Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 893:

Silence hung for a heartbeat before the table erupted in laughter.

“Maxwell’s so terrified of his sister, isn’t he?” Pattie said, wiping a tear from her eye. “That’s really something else.”

Maia chuckled, her gaze softening as Chris slid another piece of beef onto her plate. He didn’t speak, but the corner of his mouth lifted in a quiet smile, his focus unwavering.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of town, Axel’s sprawling villa glowed faintly under the starlit sky. The bedroom was a cocoon of warmth, scented with the faint musk of perfume.

On the bed, Axel stirred in his sleep, muttering incoherently before sinking back into dreams.

On the plush carpet beside a velvet sofa, Rosanna sat curled in a silk robe, her knees drawn to her chest. Her eyes were fixed on the television, its flickering images casting shadows across her face.

rang with clapping, loud whoops, and the crowd shouting, “Maia Watson” over and

ahead. Her mouth was clamped shut, as if she had bottled

smile crept onto her face, but no sound escaped her lips. She rose to her feet without hurry and wandered to the tall window. The robe she wore made

like a switch, her tone snapped ice-cold. “You really are a pitiful idiot! I gave it my all once. I dreamed of being your wife. And now? It

grin spreading across her face. Her shoulders shook with a soft, jittery laugh. In a heartbeat, that laugh twisted into something wild and shrill—cutting through the past

𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱: g𝖺𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘴⸳ⅽ𝗈𝗺

thought is laughable now! Vince, you’ve let me down in every possible way. You couldn’t even drag Maia down with you. What on earth was I thinking, falling for someone like you?” Rosanna ranted in a half-crazed way, her voice full of bitter laughter—taunting Vince and, maybe, deep down, ridiculing who she

her fingers through

When she lifted her gaze, her face was composed—there was even a strange peace in her eyes,

glanced over her shoulder at the man lying fast asleep in

sworn she would never let near was now the only person she