Chapter 4

I zoomed in on the screenshot with shaking fingers, over and over, closing it by accident a few times and opening it again.

Available balance: 0.00.

The card number was right. The time was right. There was no AI-generated watermark in the corner.

What on earth was going on?

Could the chatbot really transfer money?

My head spun. I grabbed the arm of a stranger walking past.

"Can you use the chatbot and try sending me one dollar?"

The person stared at me.

"Are you sick? Why would I send you money? And since when can a chatbot transfer money?"

I opened the chatbot app.

"Then let me send you some, and you check whether it comes through, okay?"

The stranger shook my hand off and ran, cursing the whole way.

"God, do they keep the psych ward on this floor? What a piece of work, asking me to watch a chatbot move money."

The people nearby heard him shouting as he fled, and one by one their eyes shifted, wary, onto me.

The nurse who'd been in Abby's resuscitation had seen it all. She came over and took my hand, her face pained.

"I understand how you feel. If money's tight at home, you can borrow it. But the chatbot really cannot send you money."

Her words jolted me awake. I called my mother back at once, forcing my voice level.

"Mom, you may have been caught in a phone scam. I'm going to report it so the police can trace it."

"Report it? Your brother's getting married with all those people there and you want to call the police?"

"Yes. Reporting it is the only way to find out where that money went."

For the first time, my mother's voice held something like alarm, but what she said to me was:

"Don't panic. Bank transfers don't arrive right away. Just wait a little longer."

"Wait any longer and my daughter will be dead."

I screamed it, my throat raw.

"Oh, come on now, she can't die. What terrible luck that would be for your brother's wedding."

Every drop of blood in me caught fire at those words, but I knew this was no time to fight.

Just as I stood there, lost, the voice on the other end suddenly changed.

"Oh, Ali, you know what, I really did misread it. The money's still in the card."

My heart lurched. "Still there? Then why does it say the balance is zero?"

"Well, it's your brother's wedding day, so I thought I'd have a little fun, let some of the luck rub off on you."

"Mom!"

I cut her off sharply. "Is this something to joke about?"

She went quiet for two seconds, and then her voice cracked with tears.

"I know you think I'm useless, that you look down on your dad and me for being poor, for not being able to cover Abby's surgery.

But do you really think I don't worry about Abby? She's my granddaughter too."

Across the hall the other couple was still shouting, "Is your hospital running some crooked scheme? We have the money and you still won't let our child have the surgery!"

The woman's wailing and my mother's sobbing tangled together, and a ringing rose in my ears.

I fought to steady my voice.

"Mom, I'm not blaming you. Just send me the money now. One more second and Abby really won't make it."

"I don't know how to send it!"

I made myself lay out every step, clear and slow.

"Mom, first download the online banking app, then open it and—"

My mother's voice cut across mine.

"Hold on, hold on, let me ask the chatbot how to do it."

"Don't ask the chatbot. Don't ask the chatbot. Just listen to me."

I screamed it, breaking, and the line went dead with the busy tone.

For a moment, the wailing couple, the nurses keeping order, the frowning doctor explaining—

eight pairs of eyes turned to me all at once.

In the hallway that had gone suddenly still, all you could hear was the machines beeping.

My hand clamped onto the edge of the service desk to keep myself from going down.

Then I pulled out my phone and dialed the police.

"Hello, is this 911? I want to report a crime. I've been scammed out of a million dollars."