That night, Eduardo stood outside Selena’s door, the cold air brushing against his skin like the guilt wrapping around his conscience.

He lit a cigarette with shaking hands but didn’t even take a puff. Instead, he stared at the glowing tip as if hoping it would give him answers.

"What am I doing?" he muttered under his breath.

Behind him, Selena lay asleep—peaceful for once, trusting the very man assigned to keep her trapped. A prisoner putting her faith in her jailer… it made his chest tighten.

He leaned against the wall, head tipped back. The flickering bulb above him cast shadows over his weary face. His thoughts circled like vultures.

"I owe my family everything. Five children. A sick wife. No one else will hire a man like me. I said yes to this job because I thought it was just guarding cargo—not people… not her."

His mind flashed to Selena’s eyes—those kind, brave eyes that never looked at him with hatred, even when she had every right to.

"But Jack… he’s coming. And when he does, I’ll be forced to choose."

He clenched his fists.

"Do I help him… and betray the people paying me? Or do I do my job, and watch someone innocent suffer, just so I can survive another day?"

A soft breeze passed, almost like a whisper.

He thought of his wife’s laugh before she got sick. The giggles of his youngest daughter when she begged for bedtime stories. The way Selena had looked at him earlier, hope in her voice as she promised him a better future.

Torn. Just like a man caught between two lives.

Between duty and heart. Between survival and honor.

And in that moment, Eduardo realized something: no matter what choice he made, someone was going to get hurt.

He took one long look at the door behind him, then at the darkness beyond the hallway.

"Jack… if you do come... what will you see me as?"

Friend? Or enemy?