Chapter 5 - The Angel’s Choice
As dawn approached, the final test arrived. The angel doll, the cause of the original conflict, appeared in the center of the fountain. It was glowing with an ethereal light. Mr. Sterling announced that only one person could leave the mall, and that person would be granted a wish—anything they desired.
The greed surged in the room. People looked at the doll with hungry eyes. Vane, now humbled but still clinging to his old habits, lunged for it. But as he touched it, the doll emitted a brilliant, blinding flash that knocked him backward.
Ethan didn't move. He stood back, holding Lily’s hand.
"Daddy, they’re still sad," Lily whispered, pointing to the other people trapped in the mall, many of whom were still struggling with the realization of their own selfishness.
Ethan understood. He stepped forward, not to take the doll, but to kneel before it. "I don't want a wish for myself," he said, his voice echoing through the atrium. "I want the people here to be able to go home with their dignity intact. I want them to remember that they are worth more than what they carry in their wallets."
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The doll floated into the air, its wings spreading wide. It didn't belong to Ethan, and it didn't belong to Vane. It dissolved into a shower of golden dust that settled over every person in the mall. In that instant, the resentment, the fear, and the vanity seemed to evaporate.
Sterling stepped down from his pedestal. "The doll was never the prize, Ethan. The choice was."
