Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 354: Hurst visibly relaxed. He was about to suggest giving her a ride when he noticed Maia casually approach a silver Maserati, open the door, and slip inside. The Maserati sparkled in the sunlight, and its engine roared to life with a deep, powerful growl. Hurst, a true car lover, stood frozen in amazement. That engine sound... Was Maia driving one of the fifty limited-edition Maseratis in existence? Those cars were currently valued at over eight million dollars! Had she really changed it to look like a regular model? Hurst felt a jolt in his chest.

This woman's real identity must have been something extraordinary. He stood there, lost in contemplation, suddenly realizing that the winery he wanted to give her was far too small a gesture for someone like Maia. It was no wonder she had brushed it off so easily. Next to him, Lionel couldn't help but voice his confusion. "Sir, why do you treat Ms. Watson with such honor?" It was more than just respect. Hurst had attempted to offer her a whole winery and was nearly pleading with her to attend the gala. Lionel had been around Hurst long enough to realize what it meant.

Very few people in Wront could make Hurst bow down like this. They found themselves in the dappled shade beneath the trees. Hurst spoke softly. "I got her all wrong at the start. I thought she was someone I could manipulate. But now... I see I might not even be worth her time. If she ever turned against us, she'd be a real nightmare. That's why we need her on our side." "Need her on our side?" Lionel was stunned. In all of Wront, hardly anyone could make Hurst show such humility. Yet, this Maia had done exactly that. Latest stories on galnovels․com Who was she, really?

Lionel gasped, staring in awe at the spot where Maia had disappeared. By the time nightfall came, Melanie made her way back to her family's villa, where Hurst immediately gave her a sharp scolding. But that wasn't the end of it. Punishment was inevitable. She had to stand with her nose to the wall to think about what she had done and scratch out a long, heartfelt letter of apology. Growing up, Melanie had always been the pampered, untouchable one, slipping out of trouble more often than she could remember. Yet nothing had ever backfired on her quite as badly as it did today.

Tears ran down Melanie's face while she stood rigid beside the study wall, her fury bubbling hotter the more she dwelled on the whole thing. If Melanie had found out sooner that her father actually knew Ethan's sister and spoke about her with so much admiration, she never would have bought into that nonsense about Ethan being some kid from the slums. But it had been Mariana who fed her that story. And Mariana had no reason to make things up. On top of that, Mariana didn't even know Ethan personally...

Melanie figured that someone else must have been pulling the strings from behind the curtain. Just thinking about it made Melanie feel like she couldn't catch her breath. As soon as her punishment ended, she snatched up her phone without wasting a second and dialed Mariana's number. "Mariana..." she said. On the other side of the line, Mariana had been flipping through a magazine without much interest.

The moment she caught the sound of Melanie crying, she tossed the magazine aside in a hurry and asked, "Melanie, what happened?" Through broken sobs, Melanie spilled the whole story of her awful day, throwing in her growing suspicions too. Mariana stayed silent, listening carefully, her forehead slowly creasing with worry. She found out that Hurst had actually bowed his head to someone. Worse yet, he had slapped Melanie because of it. . . .