Burn the Marriage, Keep the Crown novel Chapter 263

Serena glanced at the screen but couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing.

She shook her head, turning to Gabrielle with a puzzled look.

Gabrielle smiled knowingly. “Clearly, you don’t spend much time on Instagram. This is your fan page, but it’s been locked down. I just searched your name—any conversation about you, even the vaguest reference or nickname, has been wiped. Do you know what that means?”

Serena frowned. “What does it mean?”

“It means someone’s paid to have your public image managed,” Gabrielle said, a hint of pride in her voice. “But this isn’t something money alone can buy; you need the right connections. So, it has to be William. I mean, isn’t that proof he loves you?”

But Serena’s expression darkened immediately. “You’re saying that any online discussion about me is getting censored?”

Gabrielle nodded. “Exactly.”

“But this isn’t William’s doing.”

Gabrielle looked startled. “If not William, then who? In all of Northspire, only the Grayson family could pull off something like this…” She noticed Serena’s troubled look and grew anxious. “Serena, what’s wrong?”

Serena felt her heart sink.

She’d just told William this morning—trying to silence people would only backfire.

William was too smart to make such a foolish mistake.

Unless…

She reopened the official Antiquities Gambit account and tapped on the latest Instagram post.

Sure enough, the tide had turned.

Now, every comment praised Cynthia Lynwood and accused Serena of trying to silence criticism—calling her the real puppet of the elite.

Someone had even snapped photos of her and William together, fueling rumors that she was using her connections to crush ordinary people.

The things people were saying online were downright vile.

Gabrielle’s eyes suddenly filled with tears.

She gave Serena’s shoulder a gentle punch. “That’s the Serena I remember.”

Serena blinked, confused.

Gabrielle’s eyes grew even redder. She lowered her head, wiped at her tears, and said, “When I came back and saw you, you seemed so different. I even made a trip to Alderburg to find out what you’d been through all these years.”

She took a shaky breath and smiled. “But hearing you now, I know the Serena I knew—the one who never gave up—she’s still here. She survived everything and she’s still inside you.”

Serena felt her heart flutter painfully.

“You remember the old days?” she asked.

“How could I forget?” Gabrielle sniffled. “When my dad sent me overseas, I was the only Valerian kid in the school. Everyone else spoke a language I couldn’t understand. It was just a blur of noise and strange words…”