The Glass Screen

Emma stared at the orange sunrise through her kitchen window, the morning light hitting her water glass like it was trying to tell her something. She reached for her vitamin C — the third one this week, as if megadoses could somehow boost her immune system against what she'd discovered.

Her iPhone lay on the counter, innocent and dark. But she knew better now. Marcus had been spying on her for months, tracking her location, reading her messages, even accessing her meetings through that sharing feature he'd insisted would "bring them closer." The irony tasted bitter, like aspirin dissolving on her tongue.

She thought back to their anniversary dinner, how he'd known exactly which restaurant she'd been eyeing, how he'd surprised her with that orange dress she'd only texted her mother about. She'd called it romantic. Now it felt like violation.

The vitamin bottle rattled as her hands shook. Three years of relationship reduced to data points and location pings. She remembered the way he'd smile when she mentioned her "coincidental" encounters — running into him at coffee shops, him already at her favorite bookstore when she arrived. It wasn't fate. It was surveillance.

Her phone chimed. Marcus's name appeared on the screen: "Morning, beautiful. Coffee at our usual spot?"

Emma's thumb hovered over the text. The NSA had nothing on her husband. He knew everything — her cycle tracker, her search history, her late-night therapy sessions. The vitamins weren't helping. Nothing could help this.

She typed back, then deleted. Typed again, deleted. Finally: "Not today."

The orange light was fading now, giving way to the harsh reality of morning. She opened the drawer where she'd thrown her old phone — the burner she'd bought yesterday. Its screen lit up, revealing the encrypted note she'd left herself:

Lawyer's number. Bank accounts. Exit strategy.

Emma swallowed another vitamin, then deleted Marcus's tracking app from her iPhone. The screen went black, and for the first time in months, she felt something resembling control.

The sun was fully up now. Orange became gray. Emma picked up her keys.