What if they promised Emily a life of luxury, everything Clara couldn’t give? What if Emily looked at them and saw something she’d been missing all along? She tried to refocus, to just watch Emily chew absentmindedly while she scrolled her phone between bites of pasta.
The way she twirled her fork, the way she laughed at a meme and immediately wanted to show Clara—it was all so achingly normal. Clara clung to it, desperate to freeze this moment. But her thoughts intruded again. They have money. Connections. They’ll think they can buy her. What if she lets them? What if all I’ve built with her can be undone in a single meeting?