LYRA’S POV
The weight of the platinum key card in my blazer pocket felt entirely different now. It was no longer a lifeline; it was an unpaid debt.
I found Asher exactly where I expected him to be during the late afternoon study block—sitting in the glass-walled pavilion overlooking the north gardens, a tablet resting casually on his knee as he reviewed market trajectory graphs. His silver hair caught the dim mountain light, and his posture was, as always, relaxed yet completely observant.
When my shadow fell across his desk, he didn't look up immediately. He slowly finished scrolling through a data column before raising those sharp blue eyes to meet mine. He took one look at my posture, my jaw slightly less tense than the day before, and a faint, knowing smile touched his lips.
"You’r
