The Choice Between Two Enemies
1605 Words
EPISODE 12: THE CHOICE BETWEEN TWO ENEMIES
The room was silent.
Emma stared at the black box in her hands.
On its screen were three words:
CHOOSE YOUR ALLY.
MARIA OR THE BLACK CIRCLE.
Emma slowly looked up.
“She wants me to choose.”
Alexander shook his head.
“No.”
Emma turned toward him.
“No?”
“This is exactly what she wants.”
Sophia nodded.
“He's right.”
Emma looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
Sophia pointed toward the screen.
“Maria isn't giving you a choice.”
“She is controlling the choice.”
David stepped closer.
“She wants you to believe there are only two sides.”
Emma's eyes narrowed.
“But there are.”
“No,” David said.
“There is a third.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What third side?” Alexander asked.
David looked at Emma.
“You.”
Emma stared at him.
“I don't have an army.”
“You don't need one.”
“I don't have money like Alexander.”
“You don't need money.”
“I don't have the power Maria has.”
David smiled.
“That's exactly why you're dangerous.”
Emma didn't understand.
David continued.
“Maria and the Black Circle are fighting for control.”
He pointed toward the black box.
“But the Promise was designed so that neither side could control it.”
Emma looked down.
“Then why does it say I have to choose?”
“Because Maria changed the system.”
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
“She hacked it?”
“Not exactly.”
David shook his head.
“She convinced the system that she was one of the original protectors.”
Sophia's face hardened.
“She shouldn't have access.”
“She shouldn't.”
David looked toward the sealed entrance.
“But she has something that belonged to Samuel.”
Emma's heart skipped.
“What?”
David hesitated.
“A piece of the original authorization.”
Emma stared at him.
“Where did she get it?”
David looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca lowered her head.
“I gave it to her.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“Years ago.”
“Why?”
“To save Sophia.”
Sophia stepped forward.
“You gave Maria the authorization to save me?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Maria had Sophia.”
Everyone became silent.
Emma looked at Sophia.
“You were kidn*pped?”
Sophia nodded slowly.
“I was seven.”
Rebecca continued.
“Maria promised she would let Sophia go if I gave her the authorization.”
Emma felt a wave of anger.
“Did she?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Victor found Sophia before Maria could move her.”
Victor nodded.
“I rescued her from one of Maria's safe houses.”
Sophia looked down.
“I don't remember much.”
Emma looked at Rebecca.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was afraid Maria would come back.”
Emma took a slow breath.
Then the building shook.
BOOM!
Everyone jumped.
Daniel rushed into the room.
“They're inside.”
Alexander immediately turned.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Victor checked the hallway.
“Black Circle?”
Daniel nodded.
“But there is something strange.”
“What?”
“They aren't attacking.”
Alexander frowned.
“Then what are they doing?”
“They're surrounding the building.”
Sophia looked at Emma.
“They're waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
Emma looked at the screen.
Maria's message was still there.
CHOOSE.
Alexander stepped closer.
“We aren't playing her game.”
He reached toward the black box.
The screen suddenly changed.
A live video appeared.
Maria stood outside the building.
Behind her were dozens of armed security personnel.
Beside her stood Alexander's grandfather.
Maria looked into the camera.
“Emma.”
Emma stepped forward.
“You wanted me to choose.”
Maria smiled.
“Yes.”
“I choose neither.”
Maria's smile disappeared.
“What?”
“I won't work for you.”
“And I won't work for the Black Circle.”
Maria stared at her.
“You don't understand what you're refusing.”
“I understand enough.”
Maria laughed.
“You think Alexander can protect you?”
Alexander stepped forward.
“I can.”
Maria looked at him.
“You're still your grandfather's grandson.”
“And you're still the woman who tried to destroy my family.”
Maria's eyes narrowed.
“You know nothing about my family.”
Emma stepped between them.
“Then tell me.”
Maria became silent.
Emma continued.
“You said my father chose weakness.”
“Yes.”
“You said my mother took everything from you.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Maria stared at Emma for several seconds.
Then she said:
“Your father promised to marry me.”
Rebecca's eyes closed.
Emma turned toward her.
“Mom?”
Rebecca didn't speak.
Maria continued.
“Samuel and I were supposed to build the Promise together.”
Emma's heart pounded.
“But he chose Rebecca.”
Maria looked at Rebecca.
“She took him from me.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No. Samuel made his own choice.”
Maria's expression became cold.
“He chose you.”
“Yes.”
“And I never forgave him.”
Emma looked at Maria.
“So you joined the Black Circle.”
“No.”
Maria shook her head.
“I created my own network.”
Alexander frowned.
“You're saying the Black Circle answers to you?”
Maria smiled.
“Not all of it.”
“Then who controls the rest?”
Maria looked toward Alexander's grandfather.
“He does.”
The old man finally spoke.
“You've wasted enough time.”
His voice was cold.
“Give us the Promise.”
Emma looked at him.
“No.”
He smiled.
“You think you're brave.”
“No.”
Emma held up the black box.
“I think I'm done being afraid.”
The old man's expression changed.
Maria looked surprised.
Alexander smiled faintly.
“That sounds like my wife.”
Emma looked at him.
“Your wife?”
Alexander shrugged.
“Not officially.”
Emma almost laughed despite the danger.
Sophia smiled for the first time.
“Maybe the contract is finally becoming real.”
Emma looked at her.
Then back at Maria.
“I won't choose either of you.”
Maria's eyes narrowed.
“Then everyone dies.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
Maria pointed toward the building.
“The Black Circle has planted explosives.”
Daniel's face changed.
“I checked the lower floors.”
“How long?” Alexander asked.
Daniel looked at his device.
“Four minutes.”
Rebecca gasped.
Emma looked at Maria.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
Maria smiled.
“Ask your uncle.”
Everyone turned toward David.
David's face was serious.
“She isn't lying.”
Emma's heart dropped.
“How many?”
“Three.”
“Can you stop them?”
David nodded.
“But I need access to the central control system.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“I can get you there.”
Alexander looked at Emma.
“Stay with Sophia.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“Emma.”
“My father created this system for me.”
She held the black box tightly.
“I'm going.”
Alexander stared at her.
Then nodded.
“I'm coming with you.”
Sophia stepped forward.
“So am I.”
David looked at them.
“Then we have four minutes.”
They rushed toward the lower level.
The first explosive was hidden behind a maintenance panel.
David disabled it.
Three minutes remained.
The second was inside the electrical room.
Daniel disconnected the main power.
Two minutes.
The third was nowhere to be found.
Everyone searched.
Emma looked around.
Then she remembered something.
“The red light.”
Sophia looked at her.
“What?”
“In the vault.”
Emma ran back.
Alexander followed.
They entered the vault.
The red light beneath the floor was still blinking.
Emma pointed.
“It's there.”
David crouched down.
He opened the panel.
Inside was a small device.
But there was no countdown.
David frowned.
“This isn't an explosive.”
Emma stared.
“Then what is it?”
David's face suddenly changed.
“A transmitter.”
Alexander looked at him.
“Transmitting what?”
David looked at the black box.
“The Promise.”
Emma's heart stopped.
“Someone is copying the system.”
David nodded.
“Exactly.”
Sophia looked at the screen.
“Maria.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“The signal isn't going outside.”
Daniel checked his equipment.
“She's right.”
Emma stared at the device.
“It's going somewhere inside.”
Alexander's expression hardened.
“Someone inside the building.”
Everyone went silent.
David slowly looked around.
“Then one of us is working for Maria.”
Emma's heart raced.
She looked at everyone.
Alexander.
Sophia.
David.
Daniel.
Victor.
Rebecca.
Jonathan.
Who could it be?
Then the lights suddenly went out.
A voice whispered from behind them.
“You finally figured it out.”
Emma turned.
A figure stood in the doorway.
Holding the third key.
The black key.
Emma stared in shock.
“Sophia?”
Sophia wasn't beside her anymore.
Alexander immediately looked around.
“Sophia!”
No answer.
Emma's blood
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