Chapter 61: The Edge of Every Choice

My fingers shook as I read Elliot’s message. I know where you are.

The words were simple, but they carried everything I feared: protection, obsession, desperation. And guilt.

I glanced up at her. She was still sitting, calm, smiling as if she already knew the turmoil inside me.

“You’re texting him?” she asked softly, almost curious.

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t have a single coherent thought left. My mind was a storm, spinning with fragments: my sister, the flash drive, Elliot, the warehouse, the recording, and her. Her.

She leaned forward, elbows resting on the table, chin cupped in her hands. “You always were quick with your decisions. Quick to act. Quick to protect. Do you know what that does to people?”

“What?” I demanded, voice shaking. “It keeps them alive.”

“No,” she said calmly. “It keeps them alive… until it doesn’t. Until someone finally learns that choices have consequences.”

My breath caught. The flash drive gleamed in the candlelight between us, innocuous but lethal. It wasn’t just proof. It was leverage. And if I took it… if I played her game… I risked everything.

“What do you want from me?” I asked again, quieter this time.

Her eyes lit up, and the soft smile returned. “I want honesty. Full honesty. About Elliot. About your father. About what you’ve been hiding.”

I blinked. My pulse hammered so violently I thought it might burst from my chest. “Why?”

“Because,” she said, “I like things clean. Clear. And I like knowing exactly who is standing in the fire before I burn them.”

I swallowed, tasting the metallic tang of fear. I thought of Elliot outside the door, waiting, protecting, yet powerless to intervene without revealing himself. I thought of my sister and Liam. I thought of Marcus. And suddenly, I realized this wasn’t just a game anymore. This wasn’t just leverage.

This was a war.

“Tell me what you know,” I said finally.

She raised an eyebrow, amused. “Are you ready to really hear it? Are you ready to bear the truth?”

“I have to be,” I whispered.

Her smile widened, predatory, almost maternal in the way she tilted her head. “Very well. Your father didn’t die by accident. He didn’t even die from being watched. He died because he tried to protect you and because Elliot here, your dear father’s best friend, made a decision that set everything into motion.”

I froze. My pulse threatened to stop entirely.

“I...” I choked, unable to form words.

Elliot’s name fell like lead through the room.

“Yes,” she said softly, almost gently. “He thought he was protecting everyone. But every action has a reaction. And now? You’re holding the consequences in your hands.”

I could feel my hands tightening into fists. “You won’t”

“I already have,” she interrupted. “I’ve already moved. Already positioned. Already ensured that if you try to walk away, someone dies. And I’m not bluffing.”

Her calmness was terrifying. Her poise, her control over the room, over me, over everything it was complete. I realized that in the shadow of her gaze, my power felt insignificant.

And yet, I couldn’t give in.

I glanced at the flash drive. She was daring me. Daring me to decide. She knew I would risk everything to protect my family. She knew my weakness. She had studied it. Learned it. And now she was using it.

I clenched my jaw. My mind raced.

If I took the flash drive, I could learn the whole truth. I could maybe stop her. I could protect my sister. But I would be walking directly into her trap.

If I walked away: my sister could die. And Elliot, God, Elliot would hate me forever. Or worse, he’d blame himself even more.

I realized then that there wasn’t a safe choice. There never had been. Only survival. Only risk. Only the fire that we were all circling like moths.

I reached slowly for the flash drive. My hand hovered above it. Her gaze locked onto mine, unblinking, commanding.

“You’re trembling,” she whispered. “Do you want to tell me why?”

I swallowed hard, gripping the edge of the table. “Because…” My voice broke, because the truth was sharper than anything else I had ever admitted aloud. “…because I can’t afford to lose anyone else.”

She laughed softly, low and musical, but it carried a deadly edge. “And yet, you’ve already lost so much. Don’t you see? Everything you hold dear… it’s already in my hands. And soon, the world will know what Elliot and your father tried to hide. And you?”

I looked down at my hands. “…I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Her eyes glittered in the dim light, as if she could see straight through me. “Good,” she said finally. “Because I want everything. Not just the flash drive. Not just Elliot’s confession. Not just your obedience. I want to see how far you’re willing to go. And I promise… it’s going to hurt.”

A soft click echoed in the room. I froze. My pulse leaped.

The door behind me shifted slightly, a shadow moving against the dim candlelight.

“She’s not alone,” I whispered.

“Yes,” she said, almost amused. “And that’s why this is going to be so much fun.”

The air shifted. Suddenly, I was surrounded. I could feel their presence, but couldn’t identify them in the darkness. My body tensed. Every muscle ready to flee. Or fight.

And in that moment, I realized something terrifying: I couldn’t trust Elliot. I couldn’t trust Marcus. I couldn’t even trust Liam. Because in the end… she had studied all of us. Learned every weakness. And tonight, she would exploit them.

I swallowed hard, gripping the flash drive like it was the only lifeline left in a world of chaos.

She smiled again, slow, deliberate. “Tomorrow, we see what you’re really made of.”

The lights flickered violently, plunging the room into near darkness, and I felt her breath on my neck as a whisper cut into my ear:

“Choose… or watch everything you love burn.”

I had never felt more alive… or more terrified.