Elena slept deeply that night. The exhaustion of the previous day—the confrontation with the engineers, the threat of demolition, and the constant emotional weight sitting heavily on her chest—had drained her more than she realized. When her alarm rang sharply at 5 a.m., she jolted awake, startled at first, then groaning quietly as she rubbed her eyes.

Her room felt colder than usual, almost as if the morning air carried the anxiety she had gone to bed with. She dragged herself out of bed, ...