The phone rang again, cutting through the quiet of my room like a knife. I was already half-asleep, my body heavy against the mattress, my mind drifting somewhere between exhaustion and the faint relief of having talked to Rhys. For a second, I thought it was him calling back, maybe to say something he hadn’t said earlier, something softer, something that would make me feel like we were okay. But when I glanced at the screen, it wasn’t his name staring back at me. It was just the caller ID. No name, no number, just the cold, empty words: Unknown Caller.
I hesitated, my thumb hovering over the green button. I should’ve ignored it. I should’ve let it ring out and disappear into the void. But something in me—curiosity, stupidity, whatever—made me answer. The second I pressed the button, I re
