The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

Chapter 177

It seemed Holbrook had been poisoned for quite some time; by now, the toxins had seeped deep into his organs. The only option left was to use traditional medicine-acupuncture.

Citrine pulled out her set of needles from her bag and laid them out on the edge of the bed. Without hesitation, she took one and pressed it into Holbrook's scalp, swiftly following with a second, and then a third...

As Citrine continued, the scene grew increasingly surreal-soon, Holbrook looked as if he'd been turned into a human pincushion. The members of the Iverson family watched in horror, unable to stifle their collective gasp.

"Dad, are you really going to let her do this?" Clifford muttered through gritted teeth, glaring daggers at Citrine. "What if she makes things worse for Grandpa? Who's going to take responsibility then?"

Still smarting from the slap he'd received earlier, Clifford's jaw was set tight, his voice trembling with frustration. "Think about it—she's never shown any interest in medicine. If she knew anything about this, we'd have heard about it by now!"

Sawyer's expression darkened as Clifford finished. He hesitated, uncertain, when Aline chimed in, "He's right, Sawyer. Citrine is still just a college student. What if she makes a mistake? Who's going to answer for it if something happens to your father?"

Aline's eyes flashed with calculation, but her tone was gentle-anyone looking on would think she was the perfect daughter-in-law, only concerned for her father-in- law's well-being. "Citrine, if you really care about your grandfather, why not just give me the recipe for the herbal medicine you brewed for him before? Let me take care of it."

She watched Citrine expectantly, the picture of patience and concern.

but laugh out

same as she'd been in her previous life-always scheming, always

wasn't a relapse of his old illness. He'd been poisoned- badly. The toxins had already reached his

so-called "remedy" was

all the blame fall on

silent, unmoved. Aline pressed on,

chance." Citrine replied flatly, her voice laced with sarcasm. It was almost comical how desperate Aline was

care about that

face darken. "Citrine, your aunt is just worried about your grandfather. Besides, you've never studied medicine-maybe

him off, her patience worn thin. "Enough. If you

scalp and packed them away. Rising from the bed, she turned

under his breath, shooting

they were leaving, hurried after them. "Dean Reed, wait!" Patten didn't slow down,