Pale and uncertain, the first rays of morning light cut through the thick curtains.
Instead of the soft rustle of the man next to her, Annabel's eyes opened to reveal a blank room. The sheets were pulled smooth as though they had never been used and the pillow beside hers was new.
She felt a sudden coldness in her stomach, a physical weight that reflected the bed's emptiness. The silk comforter slipped off her shoulders as she slowly sat up.
The area where he had been just an hour earlier was now cold after she ran her hand over the cool sheet. She had sobbed herself to sleep, her silent sobs a last-ditch effort to erase the guilt and fatigue of the previous day.
He had disappeared now. She was alone in the large, quiet house, a lone dejected figure in a sea of luxury while he had go
