Gemotions

"Just...wow," Sarah muttered, her voice raspy. She had just finished reading the report. Her eyes burned, dry from hours of staring at the screen. The evidence was irrefutable. Her literary hero, the celebrated Julian Blackwood, had been exposed as a fraud. The world, once vibrant and full of possibility, seemed to have drained of color, leaving only a monotonous gray.

She dragged herself to the window, watching the city lights blur into indistinguishable smudges. A deep ache settled in her shoulders. She wanted to scream, to lash out. But mostly, she just felt hollow. The joy, the inspiration that Blackwood's words had brought her, felt tainted, poisoned. She felt like she'd been living a lie, and the taste of it was bitter on her tongue.