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63: THE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE

Author: GOLDEN TREE
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-26 18:16:52

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS REMAINING – TEMPORARY SAFE HOUSE – 9:17 AM

They'd abandoned the beach house. Too compromised. Too many memories now stained with blood. Han had secured an apartment in the city—anonymous, secured, off the grid.

Jian sat on the couch, arm in a sling, face pale from blood loss and pain medication. Euna hadn't left his side since the attack.

"Does it hurt, Daddy?" she asked for the tenth time.

"A little. But I'm okay, princess."

"You got shot protecting Mom."

"I'd do it again. A thousand times."

Chaewon stood at the window, watching the street below. Waiting for the next attack. The next move. The next impossible situation.

Her phone buzzed.

Everyone in the room tensed.

"It's her," Han confirmed, tracking the signal. "Same encrypted channel."

Chaewon answered the speaker. "What now, Iris?"

"Good morning to you too, Mother." Iris's voice was cheerful. Mocking. "How's Jian? I heard he took a bullet. Very heroic. Very stupid."

"Get to the point."

"The point is simple: I'm
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  • The Billionaire’s Gilded Cage   80: THREE MONTHS FORWARD

    MARCH 15TH – FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS – 8:34 AMThe office smelled like fresh paint and new beginnings. Three months since Serpent. Three months since Chaewon stepped down. Three months of learning to breathe again."Seventy-nine survivors helped," Min-ji announced, updating the digital board with a satisfied click. "Twenty-three testimonies leading to convictions. Four new safe houses operational across three cities."Chaewon watched from her desk—no longer at the head of the table but still present, still fighting. Just differently.The weight on her chest had lessened. Not disappeared. Never disappeared. But lessened enough that she could sleep through most nights now. Could eat without her stomach revolting. Could look in the mirror without hating what she saw.Progress. Slow. Painful. Real."Any word on Serpent?" she asked, hating how the name still made her stomach clench, still made her hands curl into fists."Nothing concrete," Han replied, fingers flying across his tablet, six

  • The Billionaire’s Gilded Cage   79: THE WEIGHT OF COMPROMISE

    THREE DAYS LATER – SAFE HOUSE – 6:47 AMChaewon hadn't slept. Not really. The weight of three thousand lives sat on her chest like concrete, pressing down with every breath she tried to take.You let him go.You chose.The monster walks free because of you.The voices in her head were relentless, circling like vultures over a decision that would haunt her until the day she died.She stood before the bathroom mirror, barely recognizing the woman staring back. Hollow eyes. Sharp cheekbones. The kind of exhaustion that lived in bones."Chaewon?" Jian's voice from the doorway. Careful. Worried. "You need to eat something.""I need to say something." Her voice was raw, scraped clean of everything except truth. "Call everyone. Now."7:15 AM – MAIN CONFERENCE ROOMThey gathered like soldiers after battle—bruised, wary, uncertain. Min-ji's arm was still in a sling. Luna had fresh stitches above her eyebrow. Han moved with a slight limp. River's hands trembled when she thought no one was looki

  • The Billionaire’s Gilded Cage   78: THE SERPENT'S LAIR

    GANGNAM DISTRICT – PENTHOUSE APPROACH – 9:47 AMThe building was a luxury incarnate. Fifty stories of glass and steel. Security cameras. Armed guards. The fortress of someone who valued safety above accessibility.Team composition: Chaewon, Jian, Min-ji, Ji-woo, Haeun, River, Luna, Seojun. Yuri stayed behind—too new, too uncertain, too risky. Euna with Seraphina and Han at a secure backup location."Building security is substantial," Han reported through comms. "But I can loop the cameras. Give you a twelve-minute window before anyone notices. Use it.""Twelve minutes to reach the penthouse, secure the Serpent, and extract," Min-ji calculated. "Tight but doable.""If everything goes perfectly," Ji-woo added. "When does anything go perfectly?""Today. It has to." Chaewon checked her weapon one last time. "Is everyone clear on the plan?"Nods. Agreement. Determination."Then let's end this."They entered. Han worked his magic—cameras froze, elevators overrode, security protocols bypasse

  • The Billionaire’s Gilded Cage   77: A NAME RECLAIMED

    ONE WEEK LATER – SAFE HOUSE – MORNING – 7:34 AMSubject 0001 sat in the garden with River, learning the names of flowers. Something mundane. Humans. Strange."That's jasmine," River said, pointing. "Blooms at night. Smells beautiful. Represents love and purity in some cultures.""Love and purity," 0001 repeated. "Ironic choices for something I'll probably never have.""You don't know that. A week ago, you were trying to kill us. Now you're learning about flowers. That's progress.""That's survival. Adapting to captivity.""Is that what this feels like? Captivity?"0001 considered. "No. Which is worse somehow. Captivity I understand. This... hospitality toward an enemy? This mercy? It's uncomfortable. Illogical. Wrong.""Welcome to the family. It's all of those things. But also right. In ways that defy logic."Min-ji joined them with tea. "Morning. How's the adjustment?""Confusing. I've been trained to identify weaknesses. Exploit vulnerabilities. But you all show me yours freely. Tru

  • The Billionaire’s Gilded Cage   76: IN DARKNESS AND LIGHT

    FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS – DARKNESS – 11:47 AMThe blackout was total. Every light. Every system. Every electronic device dead.But Chaewon felt her restraints loosen. Someone was cutting them in the dark."Stay quiet," Seojun's voice whispered. "EMP. Han triggered it. Fried every enhancement, every system, every advantage Wolf had.""Euna—""Seraphina has her. She's safe. Serpent's team hit the same EMP. They're down. Now move. Before Wolf adapts."In the darkness, chaos erupted. Team members moving on training and trust. Finding each other by voice. By touch. By familiarity built through years of fighting together."Wolf!" Chaewon shouted into the dark. "Where are you? Too perfect to fight without your enhancements?"A laugh. Bitter. Mechanical voice now just human. "You think an EMP stops me? I was enhanced, yes. But I was also trained. Forged. Made lethal with or without technology."Movement. Fast. A strike Chaewon barely blocked in the dark. Wolf was right—still deadly. Still sup

  • The Billionaire’s Gilded Cage   75: TWENTY-FOUR HOURS

    SAFE HOUSE – 8:47 AM – TWENTY-THREE HOURS REMAININGThe family gathered in the war room. Team Alpha had returned. Everyone was present except Euna, secure in a location even most of the family didn't know."Twenty-four hours," Chaewon said, standing before tactical maps. "Wolf gave us a deadline. A countdown. We use it.""Use it how?" Seojun asked. "We don't know where they'll attack. Who they'll target. What their real objective is.""Then we force them to reveal it. We set multiple traps. Make ourselves obvious targets in different locations. See which one they bite on.""That spreads us thin," Han pointed out. "Makes us vulnerable.""We're already vulnerable. Wolf proved that. They can strike anywhere, anytime. So we turn that against them. Make them choose. Make them reveal their priority."Luna spoke up: "Wolf's priority is Chaewon. Always has been. They want to break her. Prove that humanity is weakness. So wherever Chaewon is, that's where Wolf will strike.""Then I'm the bait.

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