After Murphy finished speaking, there was silence on the other end of the line.

Leo held the phone.

An unprecedented rage surged through him. It burned in his chest, on the verge of searing away his reason.

Compromise.

Compromise again.

For the sake of the so-called greater good, to protect the jobs of a few key people, they were sacrificing Pittsburgh and every promise they had made.

These were the rules of their game.

"Leo?" Murphy asked tentatively. "Are you listening?"

"I’m listening."

Leo’s voice was terrifyingly calm.

"So, what’s your decision?"

"Am I pulling out?"

Murphy was silent for a moment.

"I... I don’t know." Murphy’s voice was filled with anguish. "I don’t want to drop out. I can’t accept this. But what else can I do? Without Sanders’s support, I’m like a naked man in a blizzard."

"Besides, if I don’t drop out, they’ll really destroy you, Leo. That lawsuit will continue. They’ll keep at it until you lose. Pittsburgh will go bankrupt, and you could go to jail." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"I can’t drag you down with me."

"I’ll drop out. We... we can at least survive."

Listening to Murphy’s voice on the other end of the line, a ferocious expression slowly appeared on Leo’s face.

"Survive?"

"John, have you lost your mind?"

Leo shot to his feet, his chair screeching against the floor.

"You think dropping out solves anything?"

"For this damn port project, for those five hundred million US dollars, I’ve put my reputation, my political credibility, everything on the line!"

"I’ve already paid the price!"

Leo’s roar echoed in the office.

"I’ve taken the heat, I’ve pissed off our base, and I’ve turned myself into a politician who’d do anything for a buck. And what did I do it all for? It was to get you elected Senator! It was to get that money to deliver on our promises!"

"I even have all the plans drawn up for the next phase of Pittsburgh’s redevelopment after you’re elected Senator!"

"And now, you’re telling me we should give up, all for the so-called ’greater good’ and to satisfy the very people who want to destroy us?"

"If we back out now, then every deal we made really will become a dirty deal. We won’t just get nothing, we’ll be nailed to a pillar of shame and become a couple of complete clowns!"

Murphy, intimidated by Leo’s intensity, stammered, "But... Sanders... even Daniel compromised..."

"Then let him compromise!"

Leo cut him off.

"Since Sanders chose to abandon us at this moment, since he decided to sacrifice Pittsburgh for his own schemes in Washington."

"Then, from this moment on, he is no longer our ally."

A chilling light glinted in Leo’s eyes.

"John, we’ve come this far. Those five hundred million dollars in bonds have been issued, the money is sitting in the account, and the cranes for the port are already up."

"This is a high-speed train with no brakes and no reverse gear."

"You either stay in the driver’s seat and floor it, or you jump out and crash and burn."

"Stay in the race."

"Don’t listen to Washington. Ignore the threats from that damn committee."

"You’re the candidate for Pennsylvania. Your name is printed on the ballot. As long as you don’t drop out, not even God can cross you off."

Even over the phone, Murphy could feel the feverish, gambling spirit radiating from the young man.

It was an infectious spirit, and it made his heart, which had already gone cold, begin to pound in his chest once more.

’Yeah.’

’We’ve come this far.’

’If I back down now, I’ll just be a pathetic Representative for the rest of my life—a coward branded with the shame of deserting his post.’

"But, Leo..."

Murphy was wavering, but the real-world obstacles still weighed on him like a mountain.

"That lawsuit is still ongoing. As long as I don’t drop out, they’ll see it through to the end."

"You know what that means."

"My entire campaign platform is built around this Inland Port project. I told the voters I would bring jobs, bring revitalization."

"But now, the legality of the project is being questioned."

"Before, when the lawsuit was just dragging on, it didn’t affect us much because the Democratic Party was still speaking up for us. The voters had their doubts, but when they saw big shots in the party endorsing us, they were willing to give us time, willing to believe it was just typical political mudslinging."

"But it’s different now!"

Murphy’s voice was filled with despair.

"Now the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are both against us! They’re teaming up to strangle us! If I have to keep touring the state, keep facing a media that’s already hostile to me, this lawsuit is my Achilles’ heel!"

"As long as that antitrust lawsuit isn’t dropped, Monroe and Warren will sink their teeth into this and never let go."

"They’ll say: ’Look! The jobs Murphy promised are built on an illegal monopoly! His project could be shut down by the courts at any moment! He’s a complete and utter fraud!’"

"If I can’t guarantee the project’s legality, every promise I make will sound like a lie to the voters. Public opinion will collapse in an instant, and our approval ratings will plummet like an avalanche."

"In this situation, how can I possibly win?"

"It’s a catch-22. I can’t campaign without resolving the lawsuit, and the only way to resolve the lawsuit is to drop out of the race."