?Chapter 1533:


    In the dimly lit room, Maia’s fingers paused against the phone as silence settled around her. The cold blue light from theptop washed over her features, hiding her expression—but her gaze sharpened instantly.


    Maternal grandfather. The phrase sounded distant and outdated, like something pulled from an old story.


    Wront was anything but safe now. Cooper Group stood on the verge of copse, and rival forces were circling like predators drawn by blood. Her past entanglements with thepany meant danger followed her every step—which was precisely why Zoey had insisted she remain out of sight. Yet at such a sensitive moment, a private detective had called out of nowhere, iming her biological grandfather wanted to meet her.


    The timing was too convenient to ignore.


    A cold, faintly mocking glint passed through Maia’s eyes. “I think you’re mistaken.”


    Without waiting for a reply, she ended the call.


    Beep. Beep. Beep.


    The sharp tone echoed coldly through the line. Cade stood frozen, phone still raised in his hand. “She just… hung up?” he murmured in stunned disbelief.


    ???????????? ???? ????е??d ??n ??al????ve??s.??о??


    He blinked, trying to process it. “No. My approach was reasonable. My tone was genuine.” He muttered it to himself as though trying to believe it—then, slowly, understood where things had gone wrong.


    After everything Maia had lived through, suspicion toward anythingbeled “family” was only natural. The damage inflicted by the Morgan family had left deep marks. Viewed from her side, his call would have sounded exactly like a scam—especially regarding a person she didn’t even know existed.


    “Idiot,” Cade scolded himself, the word sharp with self-reproach. His palm came down hard against his thigh. “Rushing like that only makes things worse.”


    He could hardly ept that he had fumbled something this critical. If Dominic ever learned of it, what right did he have to im that trust?


    Teeth clenched, he beganposing a message at once, fingers racing across the screen. He condensed his findings on Maia’s parents from Drakmire, his investigative trip there, and the unexpected meeting with her grandfather—hundreds of carefully chosen wordsid out in sequence.


    Just as he was about to send it, his hand stalled.


    No. This approach was wed. That level of detail would only expose that he had been secretly investigating her life. He deleted the draft and started again, paring everything back to its essence. At the very end of the revised message, he added the one line he believed might carry enough weight to be trusted.


    This inquiry was authorized by Hurst Cooper, who hopes to help you uncover your true origins.


    He pressed send and let it go.


    Inside Kyle’s vi, heavy drapes sealed the room in shadow. Maia’s phone buzzed once on the table, its screen ring and fading. She was reclined against the sofa and made no move to check it—not immediately. Only after a long moment did she unlock the screen withzy indifference.


    Her eyes traced the message slowly, then stopped at the final name.


    “Hurst?” she murmured, doubt threading her tone.


    .


    .


    .