Six years ago

A couple of days before his return to Boston, William met with George to discuss the trust his father had left for him.

"I want the money", George said frankly.

William did not expect that answer. He had hoped that George would want to go back to school and then work with him.

"As you wish, but you are staying at Pemberley, right? I would like you to stay," William said.

George sighed, "I don't know, Darce. There are other things that I want to do, and the money is my chance to do them."

William did not know what to think. George seemed like a different person, he acted in ways strange to Williams and he even looked different.

Despite that, William honored his father's wishes and called the lawyer so George could receive a check. He did not insist on his permanence in Pemberley.

George said goodbye to Gigi and William and then walked out of the Darcy house and also of their lives.

Two weeks after the death of his parents, William flew back to Boston. Kate and Georgiana were travelling soon to join him.

Catherine dealt with Georgiana's transfer and bought a penthouse for her nephews, making sure that they lived in a nice neighborhood and near Georgiana's new school.

William talked with his professors and all agreed that if he could get up to date in the schoolwork, he could finish the semester with no problems.

William reunited with Andrea and she helped him move his things from his dorm to his new place. Despite the circumstances, she hoped that William would ask her to move in with him so she could help him with Gigi. But with Kate's presence, that did not seem necessary. She later found out that idea had never crossed William's mind.

Everything changed with the arrival of Georgiana and Kate. After classes, William hurried home to be with his sister and work on Pemberley's stuff. He was forced to leave the diving team and did not have time to make social life anymore. Unfortunately, that affected Andrea as well. He was in love with her, but he could only focus on Georgiana, school and Pemberley.

The holidays were a difficult time for William and Georgiana. Before the incident, they would always spent that time of the year with their parents at their cabin in Lake Tahoe.

Aunt Catherine went to Boston for Christmas and stayed with them for a few days. In New Year's, Fitz, Bing and Andrea joined them.

That was when William realized that he had hardly been with his girlfriend over the past months. He felt guilty, he had neglected her and she did not deserve it. He decided to talk to her about the future of their relationship before the semester started.

Andrea had felt the estrangement but had refused to say something to William. She knew that he was overwhelmed by his new responsibilities and that Georgiana was his only priority. As much as Andrea wanted to stay in his life, she did not fight for it. She kissed him one last time and they parted as friends.

Four years ago

After several trips to San Francisco, summer classes, sleepless nights and afternoons doing homework with Georgiana, William graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, just as his father had always hoped.

He celebrated with Fitz, who also graduated; Bing, who had left the year before for medical school at NYU, his aunt, Kate and Georgiana. And, for the first time since the tragic event, he was able to take a break, before taking control of Pemberley and starting his MBA at Stanford.

William had taken the role of parent very seriously. He attended all the parent-teachers meetings in Georgiana's school and had always made the time to help her. Georgiana had had difficulties in school after her parents' death and was running a little behind.

William did not press her and always worked with her at her pace. He helped her with everything, including her college applications. William felt so proud when Gigi announced that she had been accepted to Yale.

Kate was going to stay with Gigi for the rest of the summer while she finished her last credits. Gigi felt strong enough to live on her own and have a college experience as normal as possible. That meant that Kate would return to San Francisco and take charge of the Darcy house and be there for William.

When William left Boston, he was anxious to start his new role as Pemberley CEO.

Later that year, Bing showed in Pemberley to spend a couple of weeks with his friend. Those weeks became a month, and William worried about his friend.

They were having dinner when Bing confessed that he had dropped out of school. He had done a lot of community work to put on his CV and boost his chances on getting into medical school. For a long time, he had felt that medicine was his true calling. But he realized that he enjoyed more helping other people than learning about anatomy.

When he had told his parents, they had flipped out and threatened to take away his trust fund. And yet, he stood by his decision and wanted to tell his best friend before he started working in a small hospice in New York.

William was proud of Bing and wanted to help him so he had convinced the board to invest in him so he could his own charity foundation. That was how the Lee Relief Foundation was born.