Burn the Marriage, Keep the Crown novel Chapter 221

Serena didn't give it much thought and simply followed Abby into the recording hall.

Inside, aside from the production crew for *Antiquities Gambit*, there were only three others present—the contestants.

There were supposed to be five contestants in total.

Which meant one person hadn’t arrived yet.

At Abby’s direction, Serena took a seat beside the other three.

The contestants, sizing up Serena—so young, strikingly pretty, and hardly looking like an antiques expert—immediately seemed less interested in her.

Just then, someone called out, “She’s here, she’s here! Miss Lynwood just arrived!”

At the sound of “Lynwood,” Serena instinctively thought of one person.

She looked up and, sure enough, saw Cynthia Lynwood gliding in from the doorway. Serena’s eyes flickered, but her face gave nothing away.

Cynthia spotted Serena at once and strode over with infectious enthusiasm. “Serena! I didn’t expect to see you here again!”

She held out her hand, eager for a handshake.

But Serena took a step back, politely dodging the gesture.

The moment grew tense. Awkward silence fell across the room as everyone exchanged uncertain glances.

Abby, watching this unfold, had no idea what kind of history these two shared. Doing her best to smooth things over, she quickly said, “Wow, I had no idea you two actually knew each other! Well, let me do a quick introduction. This is Cynthia Lynwood—Miss Lynwood. She’s an amateur collector, not exactly an expert in the field, but the point of our show is to make antiques fun and accessible.”

“She’s basically our audience’s stand-in—the one who asks the questions everyone at home is probably wondering about.”

The truth was, Cynthia’s place on the show had been bought by a very generous sponsor. That was why Abby’s boss had come rushing in with last-minute changes the night before.

Originally, they’d wanted to replace Serena—after all, she was the only contestant without any powerful connections.

It was only because Abby argued her case that Serena got to stay.