The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 527

Citrine shot Kali a sly smile before speaking, her tone unhurried. “If a prototype could fetch eight hundred billion at auction, then starting the bidding for my completed NecroBlitz Tablets at the same price doesn’t seem unreasonable, does it?”

She looked around the room, eyes glinting, and picked someone at random. “Mr. Fuller, what do you think? Am I being unreasonable?”

Mr. Fuller froze, caught off guard. “N-no... not at all.”

He was one of the skeptics who’d doubted Citrine’s NecroBlitz Tablets were genuine. Now, it was painfully clear to him that President Carmichael had singled him out on purpose. Wiping a nervous bead of sweat from his brow, he addressed the crowd. “Even Kali’s incomplete NecroBlitz Tablets went for eight hundred billion. Of course President Carmichael’s fully developed one is worth far more. Besides, everyone here just finished doubting whether her NecroBlitz Tablets were even real. I imagine that was disappointing for President Carmichael. Setting the starting price at eight hundred billion is more than fair, given the circumstances.”

The guests exchanged uneasy glances, suddenly understanding. President Carmichael had set the price high—perhaps as a rebuke for their earlier suspicions, or maybe as a warning against their opportunistic behavior. Either way, the message was clear.

Almost in unison, the crowd rushed to agree.

“NecroBlitz Tablets are already a rare medicine—the only known drug that can destroy AI cells. President Carmichael’s opening bid is entirely reasonable.”

“Exactly. If that defective Vitaflux pill could fetch eight hundred billion, then the real thing deserves at least as much.”

“President Carmichael didn’t have to bring out such a precious medicine for auction. The fact that she did proves her generosity. I support her decision.”

“I agree. President Carmichael has my support.”

Citrine smiled faintly, taking in the chorus of approval. “Good. If there are no objections, let’s begin.”

The auction started in earnest.

Scales was first to speak. “Eight hundred and eighty billion.”

Mr. Shaw from Crestwood Hospital immediately followed. “Nine hundred billion.”

Sebastian raised the stakes. “One trillion.”

After making sure she was alone, Citrine pulled a slim case from her purse and took out a lady’s cigarette. Her long, fair fingers moved with practiced ease as she brought it to her lips and exhaled a plume of smoke.

A gentle breeze rustled the trees overhead. Standing beneath their swaying branches, Citrine savored the slow burn of nicotine, her posture relaxed, almost languid.

Her eyes, distant and unreadable, carried a cold, dangerous allure.

That was the scene Sebastian stumbled upon.

This woman was nothing like anyone he’d ever met.

The first time they’d crossed paths, he’d mistaken her for just another CICI Group employee. He’d been used as bait for piranhas, and then stabbed in the chest by her own hand.

Only tonight, during this second encounter, did he finally see her for who she truly was—not only the chairwoman of CICI Group and the creator of NecroBlitz Tablets, but also someone with mysterious, tangled ties to Crestwood Medical Research Center.