Morning arrived without ceremony, without an alarm or any lingering warmth left behind in the sheets. Pale early light spilled across the ceiling, sharp enough to wake me fully, and with it came the immediate awareness that sleep had abandoned me long before I was ready to face the day. I lay still for a moment, staring at the faint outline of the city beyond the curtains, listening to the penthouse breathe itself awake. Somewhere down the hall, water ran briefly and then stopped, the air system hummed in its usual measured rhythm, and nothing else moved.
It was already clear that Adrian was awake.
I rose quietly and dressed with the careful efficiency I had learned over years of managing expectations. I chose neutral colors and soft fabrics, nothing that invited commentary or speculatio
