Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 424:noveldrama

Sensing her gaze, Chris stirred and sat up, promptly sneezing. Yet, Chris still managed a lazy, casual smile and greeted Maia as if nothing had happened.

Maia frowned subtly. “Did you catch a cold?”

Chris hesitated for a beat, his expression a little awkward. “Maybe. I had to take a few cold showers last night just to get some sleep.”

Maia fell silent. It almost felt like it was somehow her fault he had gotten sick.

Chris rose to his feet, amusement flickering in his charming eyes as he looked at Maia. “Who taught you to tease a guy and then leave him hanging?”

Maia replied helplessly in her heart, “I wasn’t teasing! I didn’t mean it like that!”

Watching Maia bite her lip in silence, Chris chuckled and naturally reached out to take her hand with a warm smile. “Come on, let’s grab some breakfast.”

Maia stood there momentarily stunned. Strangely enough, she didn’t resist and simply let Chris lead her outside.

Chris walked ahead confidently, while Maia trailed behind, quietly observing his back.

As her eyes lingered on Chris’s broad shoulders, Maia felt a strange and unfamiliar sense of peace settle inside her.

Golden sunlight stretched across the floor like a gentle pathway. Walking side by side down that glowing trail, they looked remarkably like a real couple.

Her heart skipped a beat unexpectedly.

Ever since last night, after hearing those words from Chris, Maia had felt something that she hadn’t dared to feel in a very long time. It was a fragile, beautiful thing called hope.

Over breakfast, Maia found herself sneaking glances at Chris.

Chris’s messy hair made him look soft and unthreatening, a complete contrast to the intense man who had kissed her so passionately the night before.

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She pressed her lips together, feeling her throat dry as vivid memories of that kiss flashed across her mind.

Chris caught her staring and lifted his head to meet her gaze.

“By the way, there’s something I should let you know ahead of time,” he said, his tone turning serious. “I’ll be going out of town soon on a business trip with my boss. I’m not sure when I’ll be back yet.”

Maia was momentarily stunned but then nodded slightly.

For some inexplicable reason, his words left her feeling hollow, a gnawing emptiness she couldn’t fully understand.

After finishing their breakfast, they didn’t leave the hotel together. Chris was cautious. So was Maia.

Without exchanging a word about it, they instinctively staggered their exits, quietly slipping away from the hotel one after the other.

Maia pulled up outside the MCN office building.

She knocked gently on the CEO’s door, and the moment Pattie saw her, she leapt to her feet as though jolted by electricity and rushed over, eyes wide with barely contained excitement.

“My goodness, what kind of miracle did you pull off last night?”

Maia let out a soft laugh. She hadn’t anticipated that her very first meeting with Mariana would end with Mariana “insisting” on handing her a “gift” — and not just any gift, but one of immense weight.

She reached into her bag and drew out the acquisition agreement, holding it out like a trump card. “Voila. The spoils of war. Have a look.”

Her tone was casual, but Pattie’s hands trembled slightly as she flipped through the document. Her eyes widened with each page she turned.

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