The rain had eased into a gentle drizzle.
The candles were beginning to burn low, their flames flickering with every draft that slipped through the old mansion.
Lukas couldn't take his eyes off Rachel.
"You don't know?" he repeated.
Rachel slowly nodded.
"I haven't seen that person in six years."
"You've been searching all this time?"
"Every single day."
Lukas frowned.
"Then why not hire private investigators? With your money, you could search the entire country."
"I did."
"And?"
"They found nothing."
Her answer came so quickly it sounded rehearsed.
"They disappeared without a trace."
Lukas looked at the locked drawer where the photograph was hidden.
"So that picture..."
"...is the last one I have."
Silence filled the room once again.
Finally, Lukas asked the question he had been holding back.
"Who are they to you?"
Rachel smiled sadly.
"My first friend."
The answer caught him off guard.
"I thought you'd say your first love."
"So does everyone."
Her eyes remained on the rain.
"But they were much more important than that."
Lukas waited.
Rachel continued.
"When I was younger, everyone wanted something from me."
"My family's money."
"My surname."
"My future."
"But that person..."
"They didn't even know who I was."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"They treated me like an ordinary girl."
She laughed quietly.
"They even argued with me over a loaf of bread."
Lukas couldn't help smiling.
"A loaf of bread?"
"I accidentally knocked it out of their hands."
"And?"
"I blamed them."
"You sound difficult."
"I was."
She admitted it without hesitation.
"They called me spoiled."
Lukas laughed.
"I think they were right."
Rachel shot him a glare before laughing as well.
For the first time in days...
The distance between them disappeared.
Then her smile slowly faded.
"The next day, I apologized."
"And after that..."
"We became friends."
She looked down at her hands.
"I promised we'd meet again."
"But six years ago..."
"They never came."
Lukas noticed the pain hidden behind her calm expression.
"You still believe you'll find them."
"I have to."
"Why?"
Rachel took a slow breath.
"Because if I stop believing..."
"...then that promise dies with me."
Lukas looked at her for a long moment.
Without thinking, he reached out and gently placed his hand over hers.
Rachel looked up in surprise.
Neither of them spoke.
Outside, the storm had finally passed.
Inside...
Something between them had quietly begun.