Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 1039 Chapter 1040: "No sympathy for a man like him. It's his own fault. Word is, he never stopped chasing after women." As the voices around them carried on, Chris' brow tightened, uneasy that Maia might take the words to heart. Just when he thought to guide her away, he noticed Maia's calm demeanor as she strolled past him without a flicker of concern, heading straight for the window. Long ago, Maia had stopped wasting emotions on such matters. To her, the downfall of a fool held no value worth dwelling on.

Inside the courtroom, Vince appeared hollow, his posture slumped like a scolded child. The sentence itself meant nothing in his eyes. For him, Maia was the only one whose judgment truly mattered. Without Maia's pardon, redemption would remain forever out of reach. Visions of Maia-bright and unbroken before the years of captivity-haunted every corner of his mind. How desperately he wished he could rewind life to the moment before he shattered Maia's trust. Vince tightened his grip, his dry lips moving slightly, but no one knew what words of repentance he whispered.

All that answered him was the harsh echo of iron doors slamming shut. The slums stretched before them. After the rainfall, the streets had turned into a mess of filth and mud, every step sinking slightly into the grime. The air carried a stench that clung stubbornly, impossible to ignore. Every so often, a stray cat darted past or a rat scurried into the shadows. Although Chris had walked through places like this before, the sight always pressed heavily on his chest. It was jarring to see how sharply divided one city could be.

The Cooper Group held control over the city's wealth, even hosting grand charity banquets each year to supposedly aid the poor. Still, the contrast remained bitterly ironic, for the slums were treated like a forgotten scar, left exposed for anyone willing to look. Your favorite stories are on gⱯlnσνes․cøm At that moment, Maia clasped Kathie's arm while Chris trailed a few steps behind them. Together, the three wound their way through narrow alleys until they reached the small house at the center of the slum where Kathie and Ethan once lived. "This is where I used to live.

If Maia hadn't bought a house for Ethan and me, I'd probably still be staying here," Kathie said as she pushed the door open, her eyes flicking toward Maia before lingering on Chris's tall frame. "Good timing for a visit. I need to grab something inside. Chris, wait out here. Maia, come along with me," Kathie said, tugging Maia closer. Once the two of them slipped inside, she lowered her voice. "Tell me the truth, Maia. Is Chris really just your bodyguard? Does he truly have a girlfriend?

You're not secretly in love with him, are you?" Maia forced a small, strained smile and steered the conversation elsewhere. "Kathie, our priority now is to ask about my parents. That's why we're here, isn't it? There's no need to dig into Chris' background." "Yes, I understand... though I thought you'd wait until Ethan left the hospital before asking," Kathie replied with a nod. Dropping the earlier topic, she searched around the cramped room and quickly pulled out an old, yellowed envelope.

"Here it is, exactly where I remembered leaving it at home..." Kathie's face brightened with excitement. "Maia, this envelope holds a note from your father. I can't make sense of the words, but the script is beautiful. When Ethan was young, he often took it out to read, and eventually he placed it back here." The moment Maia heard that, she stepped forward in haste and carefully opened the envelope. The sheet of paper revealed lines written in graceful strokes, and the words made Maia's eyes grow wide. . . .