Gemotions

The awards ceremony felt like a gilded cage. Maya, nominated for a prestigious literary prize, found herself sitting across from the very author who had stolen from her. The author's smile was too bright, their compliments too effusive.

The journalist had recently exposed the plagiarism. The author of the critically acclaimed novel, "Shadows of the City," had lifted entire passages from Maya's unpublished manuscript. They'd even used some of the same character names.

Maya gripped her champagne flute, her knuckles white. The air conditioning blasted, but she was burning up. She didn't want to be here, to celebrate someone else's achievement. How dare they sit here as if nothing happened?