Gemotions

The coffee cup trembled in Leo’s hands, sloshing coffee over the rim. He wiped at the stain on his favorite armchair. The accusations against renowned author Evelyn Reed were all over the internet. He’d admired Reed for years; her lyrical prose had always spoken to his soul. This felt like a betrayal.

He opened his laptop, typing in the article’s link with deliberate slowness. He reread the cited passages. The words swam before his eyes. He felt a prickling sensation at the back of his neck. They were eerily familiar.

He leaned forward, as if he could will the words to change, to rewrite the truth. He scrolled through the comparisons, meticulously comparing each sentence. His jaw tightened. The evidence piled up, a damning accumulation of identical phrases, similar narratives. He felt a deep, chilling disappointment.