Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 610:

Finally, the door creaked open, nudged by a quiet servant. Stepping through was a man in a sharp black suit, his hair combed neatly back, gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and an air of quiet authority trailing behind him.

Kolton strode in, his coat slung loosely over one arm. Travel fatigue clung to him, but he didn’t slow down. The aftermath of the cargo theft had delayed him overseas, and now, fresh off a plane, he found Mariana storming straight toward him.

Without hesitation, Mariana grabbed his wrist, her voice catching in her throat. “Dad, thank God you’re back. Do you even know what kind of disaster Claudius caused at Maia’s birthday banquet? He tried to win her over right in front of everyone — and made a complete fool of himself. The whole city’s talking about it!”

She didn’t need to exaggerate. Her father’s obsession with legacy and image was legendary. And if Kolton found out that his prized heir was tangled up with a married woman — the same one who’d taken the Aurora Apparel Company out from under their noses — his reaction would be far from mild.

Had Claudius joined her, they might’ve buried this together. She would’ve backed him up, spun the story, maybe even protected him. The way Claudius looked at Maia now — utterly enchanted — was something Mariana couldn’t stomach.

Last night’s birthday party had been her chance to take Maia down, to publicly unravel her image. Instead, Mariana ended up losing a useful pawn and narrowly being dragged into that incident herself. That failure stung deeply.

the same woman. No,

if removing Maia personally was no longer an option? Then her father would

heard Mariana’s words, Kolton’s usual composure cracked. His

?? ????

response to her words. “What did you just say?

Claudius — would lower himself

and handed it to the butler with a curt motion. “Bring Claudius to

inside, the heavy door shut behind them with

voice taking on a careful rhythm. “The Morgan

of the evening, each detail painted with a stroke more colorful than the last. She kept glancing at her father, tracking the shifts in his expression, while maintaining her look

to a somber murmur. “I really don’t know what spell that cunning woman has cast over Claudius. She’s already married, yet he’s falling for her tricks… Everyone must be