Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 357: Chris hesitated briefly before answering reluctantly, "Alright." Not quite finished, Maia narrowed her eyes and warned, "And another thing, cut the smooth-talking when you're around me!" Chris blinked, genuinely confused. "When exactly have I ever been smooth-talking?" Every word he said to Maia, he meant from the heart - though, of course, his claim about living off her wasn't exactly one of them. Grinding her teeth, Maia shot back. "You're doing it right now!" Without another word, she turned around, stormed into her room, and slammed the door with a loud thud.

Chris stood there, staring at the closed door, scratching his head in confusion. Over in the dimly lit gaming room, Marisa lounged on a gaming chair, sitting cross-legged with a lollipop tucked between her teeth. Her fingers danced rapidly across the keyboard, fully locked into the game on the screen. As soon as she got home from school, she was dying to tell Maxwell all about her day, but of course, her brother was nowhere to be found. She didn't even need to guess; he was probably out somewhere having fun. Honestly, keeping track of him was like babysitting a wild animal.

Not long after Marisa texted him, Maxwell rushed back to the house. Heading straight for the gaming room, he pushed open the door and found Marisa deeply focused on a game he'd never seen before. The game looked quite interesting too. "Hey, I'm back! Weren't you dying to tell me something?" Maxwell asked as he stood behind Marisa. "Let me guess, you spent all your money again, didn't you?" "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something? I'll tell you after I finish this round!" Marisa said, keeping her focus on the screen, sucking on her lollipop, without even glancing at Maxwell.

Maxwell gave a helpless shrug, wondering how Marisa had ended up so spoiled under his watch. His sister, who wasn't a typical good girl, really never let him catch a break! More c0nt3nt at glovels.o The Payne family held a strong reputation in Drakmire, standing tall among the city's most influential families. Even though their main roots weren't planted in Wront, they still had a few businesses that needed looking after there. Hating the constant bickering back home, Maxwell had been the first to step up and volunteer to relocate to Wront.

Naturally, Marisa, who had been glued to his side since they were kids, refused to be left behind and followed him to Wront. Life back in Drakmire had been chaotic with her around. Despite being a woman, Marisa was a full-fledged troublemaker, forever getting into fights and stirring up drama. Caught up in his own duties, Maxwell hadn't been able to give her the discipline she needed. So, he enrolled her in Class Three of the elite preparatory program. Wront University, hoping that the tough atmosphere would either straighten her out or, at the very least, keep her out of trouble.

The match ended with Marisa's defeat flashing across the screen. Maxwell couldn't stop himself from chuckling. "Maybe if you practiced instead of showing off, you wouldn't lose so badly!" Tugging off her headphones, Marisa spun her chair around and raised an eyebrow. "You act like you're some kind of gaming god. This one's a brand-new indie game from my favorite game designer. It's crazy fun and tough. Plus, it's two-player. Wanna jump in?" "Alright." Maxwell didn't hesitate. He had been itching to get his hands on the controller the whole time. Honestly, the game looked pretty awesome.

Marisa slid the second console toward him, making room for him to sit down. No sooner had Maxwell taken control than his character stepped right into a hidden trap. A big, mocking red message popped up across the screen that read, "Game over, loser!" . . .