CHAPTER 121 — THE COST OF CHOOSING
Morning arrived without ceremony. No alarms, no urgent summons, no frantic calls demanding Elena's intervention. That alone marked the shift. The system no longer jolted awake seeking her hand—it moved because it had learned to.
Elena sat at the small breakfast table by the window, untouched tea cooling beside her. Outside, the estate grounds were already active. Staff moved with quiet efficiency, guards rotated positions without awaiting instruction, and the administrative wing hummed at a steady pace. These were not new routines, but today they felt different.
They were not echoes. They were decisions.
She observed without comment, her gaze steady, her posture relaxed but alert. Absence had done what authority never could—it had forced choice. And choice always came with cost.
