I can give you the green light."

"But as for that revitalization plan of yours that would turn the whole city upside down..." Moretti shook his head. "Forget about it. At least, don’t even think about it this year."

Leo didn’t say a word. He just stared at Moretti.

Because he realized something was off.

The theory of power Roosevelt had mentioned before seemed to make a lot of sense.

But here in Pittsburgh City Hall, this drama of opposing for the sake of opposition seemed a bit too deliberate.

The Mayor and the City Council may be two separate bodies, but they are symbiotic in nature.

The Mayor needs the council to approve budgets to get things done, and the council members need the Mayor to land projects in their districts to please their constituents.

A complete schism would benefit no one.

Unless... there was a larger conflict of interest at play, one that hadn’t been put on the table yet.

Moretti’s intense opposition wasn’t just about humiliating him; it was more like he was setting the tone for a negotiation.

By rejecting this twenty-million-dollar special budget, he was accumulating bargaining chips for a much larger battle.

Leo looked at Moretti’s half-closed eyes and suddenly realized what he wanted.

This debate over the revitalization plan was ostensibly about the fate of twenty million US dollars. But in reality, Moretti couldn’t care less about fixing roads or renovating parks.

What he cared about was the main course that hadn’t been served yet—Pittsburgh City’s annual operating and capital budget draft.

That was the lifeblood that kept the city running, a massive cash flow of hundreds of millions of US dollars.

Police salaries, sanitation contracts, funding for major infrastructure, and even the procurement cost for every single sheet of printing paper in City Hall—it was all in there.

The reason Moretti was stonewalling the revitalization plan so stubbornly was to use it as leverage, forcing Leo to make concessions in the upcoming annual budget negotiations.

He wanted to tell Leo: If you want to get even one thing done, you have to hand me the knife to cut the cake on this much larger platter.

This was the truth of power.

All the ideological battles, all the procedural justice, ultimately came down to the distribution of benefits.

So-called checks and balances, in the end, were all about control over the flow of funds.

Whoever yielded first, lost.

Leo knew this negotiation would lead nowhere. He grabbed the documents from the table and turned to leave.

THUD.

The heavy door closed behind him, sealing the smell of meatball sandwiches and Moretti’s arrogance inside.

The hallway was empty, filled only with the sound of Leo’s footsteps.

Leo’s pace slowed, and he finally stopped in the shadows of the corridor, gazing out at the gray, overcast sky.

’Mr. President, why?’ Leo asked silently. ’Why did you have me come here myself?’

Normally, this kind of initial contact, not even at the formal negotiation stage, this guaranteed and humiliating dead end, should have been handled by his Chief of Staff, Ethan Hawke.

As a subordinate, Ethan could be rejected and still leave room for maneuver. That was a chief of staff’s job—to act as a buffer and protect the Mayor’s dignity.

But Roosevelt had specifically advised him to come himself.

Politically, this was a huge loss of face.

A master of political rules like Roosevelt couldn’t possibly have been unaware of the consequences.

Unless... this was the exact result he wanted.

’You did it on purpose,’ Leo thought, answering his own question. ’You sent me here to make me angry.’

’If Ethan had come, he would have brought back Moretti’s rejection, and then we would have sat in the office, rationally analyzing the pros and cons, calculating the gains and losses.’

’We would start to consider whether we should just accept Moretti’s suggestion and settle for a few small projects. Or maybe we’d renegotiate the plan to ask Washington for money.’

’We would start to compromise.’

’We would start to think that this is the most that can be done within this system.’

’That’s the path Carter Wright took.’

’You were worried I would become the next Carter Wright.’

Leo clenched his fists.

’You were afraid I’d also become one of those mediocre politicians who sits in his office making deals just to keep his seat. So you threw me onto the front lines, made me personally smell that stale stench, made me personally feel the humiliation of being trampled on by the old guard.’

’You want to leave me with no way out.’

In the face of Leo’s analysis, Roosevelt was silent.

To Leo, that silence was an admission.

"You don’t need to test my resolve this way." Leo took a deep breath.

"Carter Wright did what he did to secure his position. But me? I never planned on retiring in this office."

"The Mayor?" Leo scoffed. "This is far from my final destination."

Just then, Roosevelt spoke.

"Leo, now you’re finally starting to impress me."

"Then get to it, kid." Roosevelt’s voice grew deeper. "Since the brake pads on this car are rusted solid, we’ll have to find a way to grease it up a little."

"Or..."

"...give the car a push from the outside."