We always think that corruption happens in an instant, born from one evil thought. But reality is never like that. It never gives you a simple black-and-white choice, never asks you to make a clear decision between “good” and “bad.” Instead, it offers one seemingly insignificant crossroads after another, each with an entirely reasonable excuse: to save the person you love, to help someone else, to stay alive, to make life a little better for the people around you.
Each time, you tell yourself, just this once, never again. Each time, you reassure yourself that you have no choice. Each time, you look at the growing pile of money in your hands and the temporary security of those around you, and decide that everything you’ve done was worth it. Then one day, you look back and realize you’ve already come too far to ever return to the path you started on.
