“Congratulations.” Serenity’s voice was stilted as she forced the word out, and she only said it because she did not want Willem to think she was bitter or heartbroken. Even if both were true.

“Thank you.” The billionaire’s voice was pleasant, and just the sound of it seemed to mock the tense silence that otherwise reigned in the boutique’s private lounge, where the two of them sat apart on the same chesterfield sofa. “Although I must say, I am curious.”

“Oh?” She sensed Willem turning to face her and couldn’t stop wringing her hands on her lap. If only she was more confrontational, she thought helplessly. If only the thought of getting into a fight didn’t make her hyperventilate, she would have said no to Shane’s demand and stayed at home. If she had done that, then she wouldn’t be here now, feeling like she was about to faint any second from the pain she was experiencing.

Willem was going to marry her sister.

It was the end of her world.

It was the beginning for Shane and Melanie, both of whom had ecstatically allowed themselves to be swept away by the boutique’s senior sales consultants for an unlimited shopping spree, courtesy of her sister’s new fiancé.

Propping an elbow on the armrest so he could watch Serenity at leisure, Willem murmured, “What are you congratulating me for?”

As expected, the question had her head snapping towards him, incredulity in her blue gaze. “Excuse me?”

He shrugged. “You heard me. What are you congratulating me for?” One brow arched elegantly as he inquired, “Did you perhaps think I proposed marriage to your sister?”

Serenity’s jaw dropped. It was not a usual reaction for her, but right now she was beyond caring about what was poised or graceful. She could only whisper, “You’re not?”

Willem answered simply, “No.”

“I don’t understand,” Serenity said blankly. She was blinking at him in bemusement, long lashes like silken gold fans on her porcelain skin. Even the mere sight of it was seductive and tantalizing, Willem thought grimly.

Schooling his expression into an unreadable mask, he told her casually, “Your sister didn’t mention marriage either, did she?”

“I know, but she said your relationship’s moved to the next level---”

“It has. It just doesn’t have to be marriage.”

“But she also said you want us at Contini, so the royal family could decide if we’re suitable---”

“I lied.”

In a second, she realized what had just happened – what he had done – and Serenity didn’t even think.

She slapped him. “You bastard!” He had set things up, the jerk. He had known what she would think and he had still gone through with his stupid, painful trick!

His head snapping to the side, Willem gingerly touched his jaw as he slowly looked back at Serenity.

“Why would you let me think that?”

“Think what?” he challenged. When she only answered him with silence, he said it for her. “That I’m going to marry someone else?”

A cry escaped her, and even though anger still seethed inside him, Willem was unable to remain immune to the sound of Serenity’s pain.

Glancing at his bodyguards, he jerked his head towards the door and they immediately went out. Having been briefed earlier about their most important duty, they would remain outside the lobby and only come back to alert him of Shane or Melanie’s return.

When they were alone, he said under his breath, “I’m sorry.”

But pain still shadowed her eyes, and seeing her so frail and pale because of him, Willem was forced to accept the truth.

She was unable to live without him, and he was unable to live without her knowing she needed him.

But it did not mean they loved each other.

He only had to convince her that, and everything would be fine again.

“Sere.” He saw her blink rapidly, as if just hearing him use his special name for her was enough to bring her to tears. Sucking his breath in, he said tautly, “You know what kind of person I am. You know I’ve never explained myself to anyone but for you...I’ll try. Just once, just this time, because I don’t want you to keep hurting.” His jaw clenched. “I can’t bear to see you in pain.”

Serenity swallowed. “I’m l-listening.” It was all she could say, when in truth what she really wanted to tell the billionaire was that it was the same for her. Seeing him hurt pained her, too.

But then his lips twisted, and it was as if he had heard her all the same, as if he knew her so well that he was able to read her mind.

And because she knew him just as well – knew his heart even without ever having enjoyed his touch – Serenity was also able to read the meaning behind the movement of his lips.

I know, engel, the smile said. I know, but it’s not what I want from you.

She badly wanted to cry at that point, and when he started to speak, when he started telling her the truth that she had never wanted to know, there was no way to stop the tears from falling.

“My father started beating me when I was seven.”

The tears fell fast and hard.

She could not – she just could not – imagine someone as beautiful as Willem de Konigh being beaten. He was the rock the entire de Konigh clan depended on, had even stood as her guardian and the one man who had been able to keep her from drowning in guilt.

“He wasn’t furious with me, and it wasn’t the kind of beating that could have killed me.” The billionaire’s broad shoulders moved in a casual shrug. “I could have borne it until I was eighteen, except as I got older, I realized he wouldn’t be content with me. When I saw him about to wake Nic from his sleep to beat him up, I knew then I had to take action.” He looked at Serenity with emotionless eyes. “So I did. I found a way to call my grandmother and let her know what was happening.”

“But she didn’t take you away?” Serenity whispered.

“I didn’t ask her to, and I didn’t let her offer. If people knew about my father’s abuse – or my mother’s innumerable affairs – it would have affected the royal family and given the opposition leverage against the queen.” He paused then, after a moment’s hesitation, reached out to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. “It wasn’t that bad, Sere.”

She broke down.

The moment he touched her, the moment she heard him use the same comforting voice she had grown up hearing, Serenity’s defenses completely crumbled and without a thought of who might see her, she threw herself in Willem’s arms.

He dragged her to his lap, and his arms caged her just as her own arms went around his neck and tightened.

She hid her wet face against his neck and sobbed. She cried for the child that he had been, cried for the Dutch billionaire who had saved her, cried for Willem, the man she had been in love with since forever.

Tightening her arms around his neck, she whispered fiercely, “I’m sorry.”

It was like hearing a lamb wanting to protect a lion, and a soft, hoarse laugh escaped the billionaire. Pressing a kiss to her hair, he murmured, “It’s the past, engel.” But it was as if using the enderarment only served to open the floodgates, and he could feel her frail body shaking harder at the strength of her sobs.

“I c-can’t b-bear it, t-thinking that you h-had to l-live with your f-father when he could have b-beaten----”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t that bad,” he said quietly. But the way she kept sobbing told him that she didn’t believe him. Leaning away, he tipped her chin up, forcing Serenity to look at him so she could see the truth in his eyes. “Even though I was just eleven years old, the queen took the necessary steps so that I would have power and authority in our family – more than what my father possessed. With that, he was no longer able to hurt me or my siblings.”

Carefully pushing back the wet strands of hair clinging to the sides of her face, he placed his lips on her forehead, and as he felt her close her eyes, he whispered the other half of the truth to his angel.

“That day, I learned how to be strong. But I had to lose my heart in exchange.”

Serenity jerked in his arms, but he tightened his hold on her, not letting her escape.

“When you kissed me that first day, I knew you believed you love me.” She started to protest, but he didn’t let her, biting out, “Listen to me first, engel.” Slowly, he leaned back so their eyes could meet again. “It doesn’t matter if you really love me or not. The one thing you have to understand now is that I do not love you back.” He saw Serenity blanch, but he didn’t let it stop him. “That day you kissed me, you looked like you had been hit by a bolt of lightning. You looked at me like the sun rose and set---”

“Stop it,” Serenity whispered shakily.

“The point is,” he said tensely, “Everything you felt...it didn’t happen to me---”

A broken cry spilled past her lips.

“And I thank God for it,” he finished harshly. “Because I don’t ever want to love you.” Now that he had started, he knew he would not stop until he had gotten it all out of his system.

And after that---

After that, it was up to Serenity to decide whether she still wanted him in her life or not.

“Even to this day, engel, my parents continue to profess their love for each other. And it happened to them, just like how you think it happened to you – a bolt of lightning, Cupid’s arrow, whatever bullshit terms other people have come up for it. It is love for my parents, but I despise them for it. I hate them for using love as an excuse to destroy each other and...hurt their own children.”

Sucking his breath in, he slowly cupped her face, and his gaze capturing hers, he told her quietly, “I don’t love you, and for me, Sere, that’s a good thing. I would never allow you to stay in my life if I did. But I don’t. And that’s why I’m asking you back.”

He waited for her to say something.

But instead of an answer, he heard someone knock on the door before his bodyguard entered the lounge and told them that Shane and Melanie were on their way back.