Chapter 294: A sudden ringtone jolted her from her thoughts. Startled, Maia sat up straighter, only to realize that the sound was not coming from her phone. Chris had left his phone behind, careless in his rush to shower. From the other side of the door, the steady rush of water filled the silence. For a moment, Maia wondered whether she should bring it to him. But after a brief hesitation, she decided against it. It would be better to let him notice the missed call himself when he finished. But the phone rang again and again. The persistent ringing filled the room, clawing at her nerves. A small voice in her head whispered, "What if it's urgent? What if it's something that can't wait?" Compelled by the thought, Maia picked up the phone and made her way cautiously to the bathroom door. Just as she raised her hand to knock, the screen lit up with a new message. The sender was the same number that had been calling. The content of the message froze her. "Chris, it's been forever since you visited. I've been waiting all night. Will you come over?" Maia's hand stopped midair, the words burning themselves into her mind. Maia's fingers clenched around the phone, as if it were a lifeline. The words on the screen cut into her vision like shards of glass, burning her eyes with their cruel clarity. Each sentence felt like a wound, one that festered deep within her. The message carried an unsettling familiarity, far too intimate. This wasn't the tone of casual friends - it was something more, something deeply personal. A troubling thought crept into her mind: Was Chris hiding a secret life? Perhaps entangled in a web of other women when she wasn't looking? Or maybe he had spun a tale of "love at first sight," all the while not as committed as she had foolishly believed? Discover new chapters at ????????????????ον????????s.ℭ???????? Could he simply be a man who lived by his whims, playing games with hearts as if they were toys? Her chest constricted, as if someone had tightened a vice around her heart. The storm that had torn through her life four years ago had left scars, scars that made her wary of surrendering her heart too quickly. She couldn't bear the thought of being betrayed again, of finding herself cast into the abyss of despair once more. Yet here she was, on the verge of believing the lies of a man she had only recently met, teetering on the edge of opening herself up to someone who might tear her apart. The more she reflected, the colder her heart became, as though a glacier had slowly settled within her chest. She felt as if she were standing on the edge of a cliff, foolishly gazing into the abyss below. A chill ran through her body as she tried to calm her breathing and regain composure. Turning away, she placed Chris's phone back on the table and retreated to her room, shutting the door behind her. Some time passed before the sound of running water from the bathroom ceased. Chris emerged from his shower, wrapped in a towel, his damp hair tousled as he dried it with another towel. Without a second thought, he picked up his phone from the table. Noticing that Maia was no longer in the living room, he assumed she had gone to bed, worn out from the day's events. He unlocked his phone, and as the message from the woman appeared on the screen, his brow furrowed in surprise.