The Impossible Choice

Valerie’s POV

The silence stretched so tight it could shatter, the weight of Malachi’s words crushing the air until I thought my lungs would give out. My chest heaved, my heart pounding like it wanted to tear free from its cage, and all I could do was stare at him. His smile was still there, cruel, deliberate, carved onto his face like something eternal. He was waiting. Waiting for me to bend. Wai