A Bond Of Intellect

Chapter - 23

They arrived home, and both entered their apartment. Riti quickly went to their room, grabbed some clothes from the cupboard, and headed to the washroom. In the washroom, Riti still felt disgusted and broke down in tears again.

She turned on the shower and washed herself thoroughly, rubbing every part of her body. After a while, she came out of the washroom and saw Evan sitting on the bed, having changed into fresh clothes.

Riti felt overwhelmed with shame and couldn't bring herself to look at Evan. She quietly left the room, trying to escape her emotions.

Riti went to the living room and sat on the sofa, trying to distract herself by using her phone. However, she couldn't shake off the disgusting and unbearable thoughts that kept creeping into her mind. She felt scared, thinking about what would happen if her family found out , because if they found out , they will feel very much worried. Her tears began to fall again, but she quickly wiped them away when she heard Evan's footsteps approaching.

Evan stood near the sofa and asked, "It's lunchtime, so tell me what you want to eat?" Riti struggled to control her emotions and replied in a cracked voice, "I... don't want to eat anything, I'm... not hungry."

Evan sat down beside her on the sofa, looking at his phone, and said, "I'm giving you an offer to eat anything you want, since you got the first prize. I thought it would be better to order something special rather than eating simple food." He looked up from his phone and asked, "So, tell me what should I order?"

Riti didn't understand why he always persisted like this and she replied again, "I'm not hungry." Evan said, "I'm asking you what I should order, not whether you're hungry or not." Riti remained silent, and Evan asked again, "Tell me." But she still didn't respond.

Getting frustrated, Evan put his phone aside and reached out to grab Riti's arm, pulling her towards him. He placed his hands on her waist, lifted her up, and made her sit on his lap. Riti's legs around Evan's waist, and she faced him, her face turning bright red. "W-what?!" she exclaimed.

Evan tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her closer, saying, "I'm not going to leave you until you tell me what you want to eat." Riti's answer remained the same, her eyes fixed on her hands, "I-I don't w-want to eat anything."

Then Evan's one hand remained holding Riti's waist, and with the other, he touched Riti's face and made her look towards him. He stared at her with his warm and concerned eyes and asked, "You are not hurt anywhere , right?" Riti stared back at him, casting her eyes down as he asked, and replied in a cracked voice, "N-no."

Evan lifted her face again and saw her eyes, which had tears shining in the sunlight like crystals. He said, "If there's something bothering you, tell me." Her eyes dropped, and one tear fell onto Evan's shirt. She said, "W-will... you... tell others about it?"

Then Evan replied, "No, it's nothing to tell others. Don't feel any pressure because of it. You weren't in the wrong; the one who got beaten up was. Okay?" And then he said, wiping her tears with his thumb, " Don't cry , you are strong, right?"

As he said that, Riti's tears became uncontrollable, and she started crying with sobs. Seeing this, Evan hugged her tightly and patted her head, saying, "Shh, stop now." But Riti didn't stop. After a while, seeing her like this, Evan broke their hug and pulled Riti's head back with his hand. He joined his lips with hers, giving her a very long kiss until she stopped crying.

Then, after she calmed down, he kissed her cheeks and went up to her eyes little by little, kissing and sucking away her tears from one cheek and then the other.

After the tender moment, Evan gave a gentle kiss to Riti's forehead and said, "Now, should we decide what to eat?" Riti nodded her head, and Evan turned her slightly, opening his phone with Riti still in his lap. He handed her the phone, saying, "Here, choose whatever you want to eat."

Riti selected everything she wanted to eat, and after ordering, she felt shy and said, "N-now can I sit on the sofa?" Evan smiled, noticing their intimate situation, and teased, "Do you not like sitting here?" This made Riti blush even more.

Riti didn't know what to say, and Evan continued to tease her, "Tell me, do you not like it? If you don't like it, then I'll never make you sit here." After a brief pause, Riti whispered with a barely audible voice, "Only if you like."

Evan smiled and said, "I like it, then that means you also like it." Hearing Evan's playful words, Riti felt extremely shy, hiding her face with her hands. Seeing this, Evan gently lifted her off his lap and placed her on the sofa, where they both waited for their food order to arrive.

After their order arrived, they ate and headed to their bedroom, where they started watching a movie. As the movie played, Riti fell asleep. Evan noticed and gently turned off the screen, covering her with a blanket before quietly leaving the room.

He pulled out his phone and dialed his friend Suresh's number. "What happened to him?" Evan asked. Suresh replied, "We've taken him to the basement and scared him a little. As you've already beaten him severely, so we didn't beat him anymore and he's admitted to his crime, and we've recorded his confession."

Evan responded, "Okay, there's no need to take him to the police. I don't want Riti to feel more depressed by having to go to the police station, then court, and all that. Just warn him again that if he ever does anything like this again, the video will be leaked, and let him go."

After ending the call, Evan stood at the balcony, lost in thought. "The world is so cruel for girls like her," he thought. Then, he stepped back inside the room.

The next day, Riti was in a better mood, thanks to it being a Sunday and no college. She leisurely spent her morning after breakfast, studying a little, and then decided to do some painting. She searched for a simple A4 sheet, checking the study table, thinking maybe Evan had one.

After several attempts, she found a blank page in a notebook hidden in the drawer of the table. She checked that it was blank on one side, but didn't flip the page, assuming the backside was also blank. Riti began using her painting colors, and after creating her artwork, she carefully picked up the sheet from the corner, using her fingertips, as it was still wet.

As she lifted the sheet, it flipped slightly, revealing the backside. To her surprise, she saw printed text, including names in columns and some type of  marks beside them.