I saw it completely opposite :) I saw this as the company looking for her replacement because they were not satisfied with her performance.
Possibly.
It could be her performance is tied to being underpaid.
Regardless the company recognizes the market rate for her work and they are not paying her for it.
Far too many companies expect something for nothing and expect loyalty when they give none.
I saw it possibly as someone who is an assistant thinking they were the decision maker.
I've seen that a few times. An employer is looking for a low-priced employee, gets what they paid for, doesn't like the person they hired, and then has to increase the rate while looking for someone new.
I work with both the delusional unicorn-seeking bosses and the employees who can't make critical decisions but think they deserve a raise. I had two coworkers, who if they were as good as they thought they were, would put me out of a job. They could do a mere fraction of what was expected of them. They never stepped up.