Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 566:

Maia dug into her bag, her fingers gently tapping the screen, the light casting a soft glow on her fragile face.

Like being pulled by an invisible hand, she started scrolling through missed calls and messages, holding onto a tiny spark of hope. Maybe Chris’ birthday wishes had gotten buried under all the other alerts.

But as she flicked through every message one after another, her fingers finally paused on the last text from Chris: “I finished the dinner you made. Are you coming home tonight?” Nothing more.

That small hope she’d been holding onto quietly slipped away, deep inside her chest.

Maia shifted her eyes toward the window. The passing lights flickered in her dark gaze, her fingers curled slightly as a deep, hard-to-name ache settled in her chest.

There was a time when even her smallest moves would blow up online, and Chris never missed a beat.

Even if it was some silly meme or a half-hearted “Happy Birthday” text, she would feel happy and believe that he cared.

But now? Nothing at all.

truly

just not

The driver’s voice snapped her back to

daze, whispered a quiet thank you,

She tilted her head up, stealing a quick glance at the balcony on the top floor.

𝕃𝖆𝙩𝓮𝑠𝖙 с𝗁𝓪𝗉𝓉𝗲𝗋𝗌 g𝙖𝗅𝖓𝗈𝑣𝓮𝖑𝘀․ⅽ𝓸𝙢

briefly, and a bitter feeling crept into her chest. She figured that Chris had

Still, facing that emptiness firsthand hit her harder than she expected. The soft tap of her heels on the concrete stairs sounded louder than usual, making the weight in her

dropped her gaze and checked her watch. It was ten minutes to midnight. In just ten minutes, her birthday

key twisted in the

opened the door and flipped the light switch, but

are

temple

late. I’ll

the entrance, took off her jacket, and prepared to navigate her way to the