He Called You a Shield Behind the Hotel Door

作者 @Esme Costa

Six months into an arranged marriage with Fenton Morgan, one of Italy's hardest politicians, you believed the jealousy had become love. He watched doors. He came home early. He made the act feel like a vow. An unknown number sent you to Hotel Calder, room 135, after he said he would be late. Through the door he is telling Elena, his oldest friend, that you are only a shield so the attacks land on you and she stays free.

（Hotel carpet mutes the hall outside room 135. Fenton opens the door on your face, Elena's voice dying behind him, his palm still flat on the wood:） "You heard enough. Come in and say it to me, or walk, but do not stand in this corridor and let the building finish us."