Beneath Silent Skies

Prologue

"Lilacs bloom in silence. Just like pain."

The rain fell mercilessly over the city, drenching the streets in silver reflections of light. At the heart of the chaos stood Alexandra Devereux-the woman with ocean eyes that seemed to drown anyone who dared look too closely. Her black heels clicked against the marble floors of her towering empire, a symbol of wealth and power. To the world, she was untouchable-a ruthless CEO who ruled without mercy.

Yet behind the closed doors of her office, the ghosts of her past haunted her. Her childhood, a fractured mosaic of pain and abuse, had shaped her into the woman she was today-emotionless, guarded, and cold.

She didn't need anyone. She was fine alone.
Or so she thought.

Until Liora Hayes entered her life like a whisper in the storm.

Liora was everything Alexandra wasn't: simple and introverted, yet endlessly curious about the world. A working student, she juggled shifts at a quaint café while pursuing a scholarship at Cambridge. Her beauty was the kind poets wrote about-light brown wavy hair cascading down her shoulders, eyes that held the soft glow of sunrise, and a voice that could soothe even the coldest of hearts.

But Liora carried secrets, too-secrets that would unravel slowly, like notes in a forgotten melody, each one a thread leading into the unknown.

Alexandra first saw her when she walked into the café, seeking nothing more than her usual coffee. But what she found was a pair of eyes that met hers-not with fear or admiration-but with quiet understanding.

In that moment, Alexandra's carefully built walls began to crack.

And it terrified her.

For someone like Alexandra, love wasn't in the plan.
But fate has a way of defying even the most unshakable of wills.