Chapter 61 Some Malice Has Not Disappeared
Evelyn's POV
I let out a muffled whimper, my hands instinctively clutching the shirt on his chest. His scent instantly surrounded me—that faint smell that belonged only to him, powerfully invading my senses, making my brain go completely blank .
I felt like I was flying again, weightless and dizzy, yet addicted and unable to pull myself away, like a drowning person grasping the only piece of driftwood.
Kane's hand cupped the back of my head, deepening the kiss, while his other hand held my waist tightly, pulling me against his burning chest, as if he wanted to mold me into his body, to become one.
The kiss lasted a long time, until I felt like all the air in my lungs was being squeezed out. My legs went weak, and I needed to lean on Kane to stand, before he reluctantly let go.
When we separated, my legs were so weak I could barely stand; I leaned against Kane, gasping for fresh air, my chest heaving violently.
Kane's breathing was also rapid. His forehead pressed against mine, and those deep eyes were now filled with satisfaction and lingering desire, as if he wanted to continue.
I looked at his lips, swollen and red from kissing—so sexy and tempting.
"Evelyn..."
He murmured my name , his voice extremely hoarse, carrying a hint of desire and tenderness.
I responded hazily, my brain still scrambled, completely dazed.
"What do you want to eat tonight?"
He suddenly asked, switching his tone extremely quickly, as if he wasn't the one who had just been so dominating.
"What?" I was stunned for a moment, my thoughts still not recovered from that kiss.
"Anything, anything is fine."
"Okay."
He didn't leave immediately, reaching out to tidy my messy hair, his fingertips brushing across my cheek, bringing a tingling electric current.
He suddenly smiled and said, "I'm really looking forward to our 'private flight' together."
Kane was too close to me, his warm breath ghosting against my ear, making my body tremble involuntarily.
I felt like I couldn't stay in this place any longer—the heat on my cheeks felt like it was about to catch fire.
I didn't answer him, quickly pushed open the door and went in, not even having time to say goodbye. I heard laughter behind me, leaned against the door, covering my burning face, my heartbeat racing like it was about to jump out of my chest, but the corners of my mouth unconsciously turned up.
I touched my lips—they still seemed to carry his warmth and taste.
I tried not to think about Kane, to push the images out of my head, but the heat on my cheeks wouldn't go down.
Walking into the bathroom, I turned on the faucet. The warm water flowed over my body. The cold wind at high altitude had made my hair dry and tangled, and my skin felt like it was covered with an invisible layer of dust. That sticky, tight feeling made me uncomfortable. I squeezed out a glob of body wash to quickly get myself clean.
But in my heart, I was reluctant to wash away Kane's scent on me—it made me feel inexplicably safe.
I smiled foolishly, feeling like the me in love was somewhat unlike my usual self. I turned off the faucet, wrapped myself in a towel and walked out.
The bedroom was quiet. I glanced out the window, habitually reaching for my phone on the bed, wanting to check the time or see if there were messages from Kane.
However, I didn't feel the familiar metal surface.
"What's going on?"
I frowned, searching around the bedside table and other places, still nothing.
Not giving up, I lifted the blanket and searched under the pillow.
Still nothing.
"Strange, I clearly remember putting it here..."
A vague panic rose in my heart. This shouldn't be happening, making me a bit anxious. I searched barefoot around the coffee table in the living room and the sofa cracks, even checking the corner by the front door again, still finding nothing.
Did the academy hide it from me? Why would they?
Just as I was thinking about going to find Kane to call my phone, I noticed a faint glow in a gap on the bookshelf.
Could it be there?
I walked over, moved aside two thick books, and picked up the phone. "How did it end up here?"
After unlocking my phone, I was about to open my messages with Kane, but the red notification badge on Nebula Chat showed "99+" message alerts.
An ominous feeling enveloped me.
I clicked on the icon, and the homepage feed dealt me a devastating blow—another set of high-definition photos, with me as the main subject again.
But this time it wasn't "beautiful photos," but from this afternoon's flight class, and the focus of the photos was on the "marks" on my body.
The first photo showed a bruise below my neck. That was from accidentally bumping into a cabinet this morning.
The second showed a red mark on the inside of my arm. That was from the strong wind during flight, when I gripped Kane's feathers tightly and got rope burn.
The third showed a bruise on my ankle. That was from my legs giving out on landing, when Kane caught me, my pants rolled up, showing the redness and swelling from the sprain.
These photos were taken very clearly, one could even say...
The shooting angles were extremely tricky, avoiding all background, focusing only on magnifying these injuries, as if taken by a perverted voyeur hiding in the shadows.
Below those photos was a bold headline in red text: #Shocking! The True Face of the Girl Following the Phoenix Clan? The So-called "Romance" is Just a Disguise Covering Up Abuse!
I opened the comments section—it was already causing heated discussion.
[Oh my god, it looks so painful! That Phoenix Clan bastard really isn't a good person. Usually seems so quiet, didn't expect him to be such a pervert in private?]
[I knew it. Evelyn deserves it, who told her to keep following him to please him.]
[And they say his healing ability is great—I bet it's because he gets so much practice! Vicky too, actually covering up this kind of behavior.]
[Riding on the Phoenix's back while being abused, how thrilling. Pretending to be so in love, but actually...]
[These injuries are probably just the tip of the iceberg, right? Who knows how serious the harm is in places we can't see! But it's her own choice!]
Every comment, those vicious words, was impossible to ignore, drilling into my brain and stirring everything into chaos.
My efforts, Vicky's help, Kane's patience... everything had become such an unbearable "truth exposed" in their mouths.
I wanted to become stronger, to be someone who could grow alongside Kane, to stand shoulder to shoulder with him in this world full of unknowns.
But in their eyes, all of this became a "disguise" I had to learn to cover up being abused.
My laughter in the air this afternoon, my trust in Kane, the freedom and love I felt—they twisted it all into the perverted pleasure of a masochist.
"How did it turn out like this?"
Looking at those photos, I couldn't understand how human malice could be this great.
I even felt like I was dragging down Kane and Vicky. Just as I was lost in wild thoughts, my phone vibrated, showing a new message notification.
It was a message from Kane.
[All cleaned up? We flew a bit long today, afraid you're starving. Should I take you to dinner now?]
Looking at that gentle line of text on the screen, my heart suddenly contracted with a sharp pain.
I can't go.
How can I see him looking like this?
If I walked with him, we'd definitely be photographed again and posted on Nebula Chat, and there would probably be even more malicious photos and headlines.
I was so afraid that those malicious speculations would taint Kane, who was so pure and loved me so much.
Besides, I couldn't smile right now.
I was afraid that as soon as I saw him, I wouldn't be able to help pouring out all those disgusting comments to him. But... what good would that do? Make him angry? Make him explain?
And I didn't tell him about Nebula Chat before because I was afraid of affecting him. If I told him because of this incident, all the previous efforts would be wasted.
No, those people's malice couldn't be explained away. They just wanted to see a joke, just wanted to tear beautiful things apart.
I sniffled, my finger hovering above the screen, thinking about what to type.
I deleted and rewrote several times, finally only sending out one somewhat cold line of text:
[I'm a bit tired, don't want to eat. You go by yourself.]
Message sent successfully.