The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

Chapter 173

Each day on Mirage Cay was a monotonous grind, a kind of suffering that gnawed at the soul. When Citrine arrived, she brought a flicker of light to the dull, joyless lives of the others. She wasn't just a distraction, though her extraordinary gift for medicine quickly caught the attention of Sellers, Una, and Farris. Before long, all three had taken her under their wing as an apprentice.

They poured everything they knew into teaching Citrine, and she proved more than worthy-soon, she surpassed her mentors, her talent shining even brighter than theirs ever had.

But after a year, the first rift split open between Citrine and her teachers, Sellers and Farris.

The reason? In order to stay alive, the two had agreed to help the island's owner develop new drugs.

When Citrine found out, she confronted them head-on. "How could you agree to this? You're doctors-you're supposed to save people, not betray your principles!" Sellers didn't see it her way. "What choice do we have?" he shot back, his voice cold. "If we refuse, they'll kill us." He clung to the desperate hope that if he just did as he was told, maybe, someday, they'd let him go free.

"We were forced into it," Farris echoed, aligning himself with Sellers' logic.

Citrine laughed bitterly. "And you really believe that doing what they ask will keep you alive? These people are monsters. No one who comes here gets out alive."

Sellers and Farris refused to

up a private laboratory for the two of them, and it wasn't long before

to compromise-even if it meant death. As punishment, the island's owner locked them in a kennel with vicious

the three of

abandoned the last shreds of their conscience and plunged deeper into

short. To fill the quota, the island's owner locked Citrine and her four companions, along with all the newcomers, into a single room and forced them into a

cruel: whoever didn't make

person was

shut, everyone drew their blades. In an instant, the room descended into savagery-people

became a slaughterhouse, blood

only the five of them were left standing. The room,

people lay dead. Only one more had to

his gaze landing on Citrine behind Una, eyes sharp as