Page 32 of The Bittersweet Bond

Evin’s breathing grew heavier as she glared at Dominic, her fists clenching at her sides. "Fuck you, Dominic. This coming from the guy who’s been orbiting around Cat like a lost puppy, just waiting for scraps. At least I don’t pretend to have a backbone while running errands for someone who wouldn't even claim me in public."

Her breathing was fast and shallow, tears threatening to spill, but she forced herself to stay strong. She wouldn’t break down in front of them.

Ben, who had been standing in the doorway the entire time, took a hesitant step forward, as if to say something, but Evin didn’t let him.

“And you,” she said, turning to him, her voice now icy. “How could you let this happen, Ben?”

Helooked at her with a mixture of guilt and regret.

“Evin, I tried to stop it, I swear. But it happened so fast, and then it was already out.”

His voice was soft, almost pleading, but it didn’t reach her.

“Too late, right? Too late,” she muttered, trying to suppress the rising panic in her chest.

Everything felt like too much. The room, their stares, the unrelenting reality of what waited for her outside.

“You two deserve each other. One’s spineless, the other’s careless. Congrats!” she snapped and left the room before either of them could say another word.

The cold morning wind brought no relief.

Her thoughts spiraled chaotically, and the comments from the group chat seemed to follow her, hanging over her head, refusing to disappear.

So predictable...

Wow, Evin’s with everyone now, huh?

Poor Bas...

Bas and Cat are way better together anyway.

Her fingers still trembled slightly as she walked, the words looping in her mind, relentless no matter how hard she tried to block them out. She scoffed under her breath, her eyes burning, but she wiped the tears away before they could fall.

“Screw them,” she muttered under her breath.“They don’t know anything...”

But the sting remained—the fear that, to the entire school, she was now just another girl who had lost control.

As she stepped onto the school grounds, the chat messages played on a loop in her head. Words likecheapanddrama queenhit her over and over, but the longer she walked, the straighter her posture became.

Thekiss with Ben wasn’t a mistake. Why should it have been?

After the fight with Bas, she was hurt. She had sought comfort—nothing more, nothing less. If everyone wanted to turn it into a drama, that wasn’t her problem.

"They’re all just overreacting,"she thought, keeping her gaze fixed ahead."As if a kiss is the end of the world."

It wasn’t her fault she had sought closeness for a fleeting moment. She had felt like she was losing control, and for just an instant, she had tried to take it back. But being made into the scapegoat now? That, she wouldn’t accept.

And Bas? He had never cared before. Not when she had kissed someone at a party. Not when she had flirted with other guys in front of him. He would just laugh it off, roll his eyes, make some careless comment. But now—now it was different. Now, he was acting like she had betrayed him. Like this was something new. Likehehadn’t already done worse. Over and Over, all these years.

She felt the stares like needles on her skin. The air was thick with rumors and whispers. A few girls, who had never paid her any attention before, looked at her as if she were a character in a reality show—the kind where she was the latest scandal.

Her heart pounded in her chest, and the memory of the video brought a mix of shame and anger bubbling to the surface.

She spotted Bas. He stood there, surrounded by his usual group—Cat, his boys, a few others. But he said nothing. No glance, no reaction. He was right there, yet he felt further away than ever.

How could he ignore her like this? How could he act as if nothing had happened? Every second of his silence felt like a slap in the face.

“Hey, Evin, heard the news? You’re the hottest story of the week!”, one of Bas’s friends called out with a mocking grin. A few others joined in the laughter, as if they’d scored front-row seats to the drama of her life.

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