The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 551

Hearing Raymond’s voice, Citrine froze for a moment.

She stared at him blankly, letting him snatch the cigarette from her hand, completely forgetting to protest.

Since they’d reconnected, Raymond had always gone along with her wishes. This was the first time she’d ever seen him act so firm.

Was this it, then? Was he starting to dislike her?

In this world, it was perfectly acceptable for boys to smoke, but when a girl did, all she got was gossip and judgmental stares.

Of course Raymond didn’t like it. Who could blame him?

As Citrine brooded over how her image in Raymond’s eyes was probably ruined, she heard his gentle voice: “Smoking’s bad for you.”

She looked straight at him, her gaze unwavering, when suddenly she felt something pressed into her hand.

Glancing down, she saw it was a tin of peppermint candies.

Raymond met her eyes and said, “If you’re feeling down, have something sweet instead.”

“Try one. They’re really good.”

Citrine popped a candy into her mouth, and the smoky bitterness was replaced by a cool burst of mint.

He was right—the taste was wonderful.

Meanwhile, the Dickson household was anything but peaceful.

Dick was raging, cursing at the tidal wave of rumors swamping the internet.

Just then, Jeanette returned home from visiting Kali.

When Jeanette pretended not to know, Dick lunged forward and wrapped his hands around her neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. “Drop the act! The angle in that video clearly shows it was taken at the Iversons’ place. I saw you that night—you filmed it yourself!”

Jeanette’s face turned crimson as her breath came in short, panicked gasps.

She struggled to speak. “...Let go, I can’t breathe...”

Dick shoved her onto the floor with a curse. “Should’ve never claimed you as my daughter. You’re nothing but an ungrateful wretch. I’ve given you everything—good food, nice clothes—and this is how you repay me? You want to see your own father in prison?”

With that, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him, determined to go beg the Scales family for help.

He’d barely reached the gates of their community when he was swarmed by a crowd of reporters.

They’d been waiting for hours to catch a glimpse of Dick in person, and now, spotting him at last, they descended on him, shoving microphones in his face.

“Mr. Glenwood, what do you have to say about what’s going on online?”