Lucy's gaze remained fixed on her phone, the cold glass screen reflecting her bewildered expression. It felt like a betrayal, a digital dagger twisted in the gut of her already precarious week. An unknown number. A message laced with an unsettling premonition. A mysterious benefactor dangling salvation with strings she couldn't yet see.
"This has to be some kind of elaborate scam,"
she muttered, the words lacking the conviction she desperately wished they held.
Even to her own ears, the denial sounded flimsy, a paper shield against a rising tide of anxiety.
Cole, ever the pragmatist, arched a skeptical eyebrow. "The classic 'we can optimize your ROI' scam, or the more avant-garde 'invest in this obscure NFT and your chihuahua will retire early' variety?" His attempt at levity, though appreciated, did little to soothe the frantic flutter in her chest.
