Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 570:

If all of this was just a dream, she didn’t care — she’d gladly stay in it a while longer.

As the kiss faded into silence, Chris cupped Maia’s cheeks and leaned in, resting his forehead against hers, their breaths tangled in the space between them.

“We’ve got the whole night,” he murmured, his voice low and coaxing. “Stay with me a little longer…”

Maia thought of everything he’d done for her that night — the waiting, the quiet care, the thoughtful surprises he’d left at home. Turning him down felt impossible.

She gave a small nod, and without a word, Chris took her hand and guided her to the sofa.

Lowering himself to one knee in front of her, he looked up and asked, “What’ll it be, champagne or juice?”

He hadn’t forgotten that she’d probably had more than enough alcohol back at the birthday banquet, so he left the choice in her hands.

“Juice,” she replied softly. The memory of Mariana’s drugged champagne offering still churned unpleasantly in her stomach.

and brought back two clean glasses. After

Maia said automatically, reaching

warning, Chris reached out and gently tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. When she looked up, she found him grinning, that familiar spark in his eyes. “If you keep talking to me, your husband, like I’m a guest in your house,” he teased, “I’m going to have to come up

flush she tried to hide by lowering her gaze and taking a slow sip

living room, pooling

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note from earlier preparations — as if the room itself was part of an unspoken dream. The memory of his kiss still

man beside her. Chris had already shrugged off his jacket, now lounging with ease on the couch, one leg crossed neatly over the other. In one hand, he held his glass of juice;

head, Maia suddenly sat a little straighter, a note of concern rising in her voice.

Chris blinked, momentarily surprised.

was a familiar,

that she noticed… that

smile curved across his lips as he turned to her. “It was

playful tone. He