Her school uniform swayed with each hurried step, pigtails bouncing, the strap of her satchel slipping from her shoulder as she broke into a run.
To her, the vast hall of glass and marble, the black-suited guards, the watchful men across continents, they didn't exist.
"Daddy!"
Her voice rang clear, cutting through power and silence alike.
Jin Shuren's chair scraped back before he even realized he had moved.
His arms opened, wide, unguarded, and uncalculated. And in the next breath, Yueqin collided into him, with all warmth and breathless giggles, her little arms circling his neck as if no empire of glass and steel stood between them.
He lifted her easily into his arms, holding her close. The crisp black of his suit swallowed her small frame, her cheek pressing against the fabric, leaving faint imprints of heat and life.
His hand lingered against the back of her head, steady, protective, as though she might vanish if he let go too soon.
