The Second Life of a Discarded Heiress novel Chapter 311

Clifford felt as if someone had gouged a hole straight through his heart at Citrine’s words. The pain was almost physical.

She wasn’t wrong. He really was a hopeless mess, incapable of getting his act together.

Travis glanced at Citrine with a smirk and scoffed, “He’s the only one in your whole graduating class at Primus Academy who didn’t get into college. Honestly, how did someone like him even get accepted in the first place?”

Citrine said nothing, but Clifford’s eyes snapped to her the moment he heard Travis’s words.

He remembered the day he tried to sign up to repeat his senior year. Clifford had gone to see the principal at Primus Academy, desperate for another chance.

With the Iverson family now fallen from grace, there was no way he could afford the steep tuition at Elegance Peak Academy. Havencrest Technical College was more affordable, sure, but its resources and reputation were a far cry from what he wanted. When he weighed his options, Primus Academy was the obvious choice—good teachers, low tuition.

So, clinging to a sliver of hope, Clifford had gone to the principal and pleaded for a spot to repeat his final year, promising he’d catch up and keep pace with the rest of the class.

But in the end, the principal turned him down. “Your scores aren’t high enough to qualify for a repeat year at Primus Academy,” he’d said.

Scores. What a joke. Clifford knew the truth—it was because the Iversons had lost their money.

Anger had flared inside him. He’d shouted at the principal, “Let’s not pretend. The Iversons go bankrupt and suddenly you get all high and mighty? When I was scraping the bottom of the rankings year after year, I never saw you threaten to kick me out. Now that my family’s broke, you show your true colors.”

Primus Academy had a strict rule: the bottom five students every month were supposed to be expelled. Yet somehow, he’d managed to be the only one who didn’t get tossed out, no matter how bad his grades got.

Everyone at school whispered that the Iversons’ influence in Havencrest was the reason he got special treatment.

Clifford had always believed that too.

But the principal, seeing how upset he was, must have worried Clifford would do something reckless. He finally broke down and told him the truth.