Lydia's Point Of View
"It's a glitch. It has to be a glitch. Systems malfunction all the time. Someone made a mistake. Someone… because I refuse to believe that this is real."
A colleague slowly rose from her desk. "Lydia… what's going on?" I thrust the phone toward her face. "Read it." She blinked, taken aback by my intensity. "Uh… okay…"
Her eyes scanned the screen, moving line by line through the announcement. Then widened in disbelief.
"Oh my God."
"Don't 'oh my God' me!" The words burst from my throat. "Tell me it's fake."
She hesitated, her mouth opening and closing as she searched for the right words. The pause stretched too long, confirming my worst fears.
"…I don't think it is."
Something inside me fractured, a dam breaking under impossible pressure. "Don't say that." My voice dropped to a dangerous whisper that made her step back. "Don't you dare say that."
