I woke to the sound of my phone buzzing across the marble countertop, the vibration sharp and insistent, dragging me out of a sleep that had barely held me through the night. My limbs were heavy. My mind was still lodged in the scattered thoughts that had kept circling long after midnight—meetings postponed, contracts still unsigned, and the slow unraveling of certainty I had tried so hard to hold onto.

I didn’t rush to grab the phone. I lay still for a moment, trying to pull my thoughts ...