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had disappeared. “My tummy was almost gone. I felt good. I had good energy. I could move fast.”

Wealthy and slimming, Dotcom started attracting attention from other women. When he and Mona went on holiday to the Philippines, “she sees how the other girls are looking at me. I start to become more acceptable and they would be flirting with me.”

“What did she do? She cooked for me. She made me pasta. She said, ‘Come on, baby, it's a holiday’.” He laughs at the memory — having reformed, he fell back into his old ways. “I would have gone all the way and I would be skinny now.” Instead, he says, Mona accepted the man he was.

“I accept you the way you are, I love you, I'll cook for you,” she said.

“I think she regrets it now. It's affecting my health and my back. Back in the day, she felt like I was getting too handsome.”

For Dotcom, there was no option. Mona was a permanent fixture in the future he envisioned — and it was a future in which he saw them having a large family. The concept was new to him and one which developed during the courtship which followed. “That's when I also decided I want to have a family. I want to have kids. I want to be with her for the rest of my life.”

For Mona, Dotcom's interest didn't just affect her, it affected her entire family. His growing fortune brought with it obvious potential dangers. With kidnapping a major business in the Philippines, his wealth made him and all those close to him a target. The developing relationship with Mona drew her and her family into the circle of risk. By the time they were wed, on July 10 2009, Dotcom had extended his support by drawing the family together into a large home in a gated community, complete with security and staff.

“They can take all my money and everything, I don't give a shit as long as I am with her and the kids. It's really true love. If anything would happen to her, (if) we wouldn't be together, that's the one thing I wouldn't survive.

“Mona is the love of my life.”

AMONG HIS OTHER goals, Dotcom was determined never to be hauled into a courtroom again. His experiences as a teenage hacker and the suspended sentence which followed were brought back to him after the charges stemming from Letsbuyit.com. “I didn't get legal advice and that's why I ended up in a difficult situation.”

Dotcom's mind was focused on the benefits of advice from lawyers

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