CHAPTER 1: THE NAME SHE FORGOT The room fell into a suffocating silence.
The man didn’t speak at first. His sharp eyes stayed locked on the trembling girl curled on the marble floor, her thin fingers still clutching the dirty rag as if it were the only thing anchoring her to reality.
“...Stand up.”
His voice was low—but it carried authority that made even the air feel heavier.
The mistress laughed lightly, waving a dismissive hand.
“Oh, don’t mind her. She’s just a stray I picked up years ago. Useless, clumsy thing—”
“Stand. Up.”
This time, it wasn’t a request.
The girl flinched violently and tried to rise, but her legs gave out. She collapsed again, breath shaking, expecting the usual punishment.
But it didn’t come.
Instead, polished leather shoes stepped closer.
And then—
A hand.
Strong. Steady.
He was helping her up.
The mistress’s smile froze.
The girl dared to lift her head. Through swollen eyes and tangled hair, she saw his face clearly for the first time.
And something inside her broke.
“…Sir…?”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
But his expression shattered.
“No…” he murmured. “It can’t be…”
He reached forward, his fingers trembling for the first time in years, brushing the dirt from her cheek—revealing a small, faded mark just beneath her eye.
A mark he knew better than his own reflection.
“Lina…”
The name echoed like a ghost.
The girl’s body stiffened.
That name.
It felt… familiar.
But distant. Like a dream she once had and lost.
The mistress stepped forward quickly, panic rising.
“You must be mistaken—she doesn’t even know her own name! I took her in out of charity—”
“You took her?”
The man turned slowly.
And in that moment, the room turned cold.
“From where?”
May you like
The mistress hesitated.
For the first time… she didn’t have control.
