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“And you, sir?” the girl was asking him.

He was puzzled. “What about me?”

“What brings you here to the ODA?”

“I was invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony as the representative of the royal side of the family.” He waited for her to ask more about his royal relatives, and she soon granted half of his wish.

“May I go now, sir?” She had indeed asked a question, but not the one he was expecting.

“Yes, of course.” He suppressed a smile, thinking ruefully how good this girl would be at keeping him humble. “I didn’t mean to keep you.” It seemed he was fated to say those words over and over, and the worst thing about it was how a part of him wanted to do just that.

Keep her, so she wouldn’t come to harm.

“Have a nice day, sir.”

“You, too.”

He watched her walk away, her long blonde locks neatly interlaced in a single plait, her back straight, her stride crooked as she...limped.

Willem’s gaze narrowed, but as he continued watching her, he had to accept the truth that he wasn’t seeing wrong.

She was limping.

****

“SERENITY.”

She heard the Dutch billionaire call her name and forced herself to stop even though all she wanted to do was run away. There was something about the way he said her name she didn’t like, and when her sister’s rumored boyfriend came to stand in front of her again, she realized what it was.

She saw it in his eyes, which were too uncannily like hers.

She saw it in the grim set of his face, which seemed too handsome for someone who had all the money in the world.

And, most of all, she saw it in the way he immediately shoved his hands deep in his trousers’ pockets as he came close to her.

Pity.

She had a feeling he pitied her for all the right reasons. Someone like Willem de Konigh wouldn’t have trouble uncovering the truth about her, never mind if the media’s interest in Daniel Raleigh’s orphaned daughter had long disappeared.

What Willem de Konigh wanted, Serenity had a feeling the Dutch billionaire never had any trouble acquiring.

But if what he wanted was someone who would welcome his pity, then he would certainly have his first taste of disappointment

When the billionaire reached her, Serenity said quietly, “I won’t always be limping like this.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t quite the truth either. The doctors had told her that the limp would lessen, gradually, but it would never go away.

She was fine with that.

Unfortunately, the world wasn’t, and this man standing before her was proof of it.

“I see.” But Serenity saw that he was having trouble seeing it. She could almost feel his frustration, his anger that she had to suffer such a handicap.

And for a second, she was tempted to explain it wasn’t that at all. His anger...touched her, made Serenity want to make the billionaire see that her limp was her way of atonement, a much-needed reminder of what could happen if she were selfish again.

But in the end, she didn’t. There was no point. She was sure that the billionaire’s interest in her was just fleeting, a rich man’s whim that would inevitably fade.

“Does it still hurt?” she heard the billionaire ask.

She shook her head, yet another half-truth. It almost never hurt, but the billionaire didn’t have to know that either.