Gemotions

The news felt like a betrayal, a cold, sharp blade slicing through her adoration. Clara had idolized Daniel Thorne, his lyrical style, his profound insights. Finding out his lauded novel was largely lifted from an obscure journal felt like a personal attack. She tossed the book across the room.

She began obsessively checking the internet. Forums, blogs, academic papers – she devoured anything and everything related to Thorne's work, dissecting it with the cold precision of a surgeon. She downloaded old issues of the journal he'd supposedly pilfered from, comparing sentence structure, vocabulary, and themes. She barely ate.

She’d left the house a few times, but always came back to the computer. Finally, she found the author's contact information. She needed to know why.