The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

Chapter 123

"How about a game of chess?" Weston said with a smile.

He didn't expect Citrine to win. In fact, he'd already decided to go easy on her-no need to embarrass the girl-and maybe get a sense of her skill level so he could offer a few pointers.

"Sure," Citrine agreed without hesitation.

At first, Weston didn't take the game too seriously. But as Citrine pressed forward, move after move, he found his pieces forced into a corner, backed up with

nowhere to go.

His relaxed confidence slowly gave way to a look of concentration. He hovered over the board, fingers poised over a black knight, trying to find a way out. After a long pause, he finally made his move, narrowly escaping disaster.

Weston let out a silent sigh of relief, thinking he'd dodged a bullet. What he didn't realize was that he'd just stepped right into a trap Citrine had set several moves in advance.

From that point on, every turn played out exactly as Citrine intended.

show, her smile

claimed territory, cutting off black's escape. In the end, Weston had nowhere

lost," Citrine said simply, pulling her hand back and looking

unable to hide his shock. The skills he prided himself on had just been dismantled

myself," Citrine replied,

of glee on her face-her

serene as ever.

furrowed. He remembered how harsh his own chess instructor had been back

the

on Mirage Cay, every day had felt endless. To distract herself from the pain, she'd started playing chess against herself with pebbles she

were now.

said, satisfaction shining in his eyes—he couldn't have hidden his pride even if he

deep, booming sound that echoed through the house-loud enough that Raymond, just stepping in from the driveway, heard it

his father's voice, Raymond was caught off guard. Weston rarely

barely set down his briefcase when Weston called out, "Come