Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase

Chapter 12:

Zoey replied right away, “Remember what you promised. And whatever you do, keep my identity under wraps. Especially from anyone at the Cooper Group. That includes Chris.”

Maia responded with a grin, “Relax. I won’t spill a word, not even under torture.”

“Cut the jokes. Are you settled in the apartment yet?” Zoey asked.

“Just walked through the door,” replied Maia.

A second later, Zoey sent another message. This one came with a smirking emoji. “I left you a little something. Don’t let me down.”

Surprise? Maia was confused.noveldrama

Before she could think more on it, the apartment door creaked open from the outside. Maia was startled.

As her eyes darted up, she locked onto a familiar face. Chris was standing in the doorway.

Scattered across the floor near his feet were the clothes she had tossed off earlier.

He scanned the apartment slowly, and his gaze came to a halt on Maia — who sat on the couch in just her camisole.

The sight of her, graceful and utterly unbothered, lit a spark in him he hadn’t expected.

Silence settled between Maia and Chris as they faced each other. The weight in the room was hard to ignore.

Her eyes dropped to the mess of clothes strewn across the floor. She started to move toward them, planning to clean up, only to freeze — she was wearing nothing but a camisole.

Her arms immediately crossed over her chest as she turned her back to him.

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Words slipped out before she could stop them. “Tell me, Mr. Cooper — if I said I’m not the kind of woman you think I am, would you believe it?”

Chris crouched down, calmly lifted her clothes, and folded them into a tidy pile. He gave a slight smirk, the corners of his lips curving upward. “And what exactly do I think you are?”

“I mean, it’s not… I don’t…” she stammered, trying to say that prison hadn’t changed her into something she wasn’t and that she still had dignity.

But nothing came out the way she wanted.

In this kind of situation, who would even believe her? It would only sound like she was trying to talk her way out of something. That bitter truth had hit her four years ago — sometimes, silence saved more face than explanations.

Choosing not to push it further, she changed topics. “Why are you even here?”

“Well, this is my place,” Chris’ voice was calm, but it made Maia’s eyes fly open in an instant.

Before she could say anything, a light shirt was draped over her shoulders. Right as she was about to turn, she froze — Chris was already there in front of her, and she hadn’t even noticed him move.

A quiet intensity lingered in his steady gaze as his eyes narrowed slightly. His face, all sharp lines and elegance, held a dangerously captivating charm. Now it all made sense — Zoey had sent her to stay here, but she hadn’t mentioned it belonged to Chris.

Heat rushed to Maia’s cheeks out of nowhere.

Still, when she thought about it, the arrangement wasn’t all that strange. They were legally married, after all. It made sense to live together.

She pulled the shirt tighter around her, catching the faint, lingering scent of his cologne in the fabric.

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