Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 925:

A chill swept over him, making his hands slick with sweat. His loyalties had already shifted, and he found himself bending the truth to protect Maia, even if it meant betraying his own client. Faced with this conflict, Cade wondered if it was time to walk away from the case altogether and come clean to Maia.

Inside Starlight Café, mellow lighting spilled across polished wood, casting a golden glow over the tables and chairs. The trio—Kiley, Raegan, and Mariana—made their entrance and found a quiet corner to settle in. Though tucked away, their vantage point offered an unobstructed view of Claudius, who sat framed by the floor-to-ceiling window on the other side of the room.

As a waiter approached, Kiley drummed her fingers gently against the table. “Three lattes for us,” she said, her eyes never straying from Claudius, her focus sharp and unwavering.

Not much time passed before the waiter arrived, carrying the coffees the women had requested. With unhurried grace, Kiley lifted her cup, wearing an expression that suggested she was simply enjoying a break, her composure unshaken. On the other hand, Mariana couldn’t resist stealing glances at Claudius, her face barely masking her simmering frustration and displeasure. Raegan kept mostly silent, her eyes occasionally flickering upward, revealing a complicated mixture of curiosity and detachment.

baseball cap sat low over his brow, the collar of his trench coat turned up, helping him melt

Kiley’s gaze across the room—until surprise caught

that Claudius was Kiley’s younger brother.

formed on Cade’s face, suspicion sharpening his features. At that precise moment, the door to Starlight Café swung open. Instinctively, he

𝖁𝖎𝖊𝖜𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 gⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀﹒𝖼𝗈𝗆

sleek black suit, every step radiating assurance. Her eyes swept across the café before landing directly on Claudius. Without hesitation, she strode to his table,

in Cade’s eyes. Was this meeting

Kiley and her friends sat. As expected, tension visibly tightened their expressions. Though Kiley sipped her coffee with practiced calm, her piercing gaze never wavered from the pair across the room, and irritation simmered just

of a secret pact between Maia and Claudius. The feeling of being tangled up in the Cooper Group’s complicated web only grew stronger for him. All this had spun out from what should have been a simple contract—a twenty-thousand-dollar job for