The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 601

Talbot’s gaze lingered on Citrine, and a twisted idea flickered across his face. His voice slithered through the room. “Originally, I planned for both of us to go down together tonight. But now, I can’t help but pity you.”

A manic smile split his lips. “I’ve changed my mind.”

He jabbed a finger toward Raymond Carmichael and the others. “How about this: kill those five, and I’ll let you walk free. What do you say?”

Citrine said nothing. Her eyes were as dark as a starless night.

Talbot pressed on, his tone almost coaxing. “Don’t you hate them? If not for them, would you have been tortured half to death on Mirage Cay?”

“Come on, be good. Kill them, and I’ll let you live.”

Watching her murder her own family seemed far more entertaining than simply killing her himself.

Expectation flickered in Talbot’s eyes.

The Carmichaels and Hilda Saunders listened in horror, piecing together the fragments of Citrine’s suffering—a horror they’d never truly imagined before. Beaten on Mirage Cay, torn at by dogs, forced to witness cannibalism up close… These were nightmares beyond their comprehension.

Raymond had seen glimpses of her torment in his dreams: his daughter bullied, then later lying motionless in a hospital bed. But hearing a stranger recount Citrine’s pain out loud, his heart twisted with unbearable guilt.

Talbot was a monster, but one thing he said rang true: every ounce of Citrine’s suffering could be traced back to them.

If only they’d found her sooner, if only they’d protected her, she wouldn’t have endured such hell.

If she hated them, who could blame her?

Guilt crashed over Raymond like a tidal wave.

It was all her fault. If only she’d kept a closer watch, Citrine wouldn’t have gone missing—wouldn’t have suffered. Maybe now she’d be carefree, like those other privileged children at Crestwood, laughing away their youth without a worry.

Red-eyed and trembling, Hilda choked out, “Citrine, I failed you. If I’d only watched over you better, you wouldn’t have been lost, you wouldn’t have suffered. You have every right to hate me.”

Her voice broke with grief. “Look, if killing me is what it takes for you to be free, then do it. I don’t expect forgiveness. I only want you to live. That’s all I ask.”

One by one, the Carmichaels spoke up.

Raymond, his regret bone-deep, looked at his daughter with aching tenderness. “Citrine, it’s me who owes you everything. If it will save you, then take my life. I won’t blame you. In the next life, I hope I can still be your father.”

Manley stared at his niece, memories flooding back—memories of their early connection, long before he realized who she truly was. If only he’d recognized her sooner, brought her back to the Carmichaels earlier… Maybe then she’d have been spared the pain at the Iversons’.