Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 868: A neat line of metallic detonators, securely fastened inside, gleamed under the overhead light. Shock swept across Maia's face, her eyes flying wide in an instant. She stood barely a yard from Vince, while Chris hovered just ahead of her, directly facing the threat. Both took in the sinister outline of the explosives and the small remote Vince clenched in his fist. An eerie stillness gripped the room, thick and suffocating. Maia's skin crawled, every muscle in her body turning rigid.

Chris moved fast, sliding in front of her, one arm reaching back as his broad frame shielded her completely from Vince's line of sight. He fixed Vince with a piercing stare, something cold and dangerous flickering in his eyes. "Quiet now." Vince pressed a finger to his lips, the grin twisting. "No sudden moves. Say nothing. Not a word." His voice was low, just loud enough for Maia and Chris to hear. With the narrow gap between them, Vince ensured Maia saw every detail, while to everyone else it looked like nothing at all.

Through this deception, he kept the crowd calm, turning innocent bystanders into pawns to corner Maia. That twisted scheme was his last, desperate move to force her hand in marriage. Vince lifted the remote, flashing it before their eyes as his gaze locked on Maia and Chris. "The two of you belong to me now. Step out of line, and I swear I'll press this." Pressure clamped around Maia's chest, each inhale sharper than the last, as if fear itself was wrapping tight coils inside her. Turning his attention fully to Maia, Vince spoke with a desperate edge.

: g‌ⱥ‌‌ⲛ‌‌ν‌‌‌‌⸳‌‌ "You despise me now, I can see that. But do you ever remember the days when everything between us was perfect? Rosanna came between us. Without her, I would never have hurt you." He advanced again, his voice tightening. "I'm not the same man anymore. My feelings for you - they're all-consuming. Just look at me, Maia. Day after day, I waited for you outside MCN. I messaged, I called, I tried everything I could think of. Still, you ignored me. Can't you forgive me? Is another chance really too much? Just give me one, and I swear I'll make it right.

I'll give you a life full of happiness and laughter." Maia offered nothing in return, her scalp prickling with tension. The further Vince spoke, the more tangled and incoherent his words became, circling back on themselves. He was unraveling, his grip on reality slipping with every sentence, and one false move could set off disaster. The greatest danger wasn't only his explosives - it was the circle of ordinary people Vince had unknowingly drawn into his madness, their lives hanging by a thread along with hers and Chris's.

The gleam of the detonators and the remote seared into Maia's mind, each one a silent promise of catastrophe. She couldn't tell if Vince was putting on some twisted performance or if he had truly broken. Either way, she and Chris both knew the truth: any rash action would end in ruin. Around them, the restaurant scene carried on as if nothing were wrong. The cheerful chaos clashed with their private crisis - clusters of people waiting at the spicy food spot's entrance, filling the air with laughter and chatter. . . .