If you show me that you have caught up by pressing star, then I can post more this weekend! 

This is a bit of a longer chapter, and I'm so excited to hear what you have to say! 

This is one of the climaxes of this track so your inline and (off-line) comments will mean the world!

--

The next morning, Bondita woke up early. 

Anirudh had spent the entire night, cuddled against her chest, his face pressed against her breasts and finding solace in them. 

Bondita glanced at his sleeping figure, her eyes getting intense and dark. 

Last night, she had prioritized healing him, but today she was not going to spare Surabhi. 

Nobody could touch her Pati Babu! He was too precious to her! 

She gently ran her fingers through Anirudh's hair for a moment, and then kissed his forehead. 

Sorry Pati Babu, I have to go without the morning hug today, she thought. Today, your Bondita has to handle your perpetrator. And I don't want you to fall back in the pit, so I have to handle this alone. 

Bondita carefully removed herself from under him, her chest feeling slightly sore because he had been lying on it all night. It was a good kind of sore though. One that filled her with warmth, and reminded her of her Pati Babu's imprint on her. 

His mark, his love. Every pain by him was pleasure for her. 

She went into the bathroom to get ready for her day. 

When she left the room, she quietly closed it because Anirudh was still sleeping. Then she went to the phone and dialled Surabhi's home number. 

Her father picked up, and gave the phone to Surabhi. 

"Meet me at school. Now," Bondita said with gritted teeth. 

"This early?" Surabhi's voice asked. "Is everything okay?"

"No, everything is not okay!" Bondita hissed into the phone. "Come to school right now." 

"I'm coming. Don't worry Bondita, we'll solve the problem together," Surabhi said, sounding scared of Bondita's tone, and then hung up the phone. 

After Bondita put down the receiver, she stormed to Batuk's room and turned the handle. It was locked. 

Post the incident where she walked in on his boner, it seemed he had learned to lock his door! 

Bondita banged on the door. 

"BATUK!" she yelled, banging hard. 

Batuk, who was still sleeping in bed, squirmed when he heard Bondita's loud voice. 

"Open the door Batuk!" Bondita yelled. 

Batuk didn't answer, snoring slightly. 

"Batuk, I'm going to school. If your life is important to you, then you will come! RIGHT NOW!" Bondita yelled. "Otherwise, I will surely kill you!" 

Batuk opened his eyes and groaned. 

"What's wrong? What did I do?" he questioned finally. 

"DON'T ACT INNOCENT! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" Bondita yelled from outside, making Batuk's eyes widen. 

Shit. Had she found out what he told Manika Didi? 

"Boudi --" he started, but Bondita interrupted. 

"I don't have time! Get to school! I'll deal with you there!" Bondita said and then stormed away. 

Batuk groaned and got ready, deciding that he wasn't lucky enough to get more sleep today. 

"Why is my destiny so bad?" he groaned to the Universe, "At least let me sleep!" 

-- 

As Bondita was rushing towards the front door, Kaka was there. 

"Bahu, where are you going without eating?" he questioned. "Even last night, you didn't have dinner!" 

"Kakasasurji, I have to go to school!" Bondita just said and she left the haveli without another word. 

Kaka watched her go with a heavy sigh. 

On the other hand, hardly twenty minutes later, Batuk came running and was leaving the haveli too with his shoelaces untied, shirt untucked, looking like a mess.

"Batuk, where are you going without having breakfast?" Trilochan demanded, looking his nephew up and down. "And in this state!" 

"I have to go Kaka!" Batuk just said frantically. 

Then he ran out of the haveli, not saying another word to Kaka. 

Kaka watched him go too, wondering what on earth was going on in this house! 

And then -- hardly another fifteen minutes later, Anirudh came down. He had gotten ready for his day. 

"Is Bondita having breakfast Kaka?" Anirudh asked. 

"Breakfast? Bahu left without eating anything!" Kaka huffed. 

"She left?" Anirudh asked. "So early?"

"She went to school! And Batuk went too!" Kaka said, furrowing his brows and repeating, "Without eating! Even though she is enrolled in school, it shouldn't deteriorate her health Anirudh! Reconsider her priorities!" 

Anirudh sighed heavily, realizing that she must have gone to meet Surabhi. 

"Nevermind Anirudh, you eat at least," Kaka said, "Let's go to the dining hall --" 

"I have to go Kaka!" Anirudh said, suddenly sounding like there was an urgent matter at hand, and then he also ran out of the haveli. 

Kaka watched Anirudh rush out in an urgent manner, his mouth nearly falling open. 

First Bondita, then Batuk, now Anirudh. Seriously, what was happening here? 

Why did Trilochan feel like he was always in the dark? 

-- 

When Bondita reached the school, she waited outside the gates for Surabhi. Upon seeing her approach, Bondita rushed over to her, gripping the collar of her white shirt under the school dress tightly. 

Surabhi looked at Bondita with shock. 

"I can't believe you did such a disgusting thing Surabhi," Bondita said darkly, fisting her shirt more tightly out of anger. "My Pati Babu is my Bhagwaan. I can't tolerate it if anyone casts an evil gaze his way and you...? You crossed all limits!" 

Surabhi's eyes widened, as she realized that Bondita knew about what happened that night four months ago. 

"B - Bondit...a..." Surabhi stammered, tears entering her eyes.

Bondita pushed Surabhi down on the ground so hard, that Surabhi's knees got scraped. 

It hurt Bondita's heart to do this, but nothing was greater to her than her Pati Babu. Surabhi had really made her way into her heart in the last four months, but her passion for her Pati Babu was timeless. 

Surabhi reached for Bondita's ankles from the ground. 

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed, "I really am Bondita! I didn't know better --" 

"I don't care!" Bondita screamed, her eyes getting wet now, "Touching someone without their consent! It's not okay! Violating someone's body! It's wrong! And my Pati Babu was sleeping, he was sick, on medication, and you... you so cruelly... how could you?!" Her voice got more shrill at the end as she glared at Surabhi in a menacing way. 

Surabhi gripped Bondita's ankles hard. 

"I  - I know I was wrong! I swear I know! I just saw him as the ideal man! I never thought I could get anyone like him and I saw a chance, and I messed up..." Surabhi sobbed, "I messed up big time! I realized too late!" 

Bondita pulled her feet away from Surabhi's grip hard, causing her to fall down against the floor further, her palms scratching against the cement. 

"He is the ideal man, the ideal human! But instead of violating an ideal man like that, don't you think he deserved respect?" she asked her, tears streaming down her cheeks now, "Don't you think that you could also be ideal like him if you valued him, and saw how he saw the world? If you learned from him?" 

Bondita wiped her tears away from her cheeks. 

"And Surabhi, you tried to forcefully find pleasure, by assaulting him, but don't you think that instead of finding that pleasure outside, you should have searched for it within? You don't need anyone to complete you Surabhi! Not any man, no matter how ideal he is!" Bondita told him, a sob escaping her lips. "I would have helped you to see better, if you just shared your feelings with me! I wouldn't have gotten mad if you told me what you were thinking about my Pati Babu! I swear, I would have helped guide you out of it! But you didn't let me help! You didn't let me explain to you the most valuable lesson my Pati Babu taught me when I was younger! That I could be self-sufficient, that even without him, I could find my way! That I could feel full and complete all by myself! You would have learned this too!" 

Surabhi sobbed hard against the ground, her heart shattering into tiny pieces. 

"I didn't know you were this good. I was jealous," Surabhi cried, "I only realized after... I truly love you and your friendship Bondita, I really do! I regret my actions so much!" 

"What will your regret do now?" Bondita asked, her voice paining and her heart aching, "My Pati Babu went through hell because of your actions! Do you know how he blamed himself for not being able to protect that sixth sense he has about me? He feels he lost it because of you! Do you know how broken he was, how disgusted and violated he felt? Just like a woman can feel disgust over someone's unwanted touch, so can a man Surabhi." 

Surabhi sobbed and she was about to answer that it wasn't possible that Anirudh lost his sixth sense, when Batuk came rushing ahead, nearly tripping over his untied shoelaces. 

"Boudi..." Batuk breathed heavily, and upon seeing Surabhi on the ground, he realized that the truth Bondita found out wasn't the one about Vikram and Manika. 

It was about Surabhi. 

Shit. He didn't know which of the two truths coming out was worse. 

"You! You are no less Batuk!" Bondita screamed, turning to glare at him. 

A shaking Surabhi got onto her feet as Batuk gulped nervously. 

"SURABHI VIOLATED MY PATI BABU AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO TELL ME? WHY DID YOU HIDE IT FROM ME?" Bondita screamed, "YOU CALL ME YOUR BOUDI, BUT YOU DIDN'T THINK THIS WAS IMPORTANT TO TELL ME?"

Surabhi looked at Bondita, her eyes wide, as she witnessed Bondita's rage unfold on Batuk. 

Suddenly, she felt like defending Batuk. 

"It was my fault Bondita, you shouldn't --" blame him. Surabhi started it but couldn't finish, since Bondita had turned around to glare menacingly at her. 

"Surabhi the next time you come between me and Batuk, there will be nobody worse than me!" Bondita hissed. 

Batuk looked at his Boudi, eyes wide. 

"Boudi, stop it!" Batuk said, "Stop yelling at her." 

Surabhi looked at Batuk, shocked to see him defending her. 

Bondita turned to glare at Batuk. 

"SHE KISSED MY PATI BABU!" Bondita screamed at Batuk. "YOU WANT ME TO KEEP QUIET?"

Batuk's eyes widened and so did Surabhi's, as they realized that Bondita thought this whole time that the kiss really happened.

"No, she did not!" Batuk finally said, "She didn't kiss Dada!" 

"What?" Bondita gasped, taking a deep breath, "She didn't?"

"No..." Batuk murmured, and looked down with guilt, "I... stopped her."

Bondita was shocked, but a feeling of deep relief entered her system. 

However, she was still confused by the whole situation. 

"So she was going to... and you stopped her, and you still didn't tell me?" Bondita asked, "Why?" 

Batuk looked down with guilt. 

"Because... you would have got mad at me if I told you." 

"Why would I get mad at you?" 

"Because... of the way I stopped her..." Batuk gulped. "Boudi, please don't be upset with her anymore. She realized her mistake. In the last four months, I know... I have seen her... how she behaved. She really regrets it." 

Surabhi looked at Batuk, her heart melting. He was really standing up for her. All this time, he had blamed her, but for the first time today, Batuk had acknowledged her regret. 

"How did you stop her?" Bondita questioned, narrowing her eyes. 

Batuk looked down with guilt and he said, "I... kissed... her. Without her... consent." 

"BATUK!" Bondita screamed now, her eyes wide. "HOW COULD YOU?"

A look of deep sorrow reached his face, and he said, "Punish me Boudi. But let Surabhi go. She meant her friendship with you. I was a fool. I hurt her all this time and I took out my anger on her over this situation already. You don't do it too. She doesn't deserve this." 

Surabhi had tears in her eyes now. She had been craving, aching to hear these words from Batuk. 

"Batuk, I'm so, so disappointed in you," Bondita said, her heart aching, "I didn't think you would stoop to this level. This was not expected from you! Don't you know how important consent is?" 

Batuk continued to look down with guilt, silently this time. 

"Bondita..." Surabhi finally said, "It's true that when he kissed me, I was sad. I felt violated. It wasn't right. I still don't like the thought to this day. But... that's how I realized how it feels. He was trying to teach me a lesson because of his love for you and his Dada. It wasn't the right way. But... I have forgiven it. We have moved past that. Please don't be upset with him." 

Bondita looked from Batuk to Surabhi incredulously, wondering how all of a sudden these two started to defend each other. 

That was when she felt a strong grip around her waist from behind, and a soft kiss on her cheek. 

Her Pati Babu had arrived. 

"Bondita," Anirudh murmured in her ear, "You came all this way for me. But you didn't give me a morning hug. First give me my hug."

Bondita turned around and looked at Anirudh, throwing her arms around him tightly and sobbing, "Pati Babu, nothing happened. Surabhi didn't kiss you. Nothing happened Pati Babu." 

Anirudh had been avoiding looking at Surabhi since he got here, but when he heard Bondita say those words to him, it felt like something had liberated his heart. 

"Nothing happened?" Anirudh asked, holding Bondita against him, in a state of disbelief, but because he heard it from Bondita's mouth, he believed it immediately. 

Bondita broke the embrace and looked at him, tears in her eyes and nodding. 

"Mr... Arc..." Surabhi said, gulping, "Your sixth sense about Bondita didn't fail. I came to... massage your head that night, and I couldn't even touch you, because your hands pushed my hands away. You screamed that I'm not your Bondita. In your sleep, you even felt that it wasn't her presence." 

Anirudh vaguely remembered this, but he had been in such a daze that almost all memories of that night were jumbled and hazy. The only thing he could clearly remember was when he found out that Bondita hadn't come home.

Surabhi took a deep breath and said, "Even if I were to... kiss... you... I'm certain my lips would have never made it to yours. You have that much awareness about her. You wouldn't have let it happen, whether you were awake or not. It doesn't matter how drugged you even were. I'm sure of it." 

Anirudh looked at Surabhi, tears in his eyes now, as he heard the words he wanted to hear the most. 

His sixth sense about Bondita was still working. 

Bondita grinned as well when she heard this and she gripped Anirudh's hand tightly. 

"See!" she said. 

Anirudh noticed that there were scrapes on Surabhi's knees, and he glanced at Bondita, eyes wide. What had his fiery Goddess done to the girl? 

Bondita looked embarrassed and she whispered, "Sorry Pati Babu... I got carried away." 

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. He was more sad he got to miss the show. He trusted that Bondita would never cross her limits. 

Anirudh turned to look at Surabhi and finally said, "I don't know why you did that... it hurt me a lot Surabhi. I wish, you didn't. But the fact that you told me my sixth sense regarding Bondita is working... somehow, I feel like it all happened for a reason. Now, I can't ever doubt this again. And it's thanks to you." 

Surabhi looked at Anirudh with shock as he thanked her. 

"You're so great Mr. ARC! I know I messed up. I am so sorry... I really am..." Surabhi said. 

"But what made you stop?" Anirudh wondered, and glanced at Bondita. 

Bondita glared at Batuk, as Batuk continued to look down with guilt, feeling like he was done for if this truth came out in front of his Dada.

"Forget all of that now Pati Babu. The most important thing is Surabhi stopped, and your sixth sense about me is working perfectly fine!" Bondita told him, trying to change the subject. 

If she told him about Batuk, then Anirudh could even throw him out of the house. Kaka and everyone would be left distraught, and there would be a big drama at the house. On top of that, her heart ached for Batuk, despite all of this. 

Where would he go? What would he do?

She was still very protective about her best friend and Devar.

Batuk looked at Bondita, tears in his eyes now, watching as his Boudi defended him yet again from his Dada's wrath. 

Even in such an angry state, she could put aside her own unhappiness, just for him. How much she loved him... and he? He only disappointed her. This was making Batuk very sad. 

"We should give them some space," Batuk just murmured, and he took Surabhi's hand, dragging her away from Anirudh and Bondita. 

When they were out of their sight, Batuk got on his knees and glanced at the scrapes on Surabhi's legs. 

He sighed. 

"It must hurt," he murmured, and gently brushed his fingers on them. 

Surabhi looked at Batuk, a nervous look in her eyes. 

"It does, but I feel good too today," Surabhi said, "I feel like a weight is lifted off my shoulders. In the last four months, somewhere there was a guilt inside of me that Bondita didn't know the truth, and now she knows." 

Batuk stood up and said, "Yeah... I also feel like a weight is lifted off. Even if she's unhappy with our deeds, at least she knows now." 

"But you also... forgive me?" Surabhi asked, sounding nervous. 

Batuk looked at her with pain in his eyes and he finally apologized, "I'm sorry... I mistreated you so much. You suffered a lot within yourself. But I first kissed you without your consent, and then treated you horribly so many times... and I was confused, I didn't know what I was feeling and... I'm just sorry."

Surabhi gripped his hand and smiled at him softly, feeling a genuine apology. 

"It's okay."

Batuk looked at her with surprise and he asked, "You forgive me?" 

"Well, you were an idiot. I won't deny it. But, I know you were going through your own pains, your own struggles," Surabhi said. "I understand you love Bondita and your Dada so much. It clouded your mind. Sometimes, love can do that." 

Batuk looked at Surabhi, touched that she understood him. Maybe she always did, and he never allowed her inside. 

"So you're saying that despite my confusion, despite me pushing you away and pulling you in, you still forgive me?" Batuk questioned. 

"Yes Batuk, or should I take it back?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. 

"What? No! I was just..." he started. A blush suddenly appeared on his cheeks, and he confessed, "Then... should we leave behind our bad memories and have a fresh start?" 

Surabhi grinned. She was more than happy for this. 

"Will you be my girlfriend Surabhi?" Batuk then asked, making Surabhi's eyes go wide with shock. 

All the time that he was confused, it was because of her past deeds and his guilt. Now that load was off his shoulders, he felt like he could acknowledge his feelings. That he did truly like her. He enjoyed her company and wanted to get to know her better. 

Now his mental state felt a lot more clear, and the time also felt more right for him to acknowledge what he felt inside. 

Surabhi stood still for a few moments, processing this, and then she said, "On one condition." 

Batuk looked at her, almost pouting. 

"What?" he asked cutely. 

"You won't be so rude to me again! The moment you are rude to me, I will not be your girlfriend anymore!" Surabhi said, furrowing her brows. 

"Fine!" Batuk agreed. "I won't be rude to you. I'll be very sweet." 

"Good," Surabhi said with a pleased smile. "And one more thing..." 

"More conditions?" Batuk asked with a pout. 

"Do you want me to be your girlfriend or not?" Surabhi demanded. 

"Yes..." Batuk said, puckering his lips cutely. 

"You will smile sweetly at me! I don't want your grumpy expressions all the time! You may think you're too cool for things, but you shouldn't ever think you're too cool for me!" Surabhi ordered. 

Batuk smiled, his heart melting. 

"Alright, I won't. I'll chase after you like before," he told her with a grin, "Remember, when I used to flirt with you, and you used to think you were too cool for me? Don't worry, I'll let you think that."

Surabhi blushed and she said, "How about we both aren't too cool for each other? How about the both of us chase after each other and have a fun romance!" 

"A fun romance?" Batuk questioned and leaned towards her slightly. 

She placed her hand on his chest and whispered, "Stand back. A fun and slow romance, Batuk Roy Choudhary." 

Batuk looked at Surabhi with desire, knowing that he was going to enjoy this slow and sweet torture very much. 

-- 

Precap: 

Vikram/Manika scene where Manika informs Vikram about her divorce. What does this lead to?

Bondita is working on a case, and Anirudh watches her with desire, behind his desk, unable to focus on his work. 

"Bondita... come here..." he says in a heavy voice. 

Bondita goes to him and looks at him expectantly. 

"You want to take on tougher cases?" Anirudh asks, reaching for her hand and caressing it gently. "For that, you need to satisfy your Barrister Babu." 

Finally, their Barrister Babu fantasies are about to be fulfilled. 

--

After the events of the precap, the new track will begin, I hope you're excited!

Did you like this chapter? 

What did you think of the confrontation between SuraTukAniDita (what a long name!)?

Did you enjoy SuraTuk's scene? 🙈

Are you excited to see what happens to ManVik? 

Barrister Babu romance is coming as well! Are you excited?

Please leave your comments and hit star. The faster you do this, the faster I'll post updates! I can even go on a spree this weekend, if you remain caught up! I just don't want to leave my readers behind anymore, as I lost so many in my last two sprees. 😞

Also I've posted the second part of my London TS (you can find it on my profile)! It got such a good response, so I may make it longer. (The premise: What happens if Ani stayed in London, and loses control over a 16 year old Bondita? 🤭) 

Love you all! ❤️