49

As I woke up, I immediately felt Micah's arm on my back and his hand stroking my side soothingly.

I smelled his perfume, heard his soft breathing and wanted to close my eyes again, but reality caught up with me and the certainty that it wasn't a dream and that my father was really dead hit me like a truck again.

Crying, I rose from Micah's chest, who winced slightly at my hasty movement, and then gasped for air as he gently rubbed my back.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" he asked in a calm tone, but I immediately shook my head again. If I said it, it would be real and I just didn't want to believe it.

"Mia, please say-" "Micah..." I said in a pained tone, wiping my tears with the sleeve of his red sweater and then turning to face him. "I can't," I tried to explain through sobs. He nodded awkwardly, looking like he was about to cry too, which made me so sorry.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" he stood up and looked at me questioningly. I immediately thought of Zayn and at that moment I wished I had a hip flask in my pocket at all times.

"Do you have any beers in the cellar?" I then turned to Micah, who frowned at me at my question.

"Yeah, but... Mia... You-"

"Please," I interrupted him with a trembling voice and he immediately gave in and nodded before walking to his door. I looked at the window, noticed that it was probably getting dark again and then suddenly heard the doorbell, the sound of which made my heart race again.

"Micah," I jumped up and looked at him with wide eyes. "If that's my mom," I cried again, but Micah pulled me to his window, placed me behind his long blue curtains, and then pulled them closed.

"I'll hurry," he said softly and closed the door behind him while I held my breath and only heard his heavy footsteps on the stairs.

Then there was dead silence and I started to sweat so profusely that the sweat was slowly running down my face. But I didn't dare to move or do anything else.

"Mia?!", I heard Kiyan call out and just as I came out from behind the curtain, he stepped through the door and stared at me in complete disbelief.

"Kiyan," I whispered, wanting to approach him while weeping, but he took a step back, looked down at my stripped clothes and back at me, then looked at me with a coldness that sent shivers down my spine.

"When Thomas said that you were with Micah, I seriously thought he was just trying to provoke me," he said quietly, not even looking at me anymore.

I didn't know what to say, couldn't get my father's death out of my mouth, and even understood Kiyan's misjudgment of the situation.

"Kiyan, it's-" "It's not what it looks like," he interrupted, tears welling in his eyes, staring at me in disbelief. "I knew from the start that I wasn't good enough for you," he whispered and ran out of the room angrily.

"Kiyan," I breathed and ran after him, but stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Wait please," I begged, crying, but he hurried down the stairs and when Micah came out of the kitchen with a beer, I watched in shock as Kiyan punched him in the face without saying a word.

"Damn shit!!!" he screamed and then slammed the door behind him while Micah dropped the beer and clutched his bleeding nose.

"Fuck," the brown-haired cursed and I immediately rushed down to him to push his back into the kitchen to the sink.

"Micah, I'm so sorry," I mumbled, turning on the water so he could wash his hands, but my mind was on Kiyan. I wanted to explain everything to him afterwards, but I couldn't and just the thought of what and how he thought of me tore my heart apart. Certainly Thomas hadn't told him the whole truth, because if Kiyan knew about my father, he would know why I was here and would be there for me.

"What are you apologizing for? You didn't hit me," Micah suddenly said while I just stared at him in irritation.

"It's my fault anyway," I murmured, taking a deep breath to hold back tears.

"It's not your fault at all. Besides, it doesn't even hurt," he said bravely, grinning stupidly at me.

If my father hadn't just died and my boyfriend hadn't bolted because he thought I was dating someone else, I probably would have smiled at his bravery and punched him in the side for it, but it all happened and I looked without expression at his grinning face, which quickly became pity again.

"Tell me what's going on," he said almost pleadingly, holding a towel to his nose after turning off the water.

"My mother hit me yesterday," I began and he immediately looked at me in irritation. "Then I ran off to Zayn's. When Kiyan came, we chatted briefly and then we went to meet you guys."

He kept nodding and listening intently, but that was just the beginning.

"This morning Zayn and Kiyan had a fight, so we went home and there was... there were..."

Tears filled my eyes and I clutched my heart, panting, afraid it would stop beating.

"It's okay," Micah took my hand and stroked my arm until I calmed down and continued talking.

"Micah, my father was looking for me last night and had an accident. He's dead."

KIYAN

I got into the Mercedes, started the engine and wiped away a few tears before driving around, lost in thought.

It seemed so wrong to me. That just couldn't be true. Mia wasn't a girl who would do something like that...or was she?

Her clothes on the floor, his fucking sweater on her body, her guilty look... that was more than obvious.

Just imagining him removing her clothes made me gasp. I slammed the steering wheel several times in anger and had to hold back tears again.

She fucked me... not in the good way, but in the way that desperately drives you insane.

When I got home, I parked behind the Porsche and hurriedly got out. I just wanted to be alone, but it had to be Thomas of all people who caught me at the front door.

"I told you she's with her lover," he grinned crookedly at me and provocatively blocked my way when I wanted to pass him.

"What's your fucking problem?" I pushed him aside and ran into the living room, but he grabbed my arm and held me back.

"What's my problem? I want my money!" he yelled at me and immediately I snatched my arm away from him.

"You got the money from my parents! What else do you want?!"

"You know exactly what I want!" he glared at me in amusement, which enraged me. Why couldn't he just shut up.

"Wait until I'm 21! I'll give you your fucking money and then I never want to see you again!"

He grinned and crossed his arms before taking a step closer to me. "If you don't stick to it, Mia will be next," he whispered and I immediately grabbed his collar.

"What the hell are you talking about!" I yelled at him, but he freed himself from my grip and in that moment, the front door opened and Gabrielle walked in, distraught.

"I ... I was in the morgue," she breathed, crying, and immediately threw herself into Thomas' arms, who I looked at with irritation.

What was she doing in the morgue?

"Oh Kiyan, you don't even know yet," she then turned to me with a handkerchief. "James died in a traffic accident. At first it was thought it was a drunk driver, but apparently something was wrong with his car."

I looked at Thomas with wide eyes and remembered the night I found out my parents had died. I remembered Thomas telling me about it. Reminded me of a cop talking about a car fault. Reminded me of how Thomas just wanted the money and used to beat me up on a daily basis and then Mia came into my head. This bastard knew why she was with Micah and had purposely set me up in a trap.

Without saying anything or paying attention to Gabrielle, I threw myself on Thomas in a trance, punching him several times in the face before he fell to the ground. Gabrielle screamed in exasperation behind me and kept yanking at my jacket, but I kept hitting that lousy asshole. Even when there was blood on his face and my hands.

"It was you, wasn't it!!?" I yelled, tears in my eyes, and stood up, shaking, to watch that pile of dirt gasp and roll onto its side. My heart threatened to stop beating at any moment.

"I'm calling the police!" Gabrielle yelled at me, but I grabbed her wrist and looked at her intently.

"What a mother you are! Go to hell!" I spat angrily in her face and even though I was immediately ashamed of it, it seemed right to me.

Thomas had taken everything from me and yet I couldn't do anything and just watch. He knew about my accident and he would even protect Chloe to put me in jail. At 21 I would get my parents' inheritance. It would be just fine with him if I were behind bars and he could claim everything for himself. That fucking bastard.

"If you ..", he gasped and sat up, but I immediately grabbed him again angrily and glared at him in anger.

"If what?!" I yelled and he slapped my hands away to fall back onto his side.

"If I go under, I'll take you with me," he whispered so quietly that only I could hear, and the next thing I heard behind me was Gabrielle, who seemed to have the police on the phone.

I got up immediately, ran to her, took the fucking phone and slammed it against the wall so hard that it shattered into pieces and she looked at me, shaking.

"If you want to do something right for once in your life, throw that bastard out and take care of your daughter!" I spoke loudly to her and then left the house in tears to make my way back to Micah .

On the way I had to stop several times because I couldn't even see the street properly because of the tears.

Indescribable sadness ran through me and did not allow me to think normally. It was just a blank in my head and I regretted so much being in that damn car with Chloe. Everything was connected and I knew it as well as Thomas knew it.

I just wanted to see Mia and just hoped that she would forgive my mistrust. More than ever I needed her closeness, her tender voice and I just wanted to be there for her. The thought of Thomas doing this to her father made me think twice about turning around and hitting him dead, but that wasn't going to bring James back either.

I stared breathlessly at my hand on the steering wheel, saw the star that meant so much to me and was about to collapse.

Why had Thomas done that?