Elize noticed the change immediately the next morning.
Not in what Luca did.
But in how he did it.
The estate was quieter than usual.
Too controlled.
Too intentional.
Silence here was never absence.
It was structure.
Enzo didn’t appear in the corridor.
No instructions followed her.
No summons interrupted her movement.
That alone was not peace.
It was preparation.
Then the message arrived.
Not delivered by servant.
Not spoken aloud.
A screen in her room activated on its own.
No input.
No request.
Just initiation.
A file opened.
Elize didn’t move at first.
She watched it.
Because now she understood something important:
Nothing in this system opened accidentally.
Then she stepped closer.
The image appeared.
A photograph.
Old.
Not surveillance.
Not recent capture.
