Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 805:

Inspiration struck her all at once.

Even while she had been behind bars for four years, Maia never put down her pencil. “Rebirth” was only a small window into her talent, a snapshot of the journey her art had taken. Since childhood, drawing had been inseparable from her sense of self.

Excelling in fashion design, she knew, required rock-solid fundamentals — especially when it came to mastering the human form.

Back in school, Maia often participated in art contests, consistently winning first prizes. Yet Richard and Sandra never paid her efforts any mind. In fact, they would scold her for “wasting” time on art.

Discouraged, Maia eventually withdrew from every competition.

Of everyone in the Morgan family, only Vicki ever recognized her passion, leaving warm encouragement scribbled on the backs of her drawings: “Wonderful work, Maia. Don’t stop.”

Because of Vicki’s faith in her, Maia stayed true to her love for art, never letting it go.

art could capture and preserve

of Vicki — had once hung in Maia’s bedroom at the Morgan home. Whenever she looked at Vicki’s gentle smile in that portrait,

— along with the rest of Maia’s treasured

loss, Maia still felt the memory of

a mother’s portrait, her face forever left unfinished. The fact that he had grown up without a single memory of her appearance pressed

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of a taxi pulling up caught her attention at the

a lift?” The driver’s question snapped Maia from

gently. “Could you take us to the hotel,

the other, Maia and Chris slipped into the back

rolled forward, city lights and shadows streamed past in a slow, gentle rhythm. Sunbeams slipped through the glass, painting Maia’s profile with a warm, golden hue that softened her

often drifted to Chris, lingering with quiet interest. She took in his strong brow, the fan of thick lashes casting shadows beneath, the sculpted nose, sharp lips, and those eyes that always seemed