Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 558: "Don't look at me! Stop looking!" she screamed, her voice cracking under the weight of shame. Her thoughts were a whirl of chaos - no defense, no logic. Just raw, animal panic. All she wanted now was to disappear. "Rosanna!" Sandra shoved her way forward, face pale, heart pounding. "How could you? How could you do this? You... You've disappointed us so much!" Her mother's words hit her like stones. Her sobs turned desperate - gut-wrenching. Tears streaked her cheeks as she shook her head, breath stuttering between gasps. "I didn't... I didn't do anything.

It's not what it looks like - I'm not the other woman..." Her words were immediately met with rebuttals from several young women. "Oh please. Caught red-handed and still pretending to be innocent? You really hooked up with Axell for money, huh?" "No wonder he offered to invest a hundred million into the Morgans. He's not backing a business - he's buying her." "What? So that's what this is? Just a sleazy business arrangement? Disgusting!" The barrage of cruel voices tore through Rosanna's last shred of composure. She clamped her hands over her ears and let out a high, splintered scream. "No!

I've never been anyone's mistress!" she cried. "You're all lying - spreading filth about me!" Her hysteria crashed over the room like a wave, but they simply stared, feeding off the unraveling spectacle. Sandra's heart lurched at the sight. She lunged forward, eyes red with panic, and shouted over the noise. "Stop it! Stop saying that! Rosanna is a good girl - she's always been well-behaved! She could never... never be someone's mistress. This has to be - this is Axell's fault! That despicable bastard! He forced her!" At that moment, every gaze in the room swung to the man in question.

Axell stood there, casually buttoning his shirt as if the world weren't burning around him. He gave a humorless snort, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it with practiced ease. Smoke curled between his lips as he shot Sandra a mocking glance. "Who're you calling a bastard?" he drawled. "Insult me further, and I'll withdraw my investment right away!" : gν․ⅽ He exhaled slowly, satisfied. Sure, he hadn't gotten Maia - but Rosanna had been more than enough to scratch the itch. Now, he felt no regret or fear at all. Sandra was so filled with fury that it made her stagger.

The humiliation burned through her veins. She reached for the wall to steady herself, her legs threatening to give out beneath her. The room had shifted now - shock giving way to cold amusement, the whispers turning into barbed commentary. "Well, this is undeniable now, isn't it? If it wasn't because of Rosanna's sacrifice, why would Axell throw so much money at the Morgan family?" "When Richard bragged about the Morgan family project, I thought it was fishy. Since when was the Nelson family in the charity business? Makes sense now." "So it's just a trade, huh?

If Axell's divorced, he might as well marry Rosanna. Otherwise, who else would?" "Shh! Quiet down! Don't forget - she's engaged to the Ward family!" That reminder cut through the chatter like a guillotine. Every head turned - slowly, instinctively - to Vince. His face was stone, his expression unreadable, but rage simmered beneath the surface, visible in the tight clench of his jaw, the slight twitch at the corner of his eye. He wasn't furious about the scandal itself. He was furious that he'd been played and deceived by Rosanna's act for years - blinded enough to turn his back on Maia.

And this was how she repaid him? Cheating during their engagement? Humiliating him in front of everyone? It tasted bitter in his mouth, but there was one bright ember glowing through it all. . . .