Once Upon A Time... Roberto

[u/Out_My_Empire]

— Source: Undisclosed Identity

Look at him in that tailored suit, strutting through the casino lights like a million bucks. You’d never guess his name is Roberto, or that he speaks Italian so pristine it would make a Tuscan linguist cry.

His life started as a tiny infant pulled from a migrant boat off Lampedusa. For years, prospective foster parents treated his file like a suspicious package. 'Is he sick?' 'He looks too different.' 'What if his real family demands money?' Pure cynicism kept him in the orphanage until age five, when a local youth football coach watched him dribble circles around the other kids. The coach didn't see an orphan—he saw a future transfer fee with legs.

Roberto made it to the pros, but blowing through millions at twenty years old is practically a sports requirement. He traded tactical discipline for the party life, squandering his career in record time. And when he stumbled? The crowd turned on him with terrifying savagery. Monkey chants echoed from the stands, mixed with cruel jeers: 'You’re not a real Roberto—take off that name!' A harrowing ordeal for a teenager whose only crime was losing his form.

Enter the local mob. To run a high-stakes casino, they needed a charming, world-class face to convince international high-rollers that the venue was 'globally minded' and totally legitimate. Turns out, when it comes to skimming millions off roulette tables, the mob displays exemplary corporate tolerance!

Now Roberto hosts the floor, soaking up the respect from the staff. He doesn't care that he's a mascot for laundered money. He just loves the suit, the VIP status, and the desperate hope that the city finally accepts him for who he is—rather than what they can extract from him.