Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 288: Maia met his gaze without flinching. "That is right," she answered simply. "I have a husband now. Even if he gives me the cheapest, most insignificant trinket, I would cherish it more than anything you could ever offer."

Vince's pupils constricted sharply. He swayed slightly, as if the floor had shifted beneath him. His mind, once sharp and focused, splintered apart. Rationality deserted him in an instant. "Impossible!" he hissed. "When did you get married? You just got out of prison!"

His fingers curled into fists at his sides, and something unhinged flickered in his eyes. "You are lying to me, Maia. Tell me you are lying!"

The atmosphere in the room grew suffocating. Vince was no longer the suave, composed heir - he had become a cornered beast, frantic and wild, clawing for something already lost. Maia tilted her head slightly, a ghost of a mocking smile playing at her lips. "You still do not believe me?"

Then, in front of the entire online audience, she pulled a marriage certificate from her bag and held it up to Vince's face.

"Now," she said softly, "do you believe me?"

A figurative explosion rippled through the air.

In the banquet hall, mouths fell open in shock. Silence blanketed the crowd, heavy and suffocating.

Sandra's hands trembled uncontrollably. The wine glass slipped from her fingers, shattering against the marble floor. Red wine sprayed across her gown like spilled blood.

Richard's jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles in his cheeks twitched. His brow furrowed into deep ridges, and his face darkened with fury. He stared at Maia's figure on the screen, veins throbbing visibly along his temple.

Across the room, Jarrod stumbled back a step, his face pale. His voice, when he finally found it, cracked. "She… she really got married?"

0ff1c1al r3l34s3s 0NL¥ 0n g4ln0v3ls.c0m

Rosanna stood frozen, her mind refusing to process the scene unraveling before her.

Married? Maia had gotten married? When? To whom?

Her thoughts spiraled wildly, but one cruel truth pierced through the chaos - even after everything, Vince still could not forget Maia. So, what did that make Rosanna? A stand-in? A joke?

The livestream chat erupted into chaos, the comments scrolling too fast to read.

"Vince looks pathetic. Two million can't buy love, huh?"

"Maia is loyal to her man. Meanwhile, Vince and Rosanna look like clowns on national TV. Rosanna's whole world just collapsed in front of millions."

At that moment, Vince's eyes were bloodshot, his gaze fixed on Maia with desperate fury. His voice cracked as he demanded, "Who is that man?"

Before she could step away, he lunged, reaching to snatch the marriage certificate from her hand.

But Maia moved swiftly, slipping the document out of his grasp with practiced ease.

She tucked it securely back into her bag, her expression unshaken. "I've said everything I needed to say," Maia told him, her tone clipped and resolute. "Vince, this is the end of the road for us." She turned on her heel, ready to walk away.

"Wait!" Vince cried out, grabbing her wrist again. His entire body trembled with a mixture of disbelief and unwillingness.

He clung to a shred of hope, his voice thick with emotion. "Maia, is there really no chance left for us?"

Maia snorted, not turning back, and replied calmly, "The moment you chose to side with Rosanna four years ago, it was over for us." Without another glance, she yanked her wrist free from his grip and strode away, her steps purposeful, her heart unshaken.

.

.

.