Eliana's POV
Stuck.
That was what this was.
Stuck between two choices that were never meant to exist in the same space.
A man I had known for years…
One who had stood beside me without question. Loyal. Silent. Unwavering.
And my sister.
My blood.
The reason I was here.
The reason I had walked straight into the devil's territory and signed my life away without hesitation.
The reason everything still mattered.
My fingers tightened slightly around the gun.
No.
A quiet defiance rose within me, sharper than anything else I had felt since stepping into this room.
I refuse to be placed in this position.
I refused to choose.
Refused to be cornered.
Refused to let him decide the terms of my war.
Slowly and deliberately, I lowered the gun.
Not in surrender.
Never that.
But in control.
"The court isn't mine," I said, my voice steady, cold, unshaken. "You just want to put me in one so you can control the outcome."
A faint silence followed.
Then, he moved.
