Chapter 7 - The Choice
Marcus began to sob hysterically, begging for mercy, pressing his face into the rug like a beaten dog.
"Please! I have a daughter! I have a child!" he wailed, trying to use Lily as a shield even now.
Silas didn't flinch.
He kept the gun steady, his eyes fixed entirely on me.
"He belongs to you, Elena," Silas said quietly, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air.
"You carry the debt. You carry the trauma. You get to decide."
I stared at the gun, my heart pounding in my ears.
Part of me wanted to scream, wanted to tell Silas to pull the trigger and end the nightmare once and for all.
But then I thought of Lily, and the fact that I was a mother before I was anything else.
"I won't let his blood stain my soul," I said softly.
"I won't let Lily grow up knowing her father was murdered in the room where she plays."
Silas lowered the gun slowly, though his eyes remained dark and dangerous.
"What do you want me to do with him?" he asked.
I looked down at Marcus, who was looking up at me with pathetic, desperate hope.
"Take him out to the rival family," I commanded, surprising myself with the sheer authority in my voice.
"Give them the thief they've been hunting."
Marcus's eyes widened in sheer horror.
"No! They'll torture me! They'll kill me slowly! Elena, you can't do this!" he screamed.
"You did it to us," I replied, turning my back on him.
Silas nodded to his men, and they dragged the screaming, thrashing Marcus out of the library.
The heavy doors clicked shut, cutting off his frantic cries.
Silas walked over to me, wrapping his strong arms around my waist from behind and pulling my back against his solid chest.
"That was merciless," he whispered in my ear, his breath hot against my skin.
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"I learned from the best," I replied, leaning into his embrace.
I had chosen to banish the ghosts of my past, fully accepting the dark, violent future standing right behind me.
