More to Life ✔

Chapter 40 - Samet - Sunset Point

After an afternoon at the beach and a warm shower, Maria lay on the comfy hotel bed she and Emma shared in Tom's room. Emma had gotten a refund for the rat villa. Since Tom was out on a secret mission, and Emma had run off with Shawn, Maria enjoyed air-conditioned bliss and solitude, nodding off after too much sun. Her phone's ringtone pulled her out of her dream, and she squinted at the screen.

Kelsey? After her earlier texts, Maria wasn't about to have her ear torn off. She rejected it and tossed the phone to the side.

A minute later it rang again, and again two minutes after. It wasn't even a video chat; Kelsey had found Maria's phone number and placed an international call. Something was up. Maria sighed then answered.

"Hello."

"You bitch!" Kelsey's voice made Maria's blood run cold. Music played in the background along with other loud voices. Maria wanted one weekend unmarred by her asshole ex's presence or anyone connected to him. "And don't you dare ignore me! We were friends far too long for you to be that petty."

Maria rubbed her eyes and kept her tone steady. "You slept with my boyfriend for weeks. You burnt that bridge, not me."

"It was only twice when you made him feel miserable and worthless."

Maria's body tensed and filled with heat. Miserable? He'd been the immature one hell-bent on making her pay for not dedicating every minute to worshipping his every action.

"Adrian and I were happy! We had a future until you happened!" Kelsey slurred.

Those words had left Maria's tongue months ago. He had an unsettling way of wrapping women around his finger. Being thousands of kilometres away from him wasn't enough to dull his presence.

"Then be happy together. I don't care what you do."

"You liar! You told him to break up with me and he did."

Maria's eyes widened, and she sat up. He broke up with Kelsey because of something she said? "I called his bluff, sick of his manipulative way of blaming me for his mistakes."

"You couldn't stand to see another person make him happier than you, so you fed him false hope."

"If he was that happy, he wouldn't have talked to me regularly, wrote me romantic songs, told me he still had feelings for me, all while you two were in 'love'." She breathed out her anger with each word. She'd been this naïve hardly a week ago too. As much as Kelsey had hurt her, Adrian probably deceived and manipulated her too. "He has an unhealthy need for attention and affection, and he's not above getting it from two people at the same time. You should move on. It's the best decision I made."

"So you get him to yourself? I'm not an idiot!"

Maria smoothed her fingers over her brow. There was no arguing with Kelsey in this state or for months if she was in love with Adrian as long as she claimed. "Believe what you want. I'm done with both of you"

She hung up before Kelsey could attack her again. Maria had shared her piece, and what Kelsey did next was on her, not Maria. She tried to nap, but her mind wouldn't stop racing with Kelsey's accusations.

Next, a call came from Adrian's parents' home phone. Normally, she would have answered to talk to Kathy, but she suspected it was Adrian. She'd blocked his cell number and his social media accounts, so he couldn't contact her. Fifteen minutes later, she got an e-mail with the subject line: Ria, I need you!!!

It had to be Adrian; it reeked of his neediness. Her first instinct was to delete it, but her finger only hovered over the button. Did she dare read it? She didn't have to respond, and if he was in crisis, she could tell his mom, so he wouldn't be alone.