Jerica took the phone, her skepticism giving way to a slow burn of concern as she scrolled through the document. There it was—numbers, dates, transactions—outlined with meticulous precision.
If this was real, if these documents were legitimate, then Aria was right. Something deeply wrong was festering within the foundation.
"Have you sent this to me?" Jerica asked, her voice composed, though her mind was racing.
"To your email listed in the foundation's records," Aria nodded eagerly, her eyes wide with hope. It was as though she could already sense Jerica shifting from disbelief to tentative trust.
"Thank you for believing me," Aria breathed, stepping closer, reaching out to grasp Jerica's hand in a gesture of gratitude. But Jerica pulled her hand back subtly, refusing the contact without making it seem rude. She maintained her distance, an invisible but firm boundary. She couldn't afford to get emotionally entangled, not yet. Not with so much at stake.
