Xu Kai exhaled, long and unsteady.
Relief flooded through him—hot, overwhelming, almost unbearable. His shoulders dropped, and his head bowed slightly as if a burden too long carried was finally beginning to lift.
For a moment, the silence stretched between them, thick and fragile, like the quiet before a storm. His breath was still warm against her skin. His hand remained gentle on her waist, unmoving. But his eyes—his eyes held everything. They searched hers with a kind of quiet ache, as though her question had cracked open something deep inside him.
Then he slowly pulled back, just enough to see her face more clearly. He cupped her cheek with both hands now, holding her as if she were something he was afraid might disappear.
"Liora…" he whispered her name like it was a prayer.
