Chapter 36 - Firewall of the Heart

Lucy stood in the rain, the cold drops an insistent drumbeat against her skin. It wasn't just for dramatic effect, though a small part of her conceded to the theatricality of the moment. More than anything, the deluge felt like a physical manifestation of the chaos swirling within her. Her world, meticulously built byte by byte, seemed to have fractured, and the biting chill of the downpour was the only thing tethering her to reality. Her phone, a phantom limb, vibrated persistently in her hand, the illuminated screen a beacon for Cole's name. Again. She ignored it, the unspoken questions hanging in the saturated air.