Six years ago
Andrea held William for hours until he fell asleep. She had to finish for him the call with his aunt and arranged his travel to San Francisco.
She also called Fitz and Bing to tell them the bad news: William's parents were driving back from their date night when a drunk driver hit them. They were gone in an instant.
Fitz bought a ticket to travel with his friend. Andrea and Bing were staying in order to talk to William's teachers and arrange everything at school, since it was likely that William was going to stay for a while in San Francisco.
When William woke up the next morning, it all came back to him. He wanted to believe that all had been a bad dream. But that was not true. His parents were gone forever.
And he could only think of the person who was suffering as him: Georgiana.
The day of his arrival to San Francisco was a blur. He only remembered his aunt Catherine opening the door of his house and him running to find Gigi crying in the living room. Maybe, at some point, George had appeared to give his condolences.
Catherine de Bourgh, Ann's sister-in-law, was now the only close relative of William and Georgiana. She took charge of the funeral preparations and legal matters, while Mrs. Annesley, the housekeeper, took care of the Darcy siblings.
Kate Annesley had worked a long time for the Darcy family and she felt like a second mother to William and Gigi. Kate cooked all sorts of comfort food with the hope that they would eat something, but her efforts were in vain.
Gigi and William spent all the time together in their parent's bedroom looking at their belongings. Neither of them had the courage to sort through them and decide what they wanted to keep.
Bing and Andrea flew just in time to be present at the funeral. All the staff of Pemberley attended, as well as George and Fitz's family. William and Georgiana held hands during the whole ceremony and never let go.
A week later, William and Gigi met with their parent's lawyers as well as Pemberley's.
In their will, they had named William as Gigi's guardian. They had split their properties and shares in Pemberley in half for their children. There was also money for George's education. William Sr. had never got the chance to change the will after his godson's drop out.
Regarding Pemberley, William held now the CEO at Pemberley seat but he had to be approved by the board that was meeting with him the next day.
After those meetings and upon their return home, William had a discussion with his aunt. She did not think that William could take care of Gigi, who was sixteen years old. She offered to do that instead and have Gigi move in with her.
William was twenty years old and already felt the weight of the world on his shoulders but he did not want to be separated from his sister.
The discussion went on for a long time until Georgiana entered the room and told her aunt that she wanted to live with William, no matter what. Her aunt gave up and left them.
That night, they had the first calm dinner since the tragic event, with Andrea, Kate, George, Bing and Fitz seated at their table. William needed all the support he could get for his upcoming day at Pemberley.
All the members of the board appreciated the late Darcy's and their children, but agreed that William was not yet prepared to run the company.
They proposed that Catherine would serve as his representative and with Helen Forsythe, the Company Secretary, take the important decisions. In the meantime, William would have to finish his college degree, video call for the board meetings and sometimes travel to San Francisco.
William knew that he could trust his aunt and Helen concerning the management of Pemberley and he agreed to the proposition.
When William informed Gigi of the results of the meeting, he asked what she wanted to do. He could transfer to a university in San Francisco so she did not have to move and leave school and friends behind.
"No, I don't want to stay here. It's just too painful. I want to be somewhere else," she answered.
"Are you sure? What about your friends in school?," William asked.
"I can always call them. I don't want you to quit Harvard, it was Dad's dream…," at this point, Gigi started crying. She wanted to be strong, but it was too soon. William hugged and comforted her but could not repress his own tears.
"Everything is going to be okay", he repeated over and over, trying to convince his sister and himself.
William informed Catherine and Kate about his decision of staying in Harvard and Gigi moving in with him. When he asked Kate if she wanted to go with them, she accepted in a heartbeat. She did not want to leave them. Catherine was not happy but accepted their decision.
With their help, they started cleaning and packing the house. It was a very hard task. At some point, William noticed his aunt cry quietly while holding a photograph. He was startled, since she was not a very expressive person, like he used to be.
Catherine had held up very well until that moment. "You are not the only ones who lost someone that night", she said dryly.
William did the only thing he could think of. He put his arms around her and said, "I know and I am sorry."