The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

Chapter 405

Sensing Monica's odd behavior, Citrine ordered a thorough investigation into the Saunders family once she got home.

She hadn't expected to discover that the man she'd encountered at the Titan Showdown was also a Saunders.

Thinking back on the strange things Wade had said to her at the competition, and connecting those with Monica's peculiar actions, everything finally made sense.

Citrine had figured out exactly what Monica was after that day.

So it turned out Monica had wanted her DNA sample for testing.

Citrine sat in her chair, her gaze darkening as she mulled it over.

Then she plucked a hair from her head, sealed it in a plastic bag, and instructed someone to deliver it to Crestwood Medical Research Center. She also had them collect Hilda's DNA sample and send it along for testing.

Hilda had spent years searching for her lost daughter, so her DNA was stored at the hospital, easy to retrieve.

Crestwood Medical quickly ran the test, placing both samples together and, in less than an hour, sent the results to Citrine.

expression and flipped straight to the

black and white, it was spelled out

result, pausing only for a split second before

never learned anything about her origins-apart from the accidental discovery that her

finding out she actually had a mother didn't bring her any joy.

time when she'd longed for a mother was long gone. Citrine was strong now;

flick of her thumb, she deleted the report from her phone and put the entire matter out of

was getting ready for bed when

Come downstairs. I'm outside

feeling a little irritable. She almost typed out an excuse to turn him down, but then remembered she'd been ignoring Hastings for quite a while. Maybe she'd been a bit too cold

a comfortable tracksuit, left

Hastings saw her, his eyes lit

was mid-October, and Crestwood's temperatures had suddenly plummeted. Hastings was waiting outside wearing only a hoodie, and his hands had already turned red from the

outside, Hastings pulled a hand warmer from his pocket and thrust it

spread

couldn't help notice how icy his hands had been when they brushed against