CHAPTER 156 — WHEN THE WORLD TILTS

The first thing Elena noticed when she woke was the quiet.

Not the peaceful kind, not the gentle hush of early morning, but the unnatural stillness that felt imposed rather than earned. The city beyond the glass walls seemed paused, as though someone had pressed a finger to the pulse of the world and held it there.

Her second realization came slowly, like a shadow stretching across her thoughts.

Adrian wasn’t beside her.

She sat up, blinking against the light filtering through the curtains. For a moment, dizziness threatened to pull her back down, but she breathed through it, grounding herself the way she had learned to do these past weeks. Her hand went instinctively to her abdomen. The familiar awareness was there, steady, quiet. That helped.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood.

The penthouse was awake.

Not with noise—but with presence.

Muted footsteps echoed from the corridor. Low voices murmured behind closed doors. The faint electronic hum of systems tha