The wind leaves a sound, but love leaves no trace.

“Nora, are you really leaving Lucas?”

In the hushed, wood-paneled study, Nora perched on the edge of a deep wingback chair, her fingers knotted tightly in her lap. She was silent for a long moment before giving a single, slow nod.

“Yes, Uncle. Lucas and I are finished.”

Her uncle released a weary sigh, but before he could speak, a cold, sharp voice cut through the room.

“Finished? The second I announce a wedding date with Kathleen, you run to my father to make a scene? Nora, aren’t you tired of these games?”

Before she could turn, Lucas was already striding into the room, his long legs eating up the distance with purpose.

His father, voice thick with regret, tried to intervene. “Lucas, Nora says she wishes to—”

“What does she wish for? To play the victim? Or to throw another tantrum?”

Lucas’s gaze pinned her, cold and disdainful.

“Kathleen wants you to personally oversee our wedding arrangements. Don’t mess it up.”

Nora clenched the fabric of her sleeves, fighting to keep her eyes dry. “Lucas, I don’t owe you a thing.”

“You don’t. But your mother did.”

A document landed in her lap.

She unfolded the yellowed pages and recognized it at once—her mother’s employment contract with the Lucas family, signed so many years ago.

A fifteen-year term. Her mother would be bound to the family as a live-in housekeeper. In return, the Lucases would provide Nora with the finest education and cover all living expenses for them both.

The service would end automatically upon expiry. Breach of contract carried a penalty so astronomical, she could never hope to repay it.

According to the dates, fifteen days remained.

“You’ll pay your mother’s debt.”

Lucas left those four light, dismissive words hanging in the air and turned to go.

His father, furious, slammed his teacown down. “Lucas! Do you have any idea what you’re asking? Forcing Nora to handle your wedding—it’s too cruel! You will regret this!”

Pausing at the doorway, Lucas let out a cold, quiet laugh. “Regret? I wouldn’t regret it even if she died.”

Then he was gone.

Watching that merciless figure retreat, the tears Nora had held back finally broke free, tracing hot paths down her cheeks.

He wouldn’t regret it even if she died?

Of course not. How could someone who’d lost all memory feel regret?

For over three hundred days and nights in this private hell, hadn’t she been the only one fighting a hopeless battle, suffering alone?

And yet, she could point to a lifetime of moments that proved his love had once been real.

At fourteen, when her drunken father set their home ablaze after a gambling loss, it was Lucas who rushed into the flames to pull her and her mother to safety.

At eighteen, when her mother passed without warning, it was Lucas who patiently guided her through the agony, becoming her only anchor.

At twenty, when the Lucas elders objected to their relationship over the gulf in their status,