Chapter 111 Ashes Beneath Our Feet

• The stairs of the private jet unfolded with a mechanical hiss, the sound sharp and final like a knife sliding from its sheath. The white steps gleamed under the pale morning sun, still kissed with dew as if the runway itself had been waiting for their return.
• First Dysis walked out, the faint click of her heeled boots touching metal reverberating over the silence. Her frame was hugging a navy trench coat, belted tightly at the waist, and the hem fluttered in the chilly breeze like a flag of quiet resistance. Her dark hair, sleek and parted to the side, was twisted into a low twist, the kind of easy grace required without asking for it. Under the coat, black silk shadows and disciplined lines suggested something armor-like less a dress, more a declaration.
• Behind her, Alexander emerged like a storm in a tailored suit obsidian-black with a deep charcoal shirt beneath, open just at the collar, no tie. His silver cufflinks, bearing the Levi crest, caught the morning light like small, deliberate weapons. His steps were heavier, and calculated, but his gaze never left her. Not even once.