Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 818:

While Mariana tried to regain her composure, Kiley remained at her side. Her face revealed nothing, but her eyes grew sharp as she studied Maia’s image on the screen.

Without saying a word, she turned and began walking away, thoughts spinning about what could have drawn Claudius to someone like Maia.

Seeing Kiley move off, Mariana scrambled after her.

Neither of them noticed that Raegan, trailing behind, had turned pale, clenching her fists tightly.

Raegan was getting her second real look at Maia. Her gaze stayed glued to the screen, where Maia’s gentle face appeared calm and collected. Each breath felt tighter, as if invisible hands were squeezing her heart.

Not even a day earlier, Raegan had been convinced that Maia’s looks were nothing special, and her figure less remarkable than hers. This time, though…

in the glow of every spotlight, Maia held herself with a poise that seemed to draw the gaze of all who entered. There was an undeniable strength in how she

storm it had barely calmed from before. The thought that The Mask’s leader could have fallen for Maia swept over her all at once, pressing down on her thoughts like a sky thick with storm clouds. Raegan couldn’t stop turning the

all, Maia’s past was marked by time behind bars. What did she have that could ever measure up to The

envy and frustration rose in Raegan, flooding her with a bitterness she struggled to push

snapping her out of her haze. “Come

her senses. She responded quickly, picking up her pace to rejoin the

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led them to set up a clear space in

close intervals, forming a human barrier to protect the proceedings. Off to the side, the judges’ seats had been arranged in a tidy cluster, giving the panel a direct view of the

top galleries, and influential collectors. The front row boasted veteran professors from the Royal Academy of Arts in Sceibar, the Royal Art Museum’s director, the Minglewood Collectors’ Association’s president, and a handful of art bloggers whose opinions shaped the art