The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

Chapter 23

Citrine froze, staring at Raymond in confusion. Wasn't he just telling her to get out?

Seeing the way the girl tensed up, Raymond's dislike for the Iverson family only deepened. Clearly, she'd been blamed for things she didn't do more than once in that house.

He knew she was sensitive, so his tone softened as he quickly explained, "No one's asking you to apologize."

Then, glancing at the red mark on Valerie's cheek, he asked in an even voice, "Did your hand get hurt?"

Citrine blinked, her large, beautiful eyes widening in surprise. "Aren't you going to ask why I hit her?"

Back at the Iversons', whenever something like this happened, Sawyer never cared about the reason—he'd just force her to apologize. Citrine had gotten used to it.

Raymond just shrugged, as if it were nothing. "You already told me she deserved it. That's good enough for me."

For a moment, Citrine's calm heart started to race with a strange spark of excitement. She looked at Raymond, eager for reassurance. "You really believe me?"

the night sky, full of

as he met her gaze. "Of course I do. You're my daughter," he said, without a hint of

or wrong doesn't matter. What matters is that no

with you, you have every right to stand up for

to fear in Havencrest," he finished, a

was that of a madman— someone everyone wanted to stay on the good side of. He'd never

felt lighter than she had in a long time. The two of them, father and

Citrine to school himself before heading

start to finish. Raymond's expression stayed icy the whole time, but when he saw Valerie shouting at Citrine,

he called Adler into his office. "Tell Valerie not to come in tomorrow. And let it be

then hesitated. "Mr. Carmichael, you personally brought

Raymond frowned. "So what?"

said she was an excellent asset," Adler reminded

laugh. "She's good at her job,

not ones who don't know their