The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 269

Clifford had planned to win this tournament, secure a spot in the World Championships, and only then go find Citrine to apologize.

When they were kids, he’d promised her: one day, he’d make it to the finals, bring home the trophy, and give it to her.

He never expected to run into her here—or that she’d be competing, too.

Did Citrine even know how to play video games?

As far as Clifford could remember, Citrine’s whole world had revolved around Sawyer, Norton, and himself. The girl he knew never touched a game controller.

This had to be Travis’s doing. With SATs right around the corner, those troublemakers from Havencrest Tech had somehow roped Citrine into joining their team. If she ended up neglecting her studies because of them, could they really shoulder that responsibility?

Clifford’s face darkened. He muttered a quick word to his teammates, then stormed over to Citrine’s team’s break area, his jaw set.

Travis was in the middle of talking to his team when he spotted Clifford approaching. He looked surprised. “What are you doing over here?”

There’d been bad blood between them ever since a dust-up during a basketball game—and Travis had never liked Clifford, especially since he was Citrine’s former foster brother and, truth be told, hadn’t treated her all that well.

Clifford ignored him, launching straight into a tirade. “Travis, are you out of your mind? You want to screw up your own life, fine, but don’t drag Citrine into it. If she falls behind in her studies because of you, are you going to take responsibility?”

Travis almost laughed in disbelief. He was nobody’s doormat, and his expression turned cold. “Who the hell do you think you are, coming over here and lecturing me? You’re just her ex-foster brother. That gives you zero right to talk to me like this.” He, on the other hand, was Citrine’s actual brother.

At the word ‘ex-foster brother,’ Clifford’s face turned an ugly shade. He shot back, voice low and threatening, “How long have you even known her? Don’t forget, before you came along, Citrine was my sister for years.”

“Are you feeling alright?” Citrine blinked, thrown. Clifford’s favorite pastime used to be forcing her to apologize to Jeanette. For someone as self-righteous as him to suddenly apologize... her first thought was that he’d lost his mind.

Clifford managed a bitter smile. “Citrine, I really am sorry. I know now that it was you who sent me that game console, you who gave blood for me, you who took care of me when I was sick. I’m sorry—I was wrong about you.”

Ever since learning the truth, memories of his childhood with Citrine kept flooding back. Back then, they were so close that even Jeanette couldn’t get between them.

The more he remembered those good times, the more it hurt.

Citrine had no idea how he’d found out the truth—and, frankly, she didn’t care.