The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

Chapter 111

That night, when Citrine returned to her room, Raymond noticed her backpack lying on the couch in the living room.

He walked over, intending to take it upstairs for her. But as he picked it up, he didn't realize the zipper was open; the moment he lifted the bag, everything inside spilled out onto the floor.

Raymond bent down to gather up the fallen items and noticed a stack of crimson certificates scattered across the carpet.

"Achievement awards," he murmured as he glanced at them.

After picking everything up, he gathered the certificates into a neat pile-there were quite a few of them. The one on top was for earning first place in her grade on a monthly exam. Underneath were more certificates for ranking first in her class and grade.

As Raymond flipped through the stack, he realized the awards spanned from when Citrine was four all the way to eleven. He carefully went through each one.

Most were for academic excellence-first place in tests—along with awards for math competitions, writing contests, problem-solving tournaments, even track and field. What surprised Raymond most was that every single certificate was for first place. Not a single second place among them.

certificates were rumpled and creased, some even torn, a few with water stains as if they'd once been soaked

Raymond felt as though someone had reached inside and wrenched

knew how simple a child's heart could be-kids loved showing off their achievements. What kind of child would willingly crush and tear

certificates to Sawyer, only to be met with

heartbreak have been, for her to destroy the only evidence

painstakingly gluing the shredded certificates back together, smoothing out every crease, one

home from school, she found workers bustling around the living

be renovating

to Ismael. "Ismael, what's going

was Mr. Raymond's idea. He gave instructions first thing this

Citrine didn't think

the finished result: an entire wall of elegant glass-fronted cabinets in the living room, and inside, every single certificate

stunned,