My Daughter Died While His Mistress Played With Apps

My daughter needed eighty thousand dollars for emergency surgery after a car accident, and Claude Sanchez's secretary had an AI app handle the transfer.

I called back, frantic.

"You're playing games with my daughter's life. Have you lost your mind?!"

Maccabee Lewis fired back without a shred of doubt, sending me a screenshot of the AI's completed transfer order.

"If you haven't gotten it, that's because every app has a transfer delay. When you're asking someone for a favor, have a little patience!"

When Claude heard about it, he actually laughed.

"Ruby Fox, can't you just use the AI to pay the bill directly? It's faster than a transfer."

My daughter died right in front of me, and I wanted nothing more than to take them both down with me.

But Claude kept Maccabee firmly tucked behind him.

"It's your own fault for being stupid, trusting what an AI says."

"Enough. What's all this fuss for? Worst case, I'll just have another one with you. We'll name her Cherry too."

Looking at the man I'd loved for eight years, it finally hit me how rotten he'd been all along.

"No need." My jaw locked tight. "Let's get divorced."

"I don't want a cent of your money. I only want a life for a life."

…

After getting nowhere asking for help, I forced myself to dial the family I'd cut off eight years ago, my hand shaking.

I never got the chance.

The room around me went dead silent, leaving only the long, piercing wail of the monitor.

"Ms. Fox, our condolences."

"Please go to the second floor next door to handle the paperwork, then come down to sublevel one to claim the body."

A white cloth covered Cherry's face. They wheeled the gurney into the elevator.

My phone hit the floor, and my heart shattered into pieces.

I couldn't accept that the daughter who'd kissed and hugged me that very morning wouldn't wake up again, that only a few hours had passed. I sat there, frozen, refusing to sign the death certificate.

A woman in the billing line gave a cold snort.

"Putting on this whole devoted-mother act. Everybody heard your husband's secretary already transferred a million over. If you ask me, you just wanted to pocket the money, so you dragged it out until the kid died!"

"Poor child, stuck with a mother as black-hearted as you. Her father's heart will break when he finds out!"

I turned my head, and there, not far behind her, stood Claude, a stack of billing slips in his hand.

Beside him, Maccabee pouted, eyes fixed on her phone screen.

He took the phone from her and gave her nose a light flick.

"AI is just a reference tool. Treat it like something to play around with for fun, don't take it so seriously."

"Even if it's just a little anemia, you have to see a doctor. You can't go taking random medicine because an AI told you to. AI can't save your life."

Maccabee nuzzled her head into the crook of Claude's neck like a kitten.

"Of course I know that! Only an idiot would believe what an AI says."

Then she suddenly covered her mouth. "Claude, you don't think she was actually stupid enough to sit there waiting for me to transfer the money, do you?"

Claude slid his bank card through the window and gave a cold snort.

"Making a mistake that big and still trying to scam money out of us. Pure wishful thinking."

The rage tearing through my chest snapped my mind back to reality.

I rushed forward, snatched the bank card, and threw it on the floor, my teeth grinding.

"Make them pay with the AI!"

The two of them, lost in their little bubble, finally noticed me, their brows knitting.

"What, the shakedown didn't work, so now you're stalking us?"

I glared at him, tears welling up beyond my control.

In the blur was my daughter's small red hand in her final moments, slowly going stiff and limp.

It was her heart rate plunging.

It was Claude's animal sneer on the other end of the line.

He'd said, "Ruby, why don't you just pay the medical bill with the AI? It's faster than a transfer."

"Pay it!" I screamed, my voice shaking violently. "Isn't this exactly how you killed her? Why don't you dare do it now?!"