throb behind her eyes that matched the rhythm of her racing heart. The room wa
lt like sandpaper. And then she saw it. The black phone was lyin
calls. Al
e new
getting
ing her completely alert. She sat up, her head swimming for a moment before settling. Panic was
en from her nightstand, her ha
m the s
o is da
expose my r
th. She picked up the phone again, her thumb hovering over the chat history. She scrolled up, past
ee months ago. The sender field didn't say Oero. It
ting to a labyrinth of shell corporations. This wasn't a company; it was a ghost, designed to be untraceable. But her engineering mind didn't give up. She cross-referen
but one of the most aggressive, ruthless firms on Wall Street. A
andful of deleted photos. Most were nothing, but one caught her eye. It was a close-up of a man's hand on the steering wheel of a luxury cahe piece detailed his rise to power, his complete lack of empathy, and his brutal takedowns of rival firms. And there, on his wrist, was the watch. Twho attempted to embezzle funds was never seen again after a contentiou
error. Oero was Dereck Campos. She had been catfishing one
tment felt like they were crushing her. She was a dead girl walk
on the screen. She had to reply. Silence was an admission of gui
t. No, too formal. MoonCookie was a sugar bab
y. I caught a terrible flu, I can barely get out o
wrong on her tongue. But it was the language of the
e stared at the screen, her breath held
e faster than
Prov
d command. He didn't believe her. Of course he di
were sick to a man who was thousands of miles away, without showing h
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