el warm. Vivian was pacing. She had her iPad in one hand and a coffee

at the screen. "Look at the hashtag! ClaireCopycat is tren

ous. People hated her. They didn't just think she was a copycat; they thought she was a fraud. Aur

I'm calling the lawyers. I'm suin

oice cut through

ng your name through the mud. This isn't jus

phone. Her face was perfec

ed at her.

e walked over to the table and poured herself a glass of water. "Everyone is talking about Au

legacy," Vivian corrected, her voice strained. "Cl

just accept the work; they will beg for forgiveness. The bigger the lie they believe now, the

then at Claire. A slow, understanding smile crept onto her face

owless bathroom into a temporary darkroom. The door was heavy, sealed with black tape t

as a smell that made Claire's shoulders drop. It was the smell of control. The outside world-the hate, th

m the light-safe box and slid it into the tray of developer. She gripped the edges of t

began to appear. The dark grays deepened into blacks. The lines sharpened. A face emerged from the chemical

dn't hear the notifications buzzing on her phone. She didn't hear Vivian yelling at so

s were sitting side by side. One was buzzing with work emails; the other was silent. He stared at th

stroyed online. He had waited for the call. He expected her to call in tears, begging hi

lled the phone closer. The screen was dark. He

he desk. Maybe she was embarrassed. Maybe she was waitin

hadows across the office floor. Axel stopped dr

e. He didn't want to call her. He just wanted to see her name on his screen

utton. He held th

i

i

i

have reached is

ar. He stared at the screen. The call

have reached is

just ignored him. She had disconnected

. He felt a sudden, sharp spike of fear. She wasn't playing the game. She wasn

loor. The screen shattered into a spiderweb of broken glass. He stood there, chest heaving, the silence of