"The phone you have dialed is currently powered off. Please try again later..."
Standing in the dimly lit, marble-tiled corridor of The Gilded Resort, Allen Morgan pulled the phone away from his ear with a bitter, self-deprecating smile. The mechanical, feminine voice of the operator felt like a physical barrier between him and Christian Hobbs. He began typing a long, explanatory text message, detailing how Olga Finlan’s mischievous nature had led to a misunderstanding, but his thumb hovered over the "send" button for a long minute.
Eventually, he hit backspace until the screen was blank. Their marriage had been a hollow shell, a union of convenience and silence for four long years. What right did he have to offer explanations now? Would she even believe him, or would she see it as just
