The Heiress Revived from the Ashes (Lauren Bennett) novel Chapter 178

The Heiress Revived from the Ashes

Chapter 178 The Serpent’s Charade

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Finished

Josh tilted his head back, the dim streetlights casting a hazy glow over his flushed cheeks. The faint indentations from his glasses still lingered at his temples, and his loosened tie coiled like a lazy snake against his collarbones. His shirt, half unbuttoned, revealed the taut lines of his chest rising with each uneven breath, a rare glimpse of dishevelment under his usual polished veneer.

Mia’s gaze caught the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, her fingers twitching with an almost hungry

tremor.

How easy it would be to wrap my hands around that throat.

Her hand lifted, drawn by some primal pull, then his voice, rough with alcohol, shattered the fantasy: “Who… are you?”

Have you forgotten me already? That’s only one day before we last meet. Or was he drunk?

Her lips curled. At the last second, her reaching fingers redirected, gripping his chin instead with playful dominance. Leaning forward, she arched her spine like a cat stretching in the sunlight, her eyes glittering with mischief.

“Really, sir? You don’t remember?”

Josh was indeed drunk; the scene in front of him was overlapping and blurred, and he simply failed to hear the inside meaning in Mia’s words.

He slapped her hand away and staggered to his feet, only to stagger forward, his polished shoes scraping the pavement.

Mia caught him at the waist, her thumb pressing deliberately into the hard ridges of his abdomen. Damn. Even drunk, his abs were like steel.

Josh grunted softly out at the pain of the scratch, and he frowned, shaking his head vigorously in an attempt to clear it, but his head felt like a swarm of bees were buzzing madly about, stirring him up in a way that made it impossible for him to concentrate.

He groaned and slapped her. “Go… off…”

She let him go with a grin.

Thud.

Josh hit the ground hard, the impact bringing some clarity to his foggy mind.

Mia watched in amusement as he groaned until his bleary eyes sharpened. He was sober.

In an instant, her smirk turned to doe–eyed concern. She dropped to her knees beside him. “Oh, no! Are you hurt?”