Page 220 of The Bittersweet Bond

Evin nodded automatically, the words looping inside her head, again and again, like an echo she couldn’t escape.

Her throat suddenly felt tight, as if the air inside had thickened, too heavy to simply swallow.

London.

The entire summer.

Two months in a world that wasn’t hers, two months away from everything she knew. Away from Bas.

This isn’t how I imagined it…

She had thought she knew what the next few months would look like—had imagined the summer as hers, had planned to spend time with Milka, had assumed that maybe… she and Bas… But now, the decision was entirely hers.

And the question wasn’t whether she was capable of making it.

It was whether she was ready to live with the consequences.

London. The Royal Academy. The chance to do something great. Something that was hers alone.

___________

Evin stepped out of the dressing room, still caught in a haze of adrenaline and exhaustion. Her skin was hot, her heart pounding at a pace that refused to slow down.

She had barely merged into the crowd when she heard Milka call her name. Before she could react, Milka was already there, throwing her arms around Evin’s neck and squeezing so tightly that Evin almost laughed.

"Oh my god, Evin! That was…" Milka pulled back, her eyes shining with excitement. "I have no words! Really, none! I knew you were good, but that? You hypnotized the whole damn audience! I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it!"

Evin blinked, absorbing her best friend’s euphoria, letting it rush through her. "Really?" she asked with a crooked smile, even though she had felt it herself. Still, hearing the confirmation spoken out loud made it more real.

"Yesss!" Milka’s eyes widened, as if Evin had just said the dumbest thing in the world. "Babe, people were holding their breath while you danced! I had chills from head to toe! And Rafael—I mean, he was good too, but you?" She grabbed Evin’s hands as if she needed to physically hold onto her. "You gave everything! You were like… a freaking prima ballerina!"

Evin swallowed. The scouts. London. She wasn’t ready to say it out loud. Not yet.

"Thank you." Her voice was quieter, almost overwhelmed. "Really. I…" She shook her head slightly. "I still can’t believe it."

"You were incredible," said a second voice—and this time, it wasn’t Milka.

Evin turned around.

Bas stood a few steps away, his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his dress pants. He looked calm, relaxed—but his gaze wasn’t. His gaze was sharp, alert, as if he had absorbed every second of her performance with his eyes alone.

His eyes made her stumble internally.

He didn’t say much. No grand compliments, no over-the-top praise like Milka. But it was the way he looked at her. The gleam in his blue eyes spoke volumes.

"The way you dance… You were breathtaking, babe." A small, barely visible smirk tuggedat his lips. "I even understood what it was about."

Evin felt an unexpected warmth spread through her chest.

She let out a soft laugh, but the feeling didn’t last long—because as her gaze wandered over Bas’ face, something made her pause.

His eye. The dark shadow stretching across his cheekbone. And now, she noticed the wound on his brow. A bruise.

Her stomach twisted.

"You were gone for only 24 hours." She made sure her pointed look toward his eye and her sharp tone made it clear exactly what she thought of that.

Bas barely shrugged. "It’s nothing."

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