Chapter 89 - THE LAST BETRAYAL
I ran into the corridor.
“Eleanor!”
Nothing.
“Victoria!”
No answer.
Julian followed.
“We need to get back.”
“No.”
I stopped.
“What?”
He pointed toward the control panel.
“The room is changing.”
The lights turned red.
A screen appeared.
DIRECTOR AUTHENTICATION COMPLETE.
Then another line.
SECONDARY DIRECTOR IDENTIFIED.
I stared.
“Secondary Director?”
Julian stepped closer.
The name appeared.
ELENA REED.
I couldn't move.
“That's impossible.”
Julian shook his head.
“Your grandmother said the secondary director was unknown.”
A voice came through the speakers.
Elena.
“I never wanted this.”
I looked around.
“Where are you?”
“I'm beneath the church.”
“Why?”
“Because I was the one who kept The Circle alive.”
Julian's face hardened.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect Emily.”
I stared at the speaker.
“You lied to me.”
“I lied because your father ordered me to.”
“And my mother?”
Silence.
Then Elena said:
“Your mother was killed because she discovered that Noah's birth changed the succession.”
Julian looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Noah was never supposed to inherit The Circle.”
“Then who was?”
Elena answered.
“Emily.”
The room went silent.
I looked at the three buttons.
Release.
Transfer.
Terminate.
“Why are there three choices?”
Elena's voice became softer.
“Because the original Director could choose to save the family…”
She paused.
“…or destroy the system.”
I looked at Noah.
Then at Julian.
Then at the screen.
For eighty years, The Circle had controlled everyone around us.
It had destroyed marriages.
Families.
Lives.
It had turned secrets into weapons.
I reached toward the panel.
Julian grabbed my wrist.
“Emily.”
I looked at him.
“Whatever you choose, I'll stand beside you.”
I smiled sadly.
“You should have done that years ago.”
“I know.”
I pressed one button.
Not Release.
Not Transfer.
Terminate.
The entire building shook.
The screens went black.
Then every locked door opened.
Noah ran into my arms.
I held him tightly.
But before I could breathe, a final message appeared on the wall.
THE CIRCLE HAS ENDED.
May you like
BENEATH IT, ANOTHER SENTENCE APPEARED.
BUT THE FOUNDER IS STILL ALIVE.
