The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

Chapter 624

The little girl couldn't tell if the dried meat tasted good or not-at that moment, all she cared about was filling her empty stomach. She devoured the last piece of sausage, not letting a single morsel go to waste.

With something in her belly at last, she started to feel drowsy. Curling up tightly, she drifted off into a deep, contented sleep.

When dawn broke and the woman of the house came out, she found the string of sausage gone, while Citrine was still fast asleep.

Fuming, the woman stormed off and returned with a bucket of icy water, dumping it straight over the sleeping child.

"Citrine! Get up, you little brat!"

In the freezing winter, the shock of the cold water jolted young Citrine awake, her small body shivering uncontrollably.

Hilda's gaze suddenly fixed on the soaked, trembling child. Her expression changed in an instant.

Citrine?

This little one was Citrine?

Right then, Hilda could have slapped her former self. How could she not have recognized her own daughter? How could she have ever thought her girl was scheming or unlovable?

Memories of last night's beating and the bruises on her daughter's small body filled Hilda with a murderous rage—she wanted nothing more than to tear apart the man who'd struck her, and the woman now standing in front of her.

her own consciousness, powerless to intervene. All she could do was watch as her

burned with

raised a thin wooden rod and brought it

you ever steal sausage again, I swear I'll beat you within an inch of your

whole body ached. She would have

to push away. She was forced to watch

right up until her twenty- eighth birthday—when, as if someone had pressed pause, everything

a start,

lived through it all, and even stranger, so much of what she'd seen

was happening

her phone and sent her assistant a flurry of messages,

vei.n

she'd

carrying a thick stack of documents and pulled Hilda aside at the end of

you asked for. The details are exactly as

Hilda the stack of files. "Here's all the information on

forced herself to keep calm as she patted her assistant's shoulder. "Thank you. Double

Hilda clutched the files and returned to sit alone just outside