Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 597: Maia froze, recognizing him. "Mr. Payne? What are you doing here?" He laughed softly, explaining, "I was next door, heard the singing, figured it was you! Looks like I was right." He narrowed his eyes, coldly staring at the man beside Maia. The guy was handsome, but Maia was Chris' wife. Trouble was brewing. Then, a man in a black casual shirt stepped inside. Maia's face stiffened. Her bright eyes locked on a familiar figure - Chris. "Mind if we crash the party?" That smooth, commanding voice rolled in like distant thunder. It was Chris. Maia's stomach sank.

Without thinking, she handed off the mic and took a few steps back from Roland. Roland's entire mood shifted the second his eyes landed on Chris. His face tightened. Wasn't that the man Maia was supposedly keeping around? What was he doing here of all places? Elvira's jaw nearly dropped when she spotted him. She made a beeline for Maia, nudging her and murmuring, "What's your next-door guy doing here?" Maia looked down, lashes low, offering silence instead of an answer. She didn't know either.

Chris' sudden arrival - especially now, while she was mid-duet with Roland - made everything ten times worse. Pattie's surprise mirrored the others. Never in her wildest thoughts did she expect Maia's husband to pop up like this. And just like that, the night took a wild turn. Pattie knew that neither Roland nor Elvira knew who Chris actually was. Playing dumb, she glanced at Maia and asked, "Hey, who's the tall guy?" "Chris. He's my neighbor," said Maia, each word tasting like stone as it left her mouth. Keep reading gⱯlnσνℯs․com "Neighbor, you say?" Roland blinked rapidly.

Maxwell's brows shot up as both turned to gawk at Chris. With barely a shift in posture, Maxwell leaned close and murmured near Chris' ear, "What trick are you pulling this time?" Chris offered a cold side glance and replied in a low tone, "If that's the story she's going with, we're sticking to it. Don't say a word." That shut Maxwell up. He was briefly stunned. So Chris really was under her thumb after all. Meanwhile, Roland was still staring at Maia, confusion written all over his face. "Isn't that guy..." Wasn't Chris the guy that Maia was keeping behind closed doors?

How did he become her neighbor? But with so many eyes and ears around, Roland knew better than to speak the rest aloud. He figured the least he could do was protect whatever pride Maia had left. Right then, Elvira's hand came down hard on the table, the slap echoing across the room. "You've been following her, haven't you? That's just creepy!" Coincidence? She wasn't buying it. Not in a world where most accidents were just carefully dressed plans. With a searing stare, Elvira locked eyes with Chris and didn't hold back an ounce of her fury.

She had made it crystal clear before that Maia was off-limits. Yet somehow, that warning had gone straight over his head. Chris just gave a lazy shrug and let out a soft chuckle. "You're reading too much into this. Pure coincidence, nothing more." Without shifting his focus, he let his gaze rest on Maia. "Ms. Watson, you're okay with us dropping by, aren't you?" Facing him with a cool expression, Maia raised a brow as she met his eyes. "Why wouldn't I be? But tell me, Mr. Cooper, what brings you here with Mr. Payne?" . . .