When Mia arrived back at the apartment, the entire space was eerily quiet. She made her way to Samantha’s room, where the rhythmic clanking of a keyboard broke the silence.
Samantha was seated at her desk, her sharp focus on the glowing screen as lines of code scrolled rapidly. A series of tabs and tools cluttered her workspace—debugging programs, encryption tools, and a web page she seemed to be building from scratch.
Mia sighed, dropping onto the edge of Samantha’s bed. She leaned back slightly, rubbing her temples as the weight of the day bore down on her. She had just finished explaining everything that happened at the office—Zac’s unexpected offer, the details of the arrangement, and how surreal it all felt.
Samantha paused her work, taking her focus off the screen. She turned her
