Burn the Marriage, Keep the Crown

Chapter 214

William visibly stiffened.

A moment later, he turned around, his eyes soft and warm, like sunlight streaming through a window. "Just give me the watch," he said gently.

"Why won't you let me meet the owner of the watch?" Serena pressed.

"That's not what I meant-"

"Is it because you're the owner?" she asked.

William's words caught in his throat. He looked at Serena, the gentle expression

on his face giving way to a sudden chill in his eyes.

"Serena, what are you talking about?"

“That watch—it was a keepsake from your parents, wasn't it? Why didn't you ever tell me the truth?"

William's gaze sharpened.

long pause hung between

he spoke, his voice low. "The watch did belong to my parents. But

Serena frowned in confusion.

about my parents' story, don't you?"

Serena nodded.

were nothing short of

allow William's mother to marry into their elite clan, and forced William's father, Garnett Grayson, into an arranged marriage with someone from another

William's mother found out, she left Northspire

the Grayson Group and

Garnett and William's mother were

on his second son's fifth birthday, in front of a room

was divorcing his wife

of Northspire, the Graysons created a scandal

gossip, and soon, their love story became the stuff of legend-envied by

yet; everything she knew

Half his face was bathed in sunlight, the other half shrouded in shadow. "But I'm the only

traveling together, leaving me behind in Northspire. My two brothers didn't like me. Whenever my parents were away, they took

resigned as CEO of the company, took my

deny my father loved my mother. But his world was so small, it only had room for her. My mother's world was