The Ultimate Selection: Be Careful Who You Talk To by S. J. Wardell Page A

just leave him?’
    â€˜Vengeance is yours. I bet you’ve thought about retaliating, but it is fear that stops you. It’s that fear that stops you from venting your frustration. You no longer need to fear Brian; tonight you will turn the table on him. He will fear you.’
    â€˜What if I won’t kill him? I don’t know if I can!’ her voice shook.
    â€˜You need to search deep within yourself; find the courage to stop all this. What I’m offering you and your baby is a way out, away from his evil neglect. You kill him and you’ll both be free.’
    Sharon was trapped – the rock and the hard place had become very uncomfortable. The choice was hers to make, there was no way out for her and she knew it.
    â€˜What has this go to do with you? I’m fucked no matter what I choose,’ she rambled.
    â€˜I’m simply thinking of your baby; your baby’s future. A future with Brian in it doesn’t bear thinking about, you don’t even want to contemplate it. Sharon it’s an obvious choice. His actions have consequence. He needs to be punished.’
    â€˜I don’t know if I can do it.’ She urinated for a second time.
    â€˜Grow a fucking back bone! The shit’s going to hit the fan when he gets home. How you choose to direct that shit, Sharon, should be your only concern. Protect your baby’s future Sharon.’
    â€˜OK then… what should I do?’ a whisper hissed from her lips.
    Brian had never allowed her to make a decision herself, he bullied her – she was struggling. Her mind flickered, jumping from the broken sentences she was trying to make. Her emotions leaped as she felt her heart snap under the strain of the strings being pulled in every direction.
    â€˜Everything begins with choice, Sharon!’ The calmness in his voice shot through her. ‘I’m not here to choose for you, that’s something you have to do,’ he lied; he had no intention of letting Brian go.
    â€˜I don’t think I have a choice… I don’t want to do it, but I have to.’
    â€˜As you already know, Brian will be home soon. You can set your watch by him – very predictable. I’ll get him into a safe state and the rest will be up to you.’
    â€˜How am I supposed to kill him, he’s bigger than me?’ her voice trembled as the reality of what she was about to do sunk in.
    â€˜You can use this hammer or this meat cleaver. Choice shapes everything Sharon. Your next choice is forever. What’ll it be?’ Greg asked, showing her the two objects.
    â€˜Fucking hell… I don’t know. How do you know whether I can even do it?’
    â€˜If you don’t, the stakes increase – Brian or your baby? Learn to live, or live to die, those are the choices. Quick choices have to be made.’
    â€˜Listen, I’m sorry for whatever Brian has done to you,’ her saddened heart collapsed, ‘but I know that he loves me; it’s all my fault,’ she sobbed, ‘I should be a better person. He’s the way he is because of me, he tells me that all the time.’ Her bleeding heart weighed heavy. ‘I can protect my baby. He would never hurt our baby.’ Her ramblings only made her sobbing worse. ‘I have always protected my baby from him. I can take whatever he gives me but I know you’re right…’
    â€˜Brian or the baby?
    Sharon looked up, astonished by her understanding of the threatening ultimatum she had just been delivered.
    â€˜Make a choice,’ Greg snarled.
    â€˜Give me the hammer… I’ll do it with the fucking hammer!’ she snapped.
    â€˜That’s more like it.’
    â€˜I have to protect my baby,’ she repeated this like a mantra.
    â€˜That decision has changed your life. It will change the life of so many.’
    Then followed a brief interlude of silence. Sharon had not thought about what would happen to her and her