The Choice That Breaks Gods
The location Vikram sent was not secret.
That was the point.
A public place. Floodlights. Cameras. An unfinished high-rise on the edge of the city—glass, steel, and open sky. A place where screams could disappear into traffic noise.
Anika arrived alone.
No weapons visible.
No Leela.
No backup.
Vikram stood at the edge of the thirty-second floor, city lights burning behind him like a crown. He looked thinner. Older. But his eyes—those were unchanged.
In front of him were two large screens.
On the first:
Her mother, strapped to a hospital bed, IV lines snaking into her arms. A heart monitor beeped steadily.
On the second:
A live press conference.
Journalists. Cameras. Microphones.
Leela stood at the podium.
Behind her, projected onto a massive screen, was the Rao empire laid bare—documents, transactions, faces. Everything Arjun Rao had died for.
Vikram smiled.
“You see,” he said softly, “this is where your father failed. He thought truth was enough.”
Anika’s voice was ice. “What do you want?”
Vikram held up a small remote.
“One button,” he said. “Two outcomes.”
He pointed to the first screen. “Your mother lives. Quietly. Hidden. But Leela dies tonight. The evidence vanishes. The Rao empire survives—wounded, but alive.”
Then the second. “You let the truth go public. My empire burns. Politicians fall. Wars lose funding.”
He leaned closer. “And your mother’s heart monitor flatlines.”
Anika’s breath came shallow.
“You trained me to survive,” Vikram continued. “Your mother trained you to love. Which lesson wins?”
On the screen, her mother stirred. Her eyes opened.
And she spoke.
“Anika,” she whispered, her voice weak but clear. “Listen to me.”
Vikram frowned. “I told you not to—”
“I watched your father die,” her mother said. “I lived because others didn’t.” Her eyes filled with tears. “If you save me by letting this continue… then everything he stood for dies with me.”
Anika shook her head violently. “No. I won’t choose.”
Vikram’s finger hovered over the button.
“You already have.”
The countdown began.
10
Anika’s mind screamed for a third option.
A miracle.
A loophole.
8
Leela’s voice echoed through the screen. “If anyone can hear this—remember the name Arjun Rao. Remember what silence costs.”
6
Her mother smiled faintly. Proud. Peaceful.
“I am not afraid anymore,” she said.
4
Anika stepped forward.
Tears streamed down her face—not weakness, but mourning.
“I love you,” she whispered.
2
She looked Vikram straight in the eyes.
And made her choice.
She grabbed the remote—
—and smashed it against the concrete floor.
The screens went black.
For one terrible second, there was only silence.
Then—
Phones across the city exploded with alerts.
BREAKING NEWS
MAJOR CORRUPTION SCANDAL EXPOSED
RAO GROUP UNDER INVESTIGATION
Vikram staggered back, disbelief cracking his mask.
“No,” he whispered. “You chose chaos.”
Anika’s phone buzzed.
A final message.
From her mother.
You chose the right future.
The heart monitor tone went flat.
Anika screamed.
Not like a child.
Like a weapon breaking.
Vikram laughed—until Anika stepped toward him, eyes empty now.
“You took everything,” she said quietly. “Now you’ll watch it die.”
Below them, sirens wailed. Helicopters circled. The world was waking up.
Vikram backed away, suddenly afraid.
“You think this ends with me?” he spat. “People like us don’t die. We echo.”
Anika smiled through tears.
“So do ghosts.”
She lunged.
