Burn the Marriage, Keep the Crown

As soon as Serena finished speaking, the car door slammed shut behind her with a heavy thud, and the vehicle sped off, leaving her alone on the curb. She stood there for a moment, watching the car disappear into the distance, her gaze growing colder by the second.

Aaron was going to great lengths for Cynthia Lynwood, she thought. But he was just chasing a fantasy-there was no way she'd go back for a reshoot.

Serena hailed another cab and headed home, refusing to dwell on the incident any longer.

The next morning, as she arrived at work, she ran into Abby at the entrance.

Abby looked embarrassed, wringing her hands. “Serena, um... there's something

I want to say to you. Could we... maybe talk in private for a minute?"

Serena understood. Abby was just another employee caught up in all this-no need to make things harder for her.

"Abby, Aaron came to see me yesterday," Serena said quietly, "He told me about the reshoot, and I already told him there's no way I'll go back for it."

"Reshoot? What reshoot?" Director Thomas's cheerful voice interrupted as he walked over, grinning until he caught the tail end of their conversation. Curiosity got the better of him.

Abby's face flushed with guilt when she saw the director.

"It's nothing," Serena quickly stepped in to cover for her. "There was just a segment we missed filming for the last episode. Abby was asking if I could come back and help out."

"Oh, got it." Director Thomas nodded.

But Abby looked stricken, as if her heart had been torn open. She bowed deeply to Serena. "I'm so sorry, Serena. It's my fault. I promised you the spot for the Eldoria artifact exchange program, but now I've gone back on my word. Don't worry-I'll fight for you. That opportunity should have been yours in the first place."

With that, Abby turned and hurried away.noveldrama

Director Thomas looked completely baffled. “What's going on here, exactly?"

Serena had no choice but to explain the situation with Aaron and the reshoot as simply as possible.

The director's face darkened in outrage. "Abby's being totally unreasonable! This isn't how things are done. Just wait-I'm going to talk to her right now. And if she

won't fix it, I'll take it up with on

supervisor. This kind of thing just can't-"

Seeing how worked up he was, Serena quickly grabbed his arm. "Let it go, Director. Let them sort it out themselves."

"But-"

"If something's really mine, no one can take it from me. And if it can be taken, then

it was never mine to begin with." Serena's voice was calm, her outlook unshakable.

Director Thomas hesitated, then finally sighed. "You really are your father's daughter. He used to say the exact same thing."

Mentioning her dad made Serena's heart clench. William's words echoed in her mind: Healing is never easy.

Maybe she'd never be able to forgive

herself for her father's death. But she was determined to protect the antiques he'd left behind. Maybe that was her way of atoning for the past.

"Director, I should get back to work now," she said, her eyes steady and clear.

He nodded, still looking troubled. "Alright."

Serena returned to her studio and buried herself in her work, pushing all thoughts of the show aside.

It wasn't until a few days later, when Gabrielle called, that Serena learned the episode had aired. But her

scenes had been butchered in the et

edit-every moment of her

answering questions had been cut. Instead, the footage showed Cynthia Lynwood breezing through the answers, her responses flawless.

It was obvious these scenes had been patched in later. Cynthia's performance

was so different from the earlier episodes, it was impossible not to notice.

The viewers picked up on it immediately, and soon Cynthia Lynwood's name was trending for all the wrong reasons.