Chapter 519

Millie’s response was almost instinctive.

“Didn’t you summon me?”

“When did I...?”

Marcus’ voice trailed off, urgency replacing confusion. He lunged, his hands seizing the porcelain fragments from Millie’s grasp.

“Millie, you've shattered the precious porcelain!”

His voice had a winter chill.

Millie’s heart stopped.

“Precious porcelain?” she echoed, her mind a whirlpool of confusion.

Which porcelain?

It took a mere heartbeat—two seconds of suspended time—for Millie to regain herself, shaking her head with conviction.

“| didn’t break it. You've misunderstood.” Her voice was a plea, a truth yet to be recognized.

While she didn’t know the true value of the porcelain, Millie knew full well the fury simmering in Marcus’ eyes. She raced to deny

any wrongdoing.

“If you're not the perpetrator, then who is? Why would these shards lie treacherously at my feet? And who beckoned me to this

study?”

Thoughts clamored in her head, threatening to burst forth.

The memory of Mae’s hurried summons played back, and a realization washed over Millie: she’d been set up.

“This porcelain, an artifact from antiquity, holds more than just age within its delicate form. It bears the fingerprints of my great

grandfather’s legacy. It’s a treasure not for its years, but for the stories it carries. How could you shatter something so precious?”

Evident in Marcus’ intonation was a profound sorrow, a melancholy that ran deep within him.

Acentury and more, one hundred and one years to be precise, marked the span of his great grandfather's life. In Marcus’ youth,

he had the privilege of sharing his days with this venerable elder.

This porcelain held a cherished place in the heart of his great grandfather. It was a symbol of his devotion, a testament to the

foundation he had laid for the Thomas family.

In the tapestry of his memories, his great grandfather stood as the embodiment of warmth within their family.

During the winter’s embrace, his great grandfather had a fondness for plucking two plums and nestling them within the embrace

of the porcelain, a simple tradition that breathed life into his cherished memories.

As his great grandfather neared the end of his earthly journey, he gathered his loved ones close, a final act of intimacy. It was

then that he bequeathed the porcelain into Marcus’ hands, an heirloom to hold and protect.