Chapter 23 The Truth Beneath the Lies

Chapter 23 The Truth Beneath the Lies

IRIS POV

I run from the courthouse roof.

Down the stairs. Through the empty building. Into my car.

I drive without thinking. Away from the judge's body. Away from the choice I just made. Away from everything.

My phone won't stop buzzing. Texts from Marcus. From Ronan. From the station asking where I am.

I silence it all.

Twenty minutes later, I'm parked outside Ronan's hospital. The place I left him an hour ago. The place where he supposedly agreed to help Marcus kill sixteen people.

I need to know if it's true.

I need to hear him say it.

I storm through the hospital doors. Security tries to stop me—visiting hours are over—but I flash my badge and push past.

Fourth floor. Ronan's room.

I burst through the door.

He's sitting up in bed. No longer hooked to machines. Looking stronger. Healthier.

And he's holding his phone. Watching something.

He looks up when I enter. "Iris. Thank God. I've been trying to call—"

"Is it true?" I cut him off. "Did you tell Marcus you'd help him?"

His face goes pale. "What? No! I would never—"

"I saw the video. You standing in my apartment. Over Cross's body. Saying you'd help finish the list."

"That's impossible. I haven't left this hospital. I can barely walk—"

"Then explain the footage!" I shove my phone in his face. Show him the video Marcus sent.

Ronan watches. His expression shifts from confusion to horror to rage.

"That's not me," he says quietly.

"It looks exactly like you!"

"It's a deepfake. AI-generated video." He grabs his own phone. Shows me his security footage. "I've been recording everything since Marcus revealed himself. Look. Time-stamped. I've been in this room the entire time."

I watch his footage. He's right. For the past two hours, he's been here. Alone. Making calls. Watching news.

Not in my apartment.

"Marcus faked it," Ronan says. "He wanted you to think I betrayed you. Wanted to isolate you. Make you feel like you have no one left."

The relief crashes over me. Then the horror.

Because if Ronan didn't betray me, then I'm truly alone in what I just did.

I let Marcus kill the judge. By myself. No one forced me. No one helped me.

Just me. Making the worst choice of my life.

"Iris?" Ronan's voice is gentle. "What happened? What did Marcus do?"

The words pour out. Everything. The judge. The choice. The gunshot. Mrs. Chen's call.

By the time I finish, I'm crying so hard I can barely breathe.

Ronan pulls me onto the bed. Holds me while I break apart.

"You didn't kill anyone," he says firmly. "Marcus did. You were put in an impossible situation. That's not the same as choosing murder."

"I lowered my gun. I let it happen. That makes me—"

"Human. It makes you human." He pulls back, looking at my face. "Iris, you've spent your whole life trying to be perfect. Trying to make up for your stepfather. But perfection isn't possible. Sometimes there are no good choices. Only impossible ones."

"That's what Marcus said."

"Because it's true. But here's the difference—Marcus wants you to believe that means morality doesn't matter. I'm saying morality matters even more when choices are impossible. You chose wrong tonight. That doesn't make you evil. It makes you someone who needs to choose better next time."

"There won't be a next time. Marcus will destroy me. He has evidence. He'll—"

"Not if we stop him first." Ronan stands up. Winces from his wounds but stays upright. "Mrs. Chen called you. That means she's still alive. Still willing to testify against him."

"Marcus will kill her!"

"Not if we get to her first. Protect her. Use her testimony to expose everything." He grabs his jacket. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. The call cut off."

"Then we trace it. Now. Before Marcus finds her."

He's already moving toward the door. Still weak. Still injured. But determined.

I grab his arm. "You should rest. You almost died—"

"And I'll die for real if we don't stop Marcus. He's not going to stop at sixteen names, Iris. This is just the beginning. He's building something. Testing something. And we're his lab rats."

He's right. I know he's right.

We leave the hospital together. Get in my car. I pull up my phone records. Trace Mrs. Chen's call.

It came from a motel across town. The Crimson Inn.

We drive there in silence. My hands won't stop shaking.

"Talk to me," Ronan says. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking I let a man die tonight. I'm thinking I'm exactly what Marcus said I am—complicit. Broken. No better than him."

"You're nothing like him."

"How do you know? You barely know me. You've known me for what, a few weeks? You don't know—"

"I know you tried to save seventeen innocent people even when you thought they were guilty. I know you stood between me and a bullet. I know you chose not to sign a soul contract even when it meant people would die." He looks at me. "I know you, Iris. Maybe better than you know yourself."

His words hurt. Because part of me wants to believe them.

We reach the motel. Room 237. Mrs. Chen's location.

I knock. "Mrs. Chen? It's Detective Hale. Open up."

No answer.

I try the door. Unlocked.

We enter carefully. Guns drawn.

The room is empty. Bed made. No luggage. No signs anyone was here.

Then I see it.

On the bed. A phone. Still on. Still recording.

I pick it up.

The screen shows a live video feed. Of us. Right now. In this room.

A text appears: Took you long enough.

Marcus.

"It was a trap," I whisper.

The closet door explodes open.

Mrs. Chen stumbles out. Alive. But her eyes are wild. Terrified.

"I'm sorry!" she screams. "He made me! He said he'd kill my daughter if I didn't—"

She pulls out a gun.

Points it at Ronan.

"He said I have to kill him. Said it's the only way to save my family. Said—"

Ronan raises his hands. "Mrs. Chen, you don't want to do this."

"I don't have a choice!"

"There's always a choice," he says calmly. "You can pull that trigger and become a murderer. Or you can put the gun down and let us help you."

"He has my daughter! He'll kill her!"

"Where is she?" I ask. "Tell us where she is, and we'll save her."

"I don't know! He just said—he showed me pictures—she's tied up somewhere and if I don't kill Dr. Ashford in the next sixty seconds, she dies!"

A timer appears on the phone screen.

0:58

0:57

0:56

"This is another test," I realize. "Marcus is testing us again."

"What do I do?" Mrs. Chen sobs. "What do I DO?"

Ronan looks at me. I see the calculation in his eyes.

"Shoot me," he says.

"What? No!"

"It's the only way to save her daughter. And I'm already dying. The wounds from earlier—they're infected. I've got maybe a week. So shoot me. Save an innocent child."

"I'm not shooting you!"

"Then her daughter dies. Another innocent victim. More blood on our hands." He turns to Mrs. Chen. "Do it. Shoot me. Save your child."

0:45

0:44

0:43

Mrs. Chen's finger touches the trigger.

I step between them.

"No one is shooting anyone," I say firmly. "This is what Marcus wants. He wants us to turn on each other. Wants us to prove we're all monsters. We're not doing it."

"But my daughter—"

"Is already dead," a voice says from the door.

We spin around.

Marcus stands there. Holding a laptop. He turns it to show us the screen.

A live feed. A young woman tied to a chair. But she's not moving. Not breathing.

Dead.

"I killed her an hour ago," Marcus says casually. "Before Mrs. Chen even called you. This whole thing was just to see what you'd do. To see if you'd sacrifice Ronan to save a child."

Mrs. Chen collapses, screaming.

I'm frozen. "You killed an innocent person. Just to test us."

"I killed a drug dealer who'd been selling fentanyl to teenagers. Mrs. Chen's daughter wasn't innocent. None of them are." He closes the laptop. "But you didn't know that. You were willing to let her die rather than sacrifice Ronan. That's interesting."

"You're insane," I whisper.

"I'm efficient. There's a difference." He pulls out a gun. "Now here's the real test. I'm going to kill Mrs. Chen. She's guilty. She sold children. She deserves this. Are you going to stop me? Or are you going to let it happen like you did with the judge?"

He points the gun at Mrs. Chen's head.

I raise my weapon. Point it at Marcus.

"Don't," I say.

"Make me stop," he challenges. "Pull the trigger. Kill your best friend. Prove you actually care about justice more than comfort."

My finger touches the trigger.

Mrs. Chen is sobbing on the floor.

Ronan is saying something but I can't hear him.

All I can hear is my heartbeat.

All I can see is Marcus's finger tightening on his trigger.

I have one second to decide.

Shoot Marcus and prove I'll do anything to stop murder.

Or don't shoot and prove I'm exactly what he says I am.

I pull the trigger.

The gun clicks.

Empty.

Marcus smiles. "I unloaded it while you were driving here. Hacked your car's system. Opened your glove box remotely. You never even noticed."

He shoots Mrs. Chen.

She falls.

Dead.

"Two down," Marcus says. "Fourteen to go. See you tomorrow night, partner."

He walks out.

I fall to my knees beside Mrs. Chen's body.

And I realize with horrible clarity that Marcus isn't trying to recruit me or break me.

He's trying to prove that I'm already broken.

And he's right.