Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 940: The memory of the recent gaming competition resurfaced. Claudius had been hovering around Maia ever since, like a stray that refused to leave. Clearly, Claudius had an agenda. And Ethan knew one thing for certain: his sister was not someone just anyone could dare to chase. Ethan had always felt that only someone like JusticeBlaze was truly deserving of his incredible sister. Sitting beside him, Melanie kept digging through her notes. "See? In a mess like this, Maia's husband didn't open his mouth once. The man's got no spine.

He's a total coward." Ethan's face shifted, just a little. "Maybe he's just bad at dealing with stuff like this," he said. "It's not about skill. The guy's just got no guts," Melanie scoffed. She pulled out the file the detective had sent over and showed it to Ethan. "Check this out-his name's Baylor Dixon. We should go talk to him today, spell things out. Tell him it's time to bow out gracefully and end the marriage. What do you say?" Ethan liked the sound of the plan, but he doubted it would actually pan out. "You think that'll really work?" he asked. Melanie smirked, her eyes sharp.

"We'll start off playing nice. If he agrees, great. If he pushes back, well... he can't say we didn't try. One way or another, he's going to have to walk away from your sister." While all this unfolded, neither of them noticed that a few hundred yards behind, a taxi crept along the road, keeping its distance. In the back seat, Marisa lounged against the window, a lollipop tucked in the corner of her mouth and a baseball cap pulled low over her eyes. Her gaze stayed fixed on the sleek Rolls-Royce up ahead, a knot of unease tightening in her chest.

She'd gone out earlier expecting to grab lunch with Ethan, but instead she'd caught sight of him climbing into Melanie's car from across the street. It threw her off. She couldn't make sense of why Ethan and Melanie had suddenly become thick as thieves. They'd been practically glued together lately. Was something romantic bubbling between them? No-no way! : ⸱ Marisa gave her head a small shake, convincing herself that she was only trying to find out what they were doing. That was it. Nothing more. It wasn't out of jealousy-definitely not.

She slipped a crisp hundred-dollar bill into the cab driver's hand. "Sir, keep some distance, but whatever you do, don't lose them." The driver gave her a look through the rearview mirror-cool and unfazed, like this was just another Tuesday for him. "Boyfriend stepping out on you?" he asked casually. "Relax. I've done this before." Marisa's eyes went wide in surprise, and she let out a small, awkward cough. Before she could get a word in, the driver waved it off. "You don't need to explain.

I understand." Not long after, three vehicles-Melanie's car, Marisa's taxi, and Raegan's car-all headed toward the Elysium Apartments. Ethan ended up trailing Melanie to the location that Cade had passed along-Elysium Apartments, Unit 902, Building 5. They now stood outside the unit's door, exchanging a look. They both knew this moment had been a long time coming. But just as she reached to knock, Melanie-who'd been leading the charge all day-paused. She'd always been good at making moves from behind the scenes, but now, face-to-face with Maia's husband, her confidence faltered.

After all, she was still just eighteen. She had no clue what kind of man Baylor really was. What if he turned out to be aggressive? Or some big, rough guy who wouldn't listen? Within seconds, all the excitement Melanie had felt earlier fizzled out, replaced by hesitation. She began to think this was the kind of thing a guy should probably handle. Without saying a word, Melanie inched backward and, when Ethan wasn't paying close attention, gave him a light shove toward the door. . . .