Chapter 307

Daniel’s question was laced with sarcasm, as if daring Nora to go back on her word.
Nora’s face remained impassive, her eyes cool and calm. “With Mr. Chambers’ methods, do you really think I dare break my promise?”
If she so much as hesitated, Una would be back in a police cell within seconds. She knew the stakes.
Daniel fell silent for a moment before finally agreeing. “Three days from now, it’s Eleanor and Hans’s wedding. I’ll come pick you up.”
Nora agreed, her tone softening slightly as she politely invited Daniel to stay for dinner.
But Daniel knew it was just good manners. He could see from her occasional impatient glances that if it weren’t for Una, Nora wouldn’t tolerate his presence for a second.
“I heard you’re looking for a manufacturer?”
Nora hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.”
Her studio was just that—a small studio. If she wanted to mass-produce her perfume, she’d need to find a manufacturer. The problem was, the initial production runs were so small that reputable factories wouldn’t take the job. The smaller operations either had poor conditions or outdated equipment, none of which met her standards.
She’d been chasing leads for almost a month without any luck, and was starting to consider looking out of state.
“I’ll have The Almanac of Air leave one of their production lines open for you,” Daniel said, already pulling on his coat. His tone was all business, utterly emotionless. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs
Nora almost blurted out a refusal.
She had built the Chambers Group’s fragrance division from scratch; she knew better than anyone how advanced and reliable that production line was. To use it for her own small batches felt like overkill.
“No, that’s-”
“Think of it as a wedding gift,” Daniel interrupted, tossing the words over his shoulder as he walked out.
Nora sat there, a little stunned. A wedding gift?
If they remarried, it would be a second marriage for both of them. Did that even require a gift?
Besides, she’d long since stopped loving him. The idea of a bride price or dowry was absurd.
Still, she couldn’t think of a better option than that production line. The thought gave her a headache.
“Aurora.” Una emerged from the bedroom.
She’d lost so much weight that Nora’s clothes hung off her, making her look even more fragile.
“Not going to get some rest?” Nora gently pulled her down to sit beside her.
Una shook her head, reached over to squeeze Nora’s hand, and whispered, “Do you still love him?”
Nora shook her head, her voice turning cold. “I stopped loving him a long time ago.”
Una’s eyes filled with guilt and glistened with tears.
Nora handed her a tissue. “Now will you tell me? What exactly happened?” Una closed her eyes. In truth, it was a short, miserable story.
After Hans took her away, she spent some time overseas before being sent back home, straight to the old Cooper family estate. Hans’s parents had lived and died there, but after their passing and Hans’s move abroad, the house had been left empty.
Hans’s words were simple: he wanted her to atone for her sins there.
Everyone at the estate knew Hans despised her. They treated her accordingly- sometimes ignoring her, sometimes worse.
Eventually, she fell ill and was sent to the hospital. In the lobby, she’d run into Eleanor, who provoked her until she finally snapped. She’d even thought about getting herself arrested, just to escape Hans.
By then, she’d lost all hope.
When Nora finished listening, whatever faint goodwill she’d once had for Hans vanished completely.
He and Daniel were cut from the same cloth.
“It’s okay. You’re back now. We’ll figure things out together,” Nora said, trying to comfort her.
Una pressed her hands over her face and broke down, letting all the pent-up pain and humiliation pour out.
She couldn’t understand how things between her and Hans had come to this. Worse, she’d dragged Nora into her mess as well.
“You’ll stay here with me,” Nora said, thinking ahead. “As for your studio, if you want to go back