Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 155: Still, scattered among the mindless mob, a few rational voices refused to be swept up by the tide.

"That photo's so blurry it could be anyone. If I'm not wrong, they were at L'Auréole, a Michelin three-star restaurant. Places like that have crystal-clear surveillance. If they release the footage, this whole mess will be sorted out. @L'Auréole, please show us the truth!"

Before long, waves of people began tagging L'Auréole, demanding that the restaurant release its security footage.

Meanwhile, Maia moved through her apartment with steady calm, walking to the fridge and pouring herself a glass of water. As she took a sip, her phone chimed softly with a WhatsApp notification. It was from Pattie. "Why are you trending again?! Who's behind it this time? The Morgan family? Maia, answer me already!" Before Maia could respond, her phone buzzed with an incoming call. Pattie's voice burst through the speaker, sharp with barely contained anger.

"What the hell is this mess?!" Pattie fumed. "The photo's a blurry joke, taken at some creepy angle, and people are treating it like it's hard proof? Have they all lost their minds?"

"Don't waste your energy," Maia said, her tone steady, almost indifferent. "They're still pressing the restaurant to release the surveillance footage, aren't they?"

As she spoke, a push notification slid across the top of her screen.

Pattie's voice pitched higher, rattling Maia's ear. "Maia, check it now! L'Auréole just released a statement. They said the surveillance footage was intentionally sabotaged and can't be recovered!"

Maia's hand froze midair. A cold light flashed through her eyes.

The surveillance footage was sabotaged?

gα ℓ ησ ν???? ????s․com has it all

Without hesitation, she tapped the notification and pulled up the restaurant's official announcement.

Grinding her teeth, Pattie practically hissed through the phone, "You and I both know places like L'Auréole don't just lose footage. Their systems are bulletproof. Someone's pulling strings behind the scenes, no doubt about it."

Maia sat still, her fingers tapping a slow, thoughtful rhythm against her glass. Tampering with security at L'Auréole was not something Rosanna could do alone - unless someone more powerful was pulling strings in the shadows. For some reason, Vince's sanctimonious and smug face suddenly surfaced in Maia's mind.

Her fingers curled tighter around the phone.

The timing was too clean. First the photo leak, then the sudden "technical failure" of the surveillance system - it all steered the tide of public opinion straight against Maia.

"The footage is gone? Now Maia can spin whatever story she wants!"

"Please, it's obvious. Her sugar daddy probably wiped the footage clean to cover for her!"

"Exactly. Now she can pretend the blurry photo means nothing and cry about being set up!"

"She's so manipulative. Nothing like Rosanna - so gentle and pure."

"This time, she's not fooling anyone. Let's see her try to worm her way out of this!"

The story had spiraled out of control. Nearly everyone now believed Maia destroyed the footage to cover up her so-called affair. With the public against her, clearing her name felt impossible.

From the other end of the line, Pattie's voice broke the silence. "What are you going to do now?"

Maia arched a brow, her voice light but firm. "Simple. I'm going to hit them where it hurts."

Meanwhile, at the Morgan villa, Rosanna lounged on her velvet sofa, a glass of red wine dangling from her fingers. Her phone screen lit up her face, flashing trending topics with Maia's name. Each scroll brought fresh insults, and Rosanna drank it in with a slow, satisfied sip.

.

.

.