The word lingered in the air.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
"Choose."
Helena didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Because she already understood—This wasn't a real choice.
It was a trap.
Her eyes flicked briefly to Marcus.
He hadn't moved.
Hadn't spoken.
But his gaze—Locked onto hers.
Steady.
Unreadable.
He wouldn't interfere.
Not because he didn't want to.
Because he couldn't.
This was her test.
And if he stepped in—She failed.
Helena turned back to the woman.
"Define the choice," she said calmly.
The woman smiled slightly.
"Simple," she said again.
A gesture.
Another door opened behind them.
This time—Someone else was brought in.
Helena's breath caught.
A woman.
Older.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
Her pulse spiked instantly.
"No…"
The woman on her knees looked up weakly.
Their eyes met.
And everything inside Helena froze.
"You recognize her," the matriarch said softly.
Helena's voice barely came out.
"She… she was there."
Fragments crashed into her mind—Broken memories snapping violently into place.
That night.
Five years ago.
The chaos.
The fear.
The escape.
And her—Watching.
"You saw her before everything went wrong," Marcus said quietly behind her.
Helena's breath came faster now.
"What is this?" she demanded.
"A correction," the woman replied calmly.
A pause.
"Now you choose."
Helena's heart pounded violently.
"Choose what?"
The woman stepped closer.
"Her…"
A slight glance toward the kneeling woman.
"…or him."
Silence exploded through the room.
Helena felt it hit her chest like a physical force.
No.
No, this wasn't—
"This isn't a choice," she said, sharper now.
"It is," the woman replied.
A pause.
"Prove your value."
Helena's hands trembled slightly.
Because now—It was real.
Not a stranger.
Not abstract.
Someone connected to her past.
To the truth she didn't fully understand yet.
And Marcus.
Her eyes flicked to him again.
He hadn't moved.
But something in his gaze had changed.
Not fear.
Not doubt.
Something deeper.
Trust.
That shook her more than anything else.
Because he wasn't trying to stop this.
He believed she would handle it.
Helena exhaled slowly.
Then—Stepped forward.
The room went still.
Every movement watched.
Measured.
She walked past Marcus.
Past the guards.
Stopping directly in front of the kneeling woman.
The woman looked up at her—fear in her eyes.
Recognition.
Desperation.
"You remember me," Helena said quietly.
The woman nodded weakly.
"Yes…"
Helena crouched slightly, her gaze sharp.
"Then you know what really happened that night."
A pause.
"Don't you?"
The woman hesitated.
That was all Helena needed.
She stood slowly.
Then turned.
Facing the matriarch again.
"I choose neither."
Silence.
Immediate.
Dangerous.
The woman's expression didn't change.
"That's not an option."
Helena smiled slightly.
"It is if your test is flawed."
A step forward.
"You want loyalty?"
Another step.
"You want value?"
She stopped.
"Then stop testing obedience."
The air shifted.
Even Marcus's brother went still.
Because this—This wasn't defiance.
This was strategy.
Helena's voice stayed calm.
Controlled.
"If I kill her, I lose information."
A pause.
"If I choose Marcus, I prove I'm predictable."
Another step closer.
"But if I refuse…"
Her eyes locked onto the matriarch's.
"I prove I think beyond your rules."
Silence.
Heavy.
Tense.
Then—A slow smile spread across the woman's face.
Not cold this time.
Interested.
"Very good," she said softly.
Helena didn't relax.
Didn't move.
Because this wasn't over.
It never was.
The woman gestured lightly.
The guards pulled both prisoners away immediately.
Just like that.
Gone.
The tension didn't leave with them.
It stayed.
Because now—This wasn't about passing.
It was about what came next.
The woman stepped closer.
Close enough to truly see Helena.
"You didn't break," she said.
A pause.
"That's rare."
Helena met her gaze.
"I don't bend easily."
A faint smile.
"So I see."
She turned slightly—Glancing at Marcus.
"You've brought something… unusual into this family."
Marcus's voice was calm.
"I don't bring anything I can't control."
Helena didn't look at him.
But she felt it.
That line.
That tension.
Control.
Again.
The woman's gaze returned to Helena.
"Then let's see how long that lasts."
A pause.
"Because the real test hasn't started yet."
Helena's pulse quickened.
Of course it hadn't.
This was only the beginning.