The blocked numbers list appeared. Just one entry. His name, followed by the area code she’d once known better than her own.

The phone’s backlight glowed. She pressed .

Her fingers trembled over the keypad. It was absurd—she had negotiated million-dollar contracts, had once talked a burglar into leaving through the front door. But this tiny plastic device, this Panasonic KX-TG series with its chunky buttons and stubborn firmware, had become a wall between her and a voice she’d silenced in a moment of hurt pride.

“Select number to unblock.”

“Hello?”