The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress

Chapter 753 That evening, Citrine shared a batch of travel photos in the family group chat, "The Bond Bunch." She'd barely hit send when Hilda Saunders replied, not five seconds later.

"You're so beautiful, Citrine. My precious girl!" Right on her heels cMonica Saunders and Wade Saunders, their messages following each other in quick succession.

"My little sister is gorgeous. Sigh, so jealous." "Absolutely stunning, Citrine. Next tyou go on a trip, can you bring your big brother along?" Then Herschel Saunders chimed in: "Oh, give it a rest. Citrine went for a work retreat-why on earth would she drag you, Mr. No-Skills, along? People would find out you're her brother and think less of her!" Wade: "..." Inez Saunders: "When are you coming home, Citrine? Grandma misses you." Sitting in her hotel room, Citrine's heart swelled with warmth as she read through the messages.

She smiled and typed back, "I'll be hin Crestwood tomorrow morning." After hitting send, she switched off her phone, leaned back on the bed, and let her eyes drift shut, intending just to rest a moment. But, inconveniently, her mind wandered to that kiss with Sebastian the night before.

Why am I thinking about that now? Her eyes flew open. She sat up, heart thudding.

The next morning, Citrine and her colleagues piled into the car for the return trip to the city.

The car pulled up in front of the company building. As Citrine got out and reached for her suitcase, she spotted Sebastian walking toward her, her luggage already in hand.

When he drew near, she offered him a polite smile. "Thank you." She reached to take her suitcase, but Sebastian didn't let go.

Citrine frowned slightly, puzzled.

"I'll carry it for you," Sebastian said gently.

Her car was parked in the company garage, and since it was on his way, she didn't object.

They walked together to the garage. Sebastian set her suitcase in the trunk. But even after that, he didn't leave. Citrine stared at him, a little taken aback. "Do you want a ride?" she ventured.

"If it's not too much trouble," Sebastian replied, and without waiting for an answer, pulled open the passenger door and settled into the seat.

Citrine's eyes widened in disbelief.

Was he doing this on purpose? But now that he was already in the car, she couldn't very well toss him out.

She shot him a sideways glance. "Where do you live?" "Sunbliss Apartments." That was on the sroute as the Saunders' home-convenient.

After dropping Sebastian off, Citrine finally made her way back to the Saunders' house.

There, the entire Saunders clan had squeezed themselves into the kitchen.

Herschel and Inez hovered over a pot of soup Hilda and Nathalie were busy with chopping and cooking.

Monica, Wade, and Gorman Saunders milled around, vel occasionally tossing in completely unhelpful suggestions.

Finally, on Wade's third complaint that the soup was too bland, Herschel flicked him on the head. "Citrine likes milder flavors. If you don't, go eat somewhere else and stop getting in the way." "Grandpa, that hurt!" Wade protested, rubbing his head, looking pitiful.

"You deserved it." Herschel snorted and went back to tending the soup.

When Herschel ignored him, Wade turned hopefully to Monica.

She rolled her eyes. "Go wait outside. You're in the way." Unconvinced, Wade turned his pleading gaze to Gorman. "Uncle Gorman?"

"Out of the way. We're getting dinner ready for Citrine," Gorman said, om suppressing a shudder Then, as if N: struck by inspiration, he pointed at Wade. "You-go slice up sof Citrine's favorite fruit." "Oh, and make sure it's cut evenly and looks nice. Citrine doesn't like ugly food." Wade was annoyed at being bossed around but perked up at the thought of doing something for his sister and dashed off to do as told.

By then, Citrine had already chome. She'd been standing in the om entryway for a couple of minutes, listening in on the playful bickering, her heart growing warmer with every word. This life, she thought, was overflowing with family and love.

Wade, emerging to fetch fruit, nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw her by the door.

But the surprise quickly gave way to delight.

"Citrine!" Without thinking, he darted over and wrapped her in a big bear hug.

She barely had tto react before he squeezed her tight.

"You're finally back! Five days without you-you have no idea how much I missed you." He looked up at her with puppy-dog eyes. "Did you miss your big brother too?" Citrine couldn't bring herself to disappoint him. "Of course I did."

No sooner had she spoken than she glanced up and saw the rest of the Saunders family standing there, all watching her with equally expectant faces. Monica pouted. "So, you only missed him? Didn't miss your big sister at all?" All of them-Monica included-looked at Citrine like she'd committed a terrible injustice by not spreading her affection around.

Citrine nearly burst out laughing. She copied Wade's pitiful expression and gazed at them, "Don't look atlike that. I missed all of you." They all knew she was teasing, but no one had the heart to give her a hard time.

Five days apart, and the Saunders family already felt off-balance-especially Hilda.