C380 The Lion's Decision

The video call connected only a few moments later. One by one, the familiar faces appeared on the screen. Alicia and I joined first. Sarah and Samantha followed shortly afterward, while Laura answered the call as she walked toward the room she usually used whenever she wanted some privacy during our group conversations. A few seconds later, Faith joined as well. All of us were together again. Sarah was the first to speak. "Big Head, why didn't you come back?"

Chris, who had been sitting comfortably at home, immediately grinned. "We were discussing something important while you were busy enjoying dinner with my enemy." Sarah laughed. "Your enemy?" Chris laughed. "Exactly. You heard me." Sarah paused before asking, "Then where are you now?" "Home," Chris answered. "And you should be here with me." Alicia immediately laughed. "Brother, this isn't a group call for you to catch up with your wife." Chris shrugged. "What can I do? All the principles I set, she breaks them." I laughed. "You have to understand, Brother. My sister-in-law just gave birth. In fact, you should be happy that she gave birth to Tristan."

Chris's expression changed. He looked toward the camera for a moment before becoming more serious. "Brother, if we are really going to do this, then shouldn't I stay with my son for one last time? What do you think?" I smiled. "Don't rush. Let me explain everything to them first." Samantha, who had been listening quietly, looked confused. "Chris, you went back to the Mooney family?" Chris nodded. "Yes. I ate dinner with my brother." Samantha raised an eyebrow. "Why?" Chris laughed. "Back in high school, you never asked me why. Why should I answer now?" Samantha froze. Her eyes slowly shifted toward Faith's screen.

Alicia smiled, trying to bring everyone's attention back to the real reason for the call. "Guys, enough. The Lions are finally complete, and because of the attack, the coaches are staying here tonight." Faith immediately became excited. "Does that mean they are going to train us again?" Alicia smiled. "It's more than that." Laura's expression became curious. "What do you mean by that?" I leaned closer to the phone. "Laura, the coaches came up with an idea. They said Alicia's grandfather from the Gupta family has offered us access to his military base. We would be able to train there." Everyone became quiet.

I continued. "They also brought up the idea of changing our identities, just like we discussed before. But this time, it isn't just an idea. They want us to actually disappear for a period of time." Faith's excitement disappeared. "What discussion?" Chris shook his head. "Can't you women just keep quiet and let my brother explain?" Alicia laughed. "He is only delaying things. Guys, I'll tell you everything." She took a breath before continuing. "The coaches suggested that we disappear for three months. During those three months, we would train at the military base. We wouldn't come home, and we wouldn't contact our families." The smiles disappeared from everyone's faces.

Alicia continued slowly. "They said they could stage our disappearance so that our enemies would believe something had happened to us. But before anything is done, we have to discuss it with our families. If everyone agrees, then we will go." Nobody spoke for several seconds. The idea sounded simple when the coaches had explained it. Hearing it out loud was different. Samantha was the first to break the silence. "It won't be that simple, guys." Everyone looked toward her. "Have you forgotten that some of us have two families? If news of my disappearance were spread, the Heaps family wouldn't take it well."

Laura nodded. "She's right. My father doesn't know anything about all of this. Only the Gomez family knows. If I suddenly disappeared, it would destroy him." Faith lowered her eyes. "My parents are strict. When I first told them that I was devoting my life to Alicia, they didn't speak to me for an entire week." She sighed. "Now imagine telling them I'm going to disappear for three months. They definitely won't take it easily." Alicia nodded. "This is exactly why I told the coaches that we needed to discuss it together." She paused. "But we also have to remember what happened."

Nobody interrupted her. "Harris family already knows who we are. And we don't know who they will target next apart from me and Mike." Her voice became more serious. "Sarah was kidnapped while she was pregnant. That alone tells us how far they are willing to go. They don't care who gets hurt." Sarah lowered her eyes. Alicia continued. "They can target our parents, our siblings, our children, or anyone close to us. If we stay here, they will eventually find another opportunity." She looked down for a moment. "I have a newborn baby now. Emmanuel is only a few hours old, and the thought of leaving him for three months hurts me more than I can explain."

Her eyes became slightly moist. "But I'm still going." Sarah stared at her. "That means I'll have to leave Tristan too." She looked at Chris. "Can't we take them with us?" I immediately shook my head. "No. We can't." Sarah frowned. "Why?" "Because we don't know what Angus and his team have planned." I paused. "Taking our children with us would make the disappearance much less believable. Remember, Harris family isn't some small group of criminals. They have resources, people, weapons and connections. If they start looking for us, we need them to believe we are genuinely gone." Sarah became quiet. Nobody wanted to admit it, but the plan made sense.

Alicia then remembered something else. "There is another thing the coaches requested." Everyone looked at her. "They want us to stop using their real names." Laura frowned. "What do you mean?" Alicia smiled slightly. "There won't be any more Angus the Hammer. His code name is simply Hammer." She continued. "Lewis is Sniper. Conner is Beast. Fraser is Reaper. Arthur is Ghost." Chris nodded. "And they also said that tomorrow we have to give them our own code names." Sarah suddenly smiled. "Well, we already know your name, Husband." Chris looked suspicious.

Sarah continued. "Please allow me to give you a name. I just like it, and I find it funny." Chris grinned. "What name?" "Big Head." Chris's eyes widened. "What?! No! Impossible!" Everyone immediately started laughing. Chris pointed toward the screen. "Guys, do you see what I was talking about? She is breaking another one of my principles!" The laughter continued. Sarah smiled innocently. "Come on, Husband. You can also give me a code name. But Big Head is yours, and it isn't changing." I laughed. "Brother, you lost again." Chris shook his head. "My wife is impossible."

Alicia laughed. "Who said only her gets to choose a code name for her husband? Let me think of one that suits you." She looked around at the others. "You guys should think about your own names as well." Chris suddenly smiled. "Since I'm Big Head, my wife has big cheeks. She will be Chipmunk." Sarah's mouth dropped open. "What?! That's not fair! How can I be Chipmunk, Chris? Do I look like a chipmunk?" Everyone burst out laughing again. Chris leaned back proudly. "Wife, are you forgetting that you didn't give me any room to negotiate?" Sarah folded her arms and smiled. "Fine." But judging from her expression, she still couldn't believe what her husband had just called her.

Faith suddenly spoke. "I think I have a name for Samantha." Samantha looked at her. "For me?" Faith smiled. "Yes your code name will be Survivor." Sarah immediately choked and coughed several times. Samantha stared at Faith for a moment before smiling. "Then Faith will be Kiddo." Faith's smile disappeared. "Kiddo?" Samantha nodded. "Yes. Kiddo." Everyone laughed. Even though Sarah remained slightly uncomfortable with the situation, the atmosphere had become lighter. Then Alicia looked at me. "Mike." I thought for a moment. "What?" "You'll be Cracker." I frowned. "Why Cracker?"

Alicia laughed. "Because you like technical stuff." I laughed. "Fine. Then you will be Cipher." Alicia nodded approvingly. "Cipher. I like that." Laura suddenly asked. "What about me? Why am I being left out?" Chris laughed. "That's because you're so small." Laura glared at him "Chris!" I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "Laura will be Pixel." Alicia immediately looked at me. "Why did you name her?" I laughed. "Laura, be careful. My wife is getting jealous." Alicia rolled her eyes while everyone laughed. Laura shook her head. "You people are impossible." For a moment, the entire group was laughing again. Then Alicia's expression became serious. "Guys, think about everything tonight. Tomorrow, we need to give the coaches our answers."

She paused. "If any of you are scared to tell your families, we can arrange a meeting and invite all our parents." I nodded. "Where can we have that meeting?" Alicia rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Anywhere." Sarah suddenly smiled. "We invested in a club." Everyone looked at her. "So how about we have the meeting there?" Chris immediately shook his head. "Impossible." Alicia and I looked at each other. I raised an eyebrow. "Inviting our families to a club?" Sarah laughed. "I've decided." She looked at everyone through the screen. "And no one is going to convince me otherwise." Alicia thought about it. "But how are we going to tell our families to go to a club?"

Samantha laughed. "The answer is simple." Everyone looked at her. "We won't." Alicia frowned. Samantha continued. "We'll simply take them there. Since we're all afraid of telling them beforehand, we'll tell them when we meet." Alicia nodded slowly. "Then no problem." She looked around at everyone. "Tomorrow at 6 p.m., we'll meet with our parents at the club." She paused. "Sarah, send us the location." Sarah nodded. "I will." One by one, everyone said their goodbyes. Then the video call ended. The screens went dark. Tomorrow, we would have to make a decision that could change everything.