This entry contains mild story spoilers.
Reading boundary: Chapters 1–2. No later explanations or outcomes are included here.
Adam Ashworth lives in The Meadows and works for Calder Energy. In the opening chapter, his evening run is partly exercise and partly a way to avoid returning to an empty house. He has the home he once dreamed of, but he doesn't seem comfortable in it.
Eleanor works at Meridian Healthcare. Since her promotion, she's been spending more time at the office. When the two meet at the bathroom mirror in Chapter Two, her playful greeting runs into Adam's distraction and resentment. An ordinary morning becomes an argument before either of them leaves for work.
CILLA is present in both scenes: listening at the gate, arranging transport, reading out appointments. Adam describes her as a tool; Eleanor jokes about an overlord's spymaster. Even their disagreement about the assistant tells us something about how they speak to one another.
These are opening impressions, not final judgments. The rest of the family and the reasons behind their difficulties belong to the chapters ahead.