Ethan knew before anyone told him.That was the thing about losing control you didn’t hear it announced.You felt it.Like a pressure shift in the room. Like silence where obedience used to live.He stood alone in his office, the city stretched out beneath the glass walls like something he owned. Night had settled in, polished and expensive, the kind of darkness that hid sins behind good lighting.His phone lay on the desk.Face down.Unread.That alone was enough.Elara always replied.Not quickly. Not eagerly. But consistently.Even when she was angry. Even when she was distant.Silence wasn’t her weapon.Which meant someone else had changed the