The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 304

“Rubbish. Don’t ever bring up this nonsense again. Meeting adjourned.”

The others in the room flinched, quickly gathering their laptops and shuffling out of the conference room, shoulders hunched and eyes downcast.

Once a few senior managers were safely in the hallway, they began murmuring in hushed voices.

“What’s gotten into President Carmichael lately? He’s been so irritable. Is he hitting a midlife crisis or something?”

“No clue. He’s seemed distracted all day.”

“I bet he didn’t even listen to our reports just now.”

“I was terrified—I was sweating bullets in there, just waiting for him to snap at me.”

“Alright, enough speculating. I think President Carmichael just misses his daughter. You probably didn’t know, but she just got into Crestwood University. He dropped her off a couple of days ago, and now he hasn’t seen her in days. Who wouldn’t be upset? We should try to be more understanding.”

“Oh, that explains it! No wonder.”

“As a parent myself, I get it. I really do.”

Most of the employees at the company knew President Carmichael was notorious for doting on his daughter, so no one found his mood surprising. In fact, they sympathized with him.

Meanwhile, inside a hospital room at Crestwood Prime Medical Center—

Citrine’s phone suddenly rang.

There was no name, just a string of numbers. Worried it might be important, Ingrid hesitated for a moment before answering on Citrine’s behalf.

“Hello? This is…?” Ingrid offered cautiously.

At that same moment, in the Carmichael Group’s headquarters in Havencrest—

Ingrid recognized him immediately—he was the same man who had helped make Citrine’s bed on move-in day. For the longest time, she’d assumed he was Citrine’s older brother.

“Hello, Mr. Carmichael.” Ingrid greeted him politely.

Raymond managed a courteous smile. “Hello. Thank you for looking after Citrine. I’m grateful she has such a considerate roommate.”

There was something imposing about Raymond’s presence that made Ingrid instinctively nervous. She smiled, a bit awkwardly. “It’s nothing, really. We’re friends—it’s what friends do. Well, I’d better get back to campus, sir.”

Once Ingrid had left, Raymond double-checked with the doctors to make sure Citrine was truly out of danger before he finally relaxed.

He settled quietly at her bedside, watching his daughter as she slept.

He’d been wondering if Citrine would miss him now that she’d started college, but it turned out he was the one who couldn’t stand being apart—not even for a few days.