Elize noticed the change before anyone spoke of it.
The estate felt slower.
Not calmer.
More deliberate.
As if someone had tightened control parameters overnight.
Enzo didn’t meet her at the usual corridor.
That absence confirmed more than presence ever could.
Instead, a servant delivered a message.
No paper.
No formal tone.
Just instruction.
“Luca requests your presence.”
No location.
That meant she wasn’t being guided.
She was being tested.
Elize moved through the estate carefully.
Not rushed.
Not hesitant.
Observing.
Every corridor felt slightly altered.
Too intentional.
Too empty.
As if the house had been cleared in anticipation of her movement.
Then she found it.
The library.
Doors already open.
Luca inside.
Waiting.
Of course.
“You took your time,” he sai
