Chapter 1: The First Night

The skyscraper felt like a ghost town after 9 PM. Most of the lights on the upper floors had gone dark, leaving only the emergency strips glowing faintly in the hallways. I, Elena Ramirez, 32-year-old senior architect, was still at my drafting table on the 28th floor, staring at the glowing screen of my laptop. The deadline for the Riverside Tower redesign was breathing down my neck, and my husband Mark had already texted twice asking when I’d be home.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. The marriage had been feeling more like a roommate situation for months... polite, distant, routine. No fire. No spark. Just...