Neil walked into the kitchen holding his coffee and froze when he saw my face and the receiver on the floor.
“What happened?”
“It’s Grace,” I whispered. “She’s at the school.”
Instead of comforting me, his face drained of color.
He picked up the phone and abruptly ended the call.
“It’s a scam,” he said too quickly. “Voice cloning. AI can fake things like that now. Don’t go.”
When I grabbed my keys, he stepped in front of the door.
“You can’t go,” he said, panic flickering in his eyes. “Please.”
“Please what, Neil?” I snapped. “She’s dead. Why are you afraid of a ghost — unless she isn’t one?”
I drove to the school in a haze, barely noticing traffic lights or cars around me. My heart pounded so hard it drowned out everything else.
I ran inside and went straight to the principal’s office.
Then I opened the door and stepped in.
