Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 574:

Chris didn’t respond right away.

After a beat, he lifted his gaze, eyes crinkling with a smirk of exaggerated defeat. “How about we stop competing over who had the worse past? Just once, let’s compare something that doesn’t involve near-death or a rap sheet.”

His voice dropped as he leaned in, eyes clouded by something darker.

Another inch closer, and the tension thickened.

With slow precision, his fingers reached for her face, brushing lightly across the soft curve of her lips. “If we’re comparing, why not see who gives in first?”

Before the words fully settled, he closed the distance and kissed her. This one held no hesitation. It was bold, fierce — a kiss that claimed rather than questioned.

Whatever doubts still lingered inside her were drowned in that moment, replaced by a flood of something warmer.

hands instinctively gripped his, clasping the fingers that held her steady. All the unrest that had made a home in her chest, every quiet fear, every ache that she hadn’t named — dissolved into

over the lake. The moon spilled its light like molten silver, scattering over the water in a shimmer of silent

spilled golden light across the walls, casting

if the world came at him with chaos, she

honoring what Zoey had asked of her. It was also about rescuing a version of herself that she

already on their way to the

chapters at

while a crisp breeze swept

toward Chris, especially the clean lines of his profile. The warmth of his kiss still clung to her lips, sending a gentle pink hue to her cheeks. It felt

had traded his usual look for something more relaxed. The change suited him, giving off an easy charm that felt almost

as she watched him.

there to be nervous about?” Chris

Beresford stood out as a true expert, widely respected across the region. Since he began practicing