Page 221 of The Bittersweet Bond

"Nothing?" Evin stepped closer, narrowing her eyes. "Your eye is bruised, Bas. That’s not ‘nothing.’"

"Just a misunderstanding. Let’s not talk about it now."

A misunderstanding. As if someone could accidentally walk into a fist.

Milka eyed him skeptically, crossing her arms. "I wasn’t gonna say anything, but… are you sure you didn’t, you know, trip and fall into someone’s punch?"

Bas let out an amused snort, as if it didn’t matter at all. "More or less."

Evin felt a knot tighten in her chest. She knew him. And she knew he didn’t just get into fights for no reason.

Milka inhaled quietly, as if she wanted to say something, but she hesitated. Maybe because she knew Bas couldn’t be forced to talk.

And Evin, however, wasn’t someone who could let things go so easily.

But now wasn’t the moment. Not here, not after the performance.

Still, she had plenty of time to confront him about it later—and he could be damn sure that she would.

She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to let it go.

For now.

___________

Sebastian

The weight in his chest had settled long before he admitted what he was about to do.The tension gnawed at him, pulling through every fiber, as if something inside him was tearing apart. The thought of letting Evin go clenched around his heart like an iron fist.

Evin laughed beside Milka, her voice still vibrating with adrenaline. Her joy was so unfiltered, so effortless, that it almost hurt. A painfully beautiful contrast to the storm raging inside him. She had no idea. She was happy. And he stood there, trapped in a role that was becoming heavier by the second.

Bas ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek. The phone lay cold and heavy in his hand. His gaze remained fixed on the screen, the bright light reflecting in his eyes as his thumb hovered over the display. It wasn’t real yet. There was still a way back.

He knew what he had to do. It was the only way. It had to be done. This was his only chance to banish Sergej from her life once and for all. He couldn’t make him disappear himself. He couldn’t just throw punches every time he saw him and hope it would be enough. But his father… His father could. His father had always held the power. Like an invisible, ever-present force, he pulled the strings, controlled what needed to be controlled, and discarded whatever didn’t fit into his picture.

And Bas? Bas was his raw diamond, waiting to be cut until he fit perfectly into the polished world his father had designed for him.

It was a goddamn trade. A horrible deal. How many times had he learned this lesson? You have to prove yourself. You have to belong. You have to earn your place. And what had he done? He had bent himself to the bone, crossed every line, molded himself into the person they wanted him to be. He had obediently fallen in line with their elite world, accepted their rules, met their expectations.

It wasn’t asif he hated the life he lived. Quite the opposite. The exclusivity, the status, the position in society that came with it—it was a part of him, and it would be a lie to say it didn’t appeal to him. But why was it never enough? Why was it never satisfying?

What was all of this for?

For a father who still didn’t accept him for who he was.

He had sold his soul, sacrificed his dreams, become everything that was expected of him—but it was never enough. It would never be enough. Because every time he thought he had finally secured his place in his father’s world, something was taken from him again. And now, he was taking the only thing that kept him whole. The only thing that pulled him out of this empty, cold world.

Evin.

Bas clenched his teeth so hard that he felt the dull strain in his jaw. His breathing was shallow. The text on the screen blurred slightly, but he already knew the words by heart.

Bas

Okay. You win.

He could barely believe he was actually typing it.

Bas

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