The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 104

Sawyer's face went deathly pale, shame flickering in his eyes as if someone had just exposed his deepest secret.

He stayed silent.

Citrine spoke again, her voice unwavering. "Yes, I'm ambitious. But I've always known I was adopted. Nothing in the Iverson family truly belongs to me, so I never once thought of competing with Jeanette. Still, you kept your guard up around me. You secretly handed Jeanette twenty-five percent of the shares."

Her words were as cold as ice, stripping away the last pretense Sawyer had left.

"So what? You can't deny that I loved you, too." Sawyer's protest was tinged with bitterness and unwillingness.

"Loved me?" Citrine scoffed, her tone icy. "Don't flatter yourself. It's disgusting."

She didn't give him a chance to recover. "You're here today to talk business with the head of CICI Group, aren't you? And you know exactly why you came looking for me first."

With ruthless precision, she tore away the last shred of dignity Sawyer had tried to preserve.

"You knew?" Sawyer looked up at her, stunned, unable to believe what he was hearing.

He'd never paid much attention to Citrine. As a child and even later, she'd never stood out in school or any other way—at least, that's what he believed. He'd forgotten that even the professors at Crestwood University used to call her a prodigy.

Now, for the first time in years, he remembered. All this time, she'd been hiding her true abilities behind a mask of mediocrity.

Citrine's lips curled into a cold, humorless smile. Her voice was flat and merciless, shattering whatever hope Sawyer had left. "Give it up, Sawyer. You're not getting a deal with CICI Group. You can stop trying."

There was no trace left of the daughter who once looked up to him—only indifference remained in Citrine's eyes.

Sawyer felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"Or maybe CICI's just dying to work with a company teetering on bankruptcy? Please. CICI isn't a charity, and they're not in the business of losing money." Citrine gave a disdainful laugh.

Jeanette's face twisted with anger. "The Iverson Group is just going through a rough patch—we'll get through it. And for the record, bankruptcy isn't even on the table."

Citrine arched an eyebrow, her voice light and almost teasing. "Is that so? Funny—I heard this morning your cash flow has already dried up. And it sounds like the major shareholders are all clamoring to pull out."

Sawyer's expression changed instantly. "How do you know that?"

He'd kept that information locked down tight—not a word had leaked, not even to Jeanette. How could Citrine possibly know?

Citrine shrugged. "It wasn't difficult to find out."