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.

meant that she wasn’t accustomed to setbacks — especially not twice, and both at the hands of the same woman. No, Mariana wasn’t about to let this go.

an option? Then

cracked. His expression tightened,

𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 @

tear-stained face, brows knitting in response to her words. “What did

perplexing. The idea that his son — his arrogant, hard-to-please Claudius — would lower himself for a woman like Maia? Kolton’s mind strained to accept it. It was ridiculous. In fact, it was

a word, he shrugged off his coat and handed it to the butler with

heavy door shut behind them with a muted thud, and Kolton settled into his chair. “Start from the beginning. What

voice taking on a careful rhythm. “The Morgan family hosted a joint birthday party for Maia

detail painted with a stroke more colorful than the last. She kept glancing at

cunning woman has cast over Claudius. She’s already married, yet he’s falling for her