Akhil’s face brightened with joy, his entire body practically trembling from the sheer happiness of being able to eat the ice cream.
His lips curled upward in satisfaction, and he couldn’t help but nod appreciatively at her thoughtfulness.
“Not bad.
She knows how to be considerate of me.”
He felt smugly satisfied with himself.
He raised his right hand and shouted with excitement.
“Let’s go.
What are we waiting for?”
Divya nodded, though a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
She drove to the famous ice cream shop.
Meanwhile, Akhil opened his chat, typed a message and sent it to his parents.
Akhil: Dad, I am hanging out with my friend.
I won’t be coming until night.
Meanwhile, at home,
Ramesh noticed he had received the message.
So, he opened his WhatsApp and noticed the message from Akhil.
He raised one eyebrow in puzzlement.
“Why did he suddenly message me?
Could it be that he couldn’t catch a bus?”
He opened the chat as he stood up from the couch, ready to go pick him up.
But he froze when he saw the message, his lips twitched wildly with amusement.
“Heh… You brat!
You think I don’t know which friend you are hanging with?”
“At least try to come up with a reasonable lie.”
“His friends are all in college, and beside them, he doesn’t have a single friend outside their circle.”
“Who are you trying to fool?”
He laughed heartily as he imagined his son marrying Divya in the future.
He typed a reply and sent it to Akhil.
Ramesh: Okay.
Be careful.
He was pleased with himself and placed his phone on the table.
Just then, Rhea walked toward him.
A flicker of confusion crossed her face, and a terrible feeling crept into her chest.
“What is it?
Why are you laughing?”
Still in a good mood, Ramesh told her everything without hiding anything.
Rhea’s face darkened as she gritted her teeth in anger.
She strode toward him hurriedly, and pinched his arm hard.
“You… How can you let Akhil go with her?”
“Just now, Akhil returned to his usual self.
What would we do if something happened to him again?”
Ramesh winced in pain, desperately trying to free himself from her iron grip.
“Ahhhh… Stop it.
It hurts.” You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Rhea finally let her hand go, her expression sharp and dark.
“Tell me.
Why did you let him go with her?”
Ramesh immediately explained his reasoning.
“Rhea, you’re worrying endlessly about this matter.
The reason he got stressed was because you revealed to him that Divya was in love with him.
Divya herself isn’t the problem.
So, there is nothing wrong with them spending time together.”
Of course he hadn’t told her about his little schemes.
Saying that in front of her would be the same as handing his head to the devil.
Rhea nodded, accepting his explanation.
She had to admit that it was indeed not Divya’s mistake.
On the other side,
Akhil and Divya had both arrived at the famous ice cream shop, Ice Bite.
The ice cream shop was a rectangular building, its walls painted sky-blue to give a refreshing feel.
At the entrance, a decorative pot added a charming touch to the entrance.
Window seats lined the walls and lanterns hung from the ceiling, casting warm light across the room.
Akhil’s eyes darted around the place.
A flicker of nervousness crossed his face.
He tugged gently at Divya’s arm.
Divya turned around to look back at him.
He shifted uncomfortably in his place and asked with hesitation and caution.
“Divya… Don’t you think this place is too expensive?”
He liked eating ice cream, but his budget was limited to a small sum.
But this place, a single ice cream here could cost him as much as twenty ice creams from the shops outside.
He did not want to exploit Divya’s money.
He even felt that buying ice cream here was a waste of money.
Divya raised an eyebrow at his question.
Her expression turned playful as she decided to tease him a bit.
“Ohhhhh….
Why do you think so?”
“If you’re worried about emptying my wallet, then I have an idea.”
She smirked as she watched his reaction,
“Then how about you pay for the ice cream today?”
Akhil’s eyes widened in horror and disbelief.
What?
She was asking him to pay for the ice cream?
My mom hadn’t even given me allowance for saving.
How the hell was I supposed to pay for the ice cream when I didn’t have a single penny.
He swallowed hard.
He immediately tried to come up with an excuse, and, fortunately, found one.
He looked at her, trying very hard to put on a pitiful face.
How about this?
You can pay today, next time I will.”
Divya looked at him for a moment before immediately bursting into laughter, clutching her stomach.
Her laughter rang across the shop.
A few customers turned to look, only to see the stunning policewoman laughing with a handsome young man.
They all watched the scene with interest and curiosity.
“A policewoman with a handsome young man.”
“What a strange pair.”
Meanwhile, Akhil’s face flushed red from embarrassment.
Have I done something funny?
Why was she laughing?
His mind was filled with questions but he had no answers.
He felt uncomfortable being stared at by many people.
He grabbed her wrist, immediately led her toward the entrance.
He asked in a hushed voice.
“Why are you laughing?”
Divya shook her head with a smile.
“No, It’s nothing.”
“Has anyone ever told that you’re bad at lying?”
Akhil froze, lowered his eyes and fidgeted with his fingers as he understood what she was saying.
“I’m sorry.
But my mother won’t give me an allowance.
At the same time, I didn’t want you to spend so much money on ice cream.”
His voice was soft and carried a hint of guilt.
He felt ashamed.
Thinking about it now, he realized he hadn’t done anything for her.
It felt more like he was taking advantage of her.
Even if he and Divya were friends, he couldn’t keep taking advantage of her generosity.
But he doesn’t have any money, how was he supposed to pay her back?
He had no idea what to do.
“Sigh”
A sigh escaped his lips.
He looked at her, his expression filled with shame and guilt.
“Divya, I don’t think you should spend your money on me.”
“If you keep spending money on me, I’ll feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”
“I don’t want you to keep spending money on me.”
Divya’s eyes softened as she ruffled his hair.
“Don’t worry about that.
I ….”
Before she could finish, Akhil interrupted her.
“No, I can’t allow that.
I’ll only feel more guilty if I can’t repay you.”
Divya pondered for a moment; her eyes shifted toward Akhil.