If anything, he wished he could have smashed Alexi’s face into the ground until even his own mother wouldn’t recognize him.
Yet, at the same time, Rafael didn’t want to taint his hands with the filth’s blood any more than he already had.
With an air of arrogance, he walked away from the building without a backward nce.
He had already dispatched a bodyguard to take Alexi to the hospital, even covering his medical expenses to ensure he wouldn’t die or use it against him.
And if Alexi tried to sue, he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on—his blood-alcohol level would speak for itself.
Rafael was also aware of the CCTV camera in the living room, a detail Hera had revealed during her first interview after being thrown out of Alexi’s apartment.
So, he had taken care to position himself in the blind spot of the camera, leaving no evidence of his confrontation.
So, even if Alexi were to pursue legal action, the worst he could charge Rafael with would be trespassing.
However, Rafael would have a solid justification for his actions: his sister was missing, and Alexi was the only one with a motive to have kidnapped her.
He could easily assert that when he arrived, Alexi had already bashed his own head on the ground.
Rafael could subtly suggest that it was Alexi’s own drunkenness and carelessness that led to his misfortune.
Furthermore, he could sway public sentiment in his favor, portraying himself as the concerned brother who rushed Alexi to the hospital while desperately searching for his missing sister, thus garnering sympathy and turning the narrative to his advantage.
As a seasoned businessman, Rafael had considered all possible scenarios, giving him the confidence that Alexi would have no grounds for retaliation against him.
While Rafael searched for Minerva in all her usual hangout ces or friends, Sasha, one of Hera’s subordinates, received the request.
Despite his name, Sasha was actually a teenage boy who had skipped school to watch Hera’s interview.
He was fiercely defending her against the nderous remarks ofizens, hacking into their PCs to retrieve their IP addresses and forwarding the information to their legal team for revenge.
There was nothing more dangerous than a vengeful teenager skilled in hacking; they were impulsive and indifferent to the consequences.
As Sasha immersed himself in this chaotic endeavor, the ck page behind his burner social media ount lit up with an iing request, catching his attention.
Hezily clicked on the iing message from his online broker on the dark web.
"Someone’s looking for you—Rafael Briley, to be exact. He’s searching for his missing sister and has offered a bounty of 10 million for this job. Would you like me to ept it or decline?"
"I’m busy right now; I’m not in the mood to track down some runaway girl," Sasha said dismissively, showing little concern for Rafael or his sister.
He returned to his previous task, hacking into the ounts of those still ndering Hera despite the chaos caused by the troll army.
But then, a thought struck him. Rafael Briley—one of Hera’s suitors and a steadfast supporter of her—shed in his mind, prompting him to quickly revisit the dark web.
"You know what? ept that order but offer a discount—let’s only take 1 million for now," Sasha messaged.
He thought to himself, ’<i>I don’t want Hera or anyone else breathing down my neck once they find out I extorted her boyfriend. Besides, I’ve already been warned to steer clear of the dark web; it’s filled with disturbing things. And when Hera is angry, she’s genuinely terrifying.’</i>
Sasha nodded to himself. He just wanted to help Hera, his friend who recognized his talent and often hung out with him, despite others finding him strange.
After all, who could truly understand the entricities of a genius when surrounded by average people?
Most treated him like a pariah, viewing him as someone with a few loose screws or as antisocial.
But Hera saw him differently—she recognized him as an introvert rather than a weirdo.
She couldn’tprehend why people felt the need to impose their ideals and behaviors on others; if someone didn’t conform, they were shunned and treated as outcasts.
That was exactly how they treated Sasha.
Sasha was just a few years younger than Hera, still a minor, so it was understandable that he often hesitated tomunicate with others.
The male leads in the novels they lived in exhibited simr traits, and their boundaries were respected and even revered.
In contrast, ordinary people like Sasha were shunned for being different.
No one recognized he’s genius until Hera took him to an inte café, hoping to spark his interest and help him discover his passion.
Just like many teenagers, she had been captivated by video games during her own adolescence.
Hera was simply trying her luck; if gaming didn’t resonate with Sasha, they could explore othermon interests together.
She just wanted to help him find something to engage with, as he often appeared unmotivated and gloomy.
Hera was always patient with Sasha. Even when he ignored her, she would sit quietly beside him, reading her lessons or working on her homework.
Sasha disliked going home, as his parents were both preupied with their own lives and viewed him as a creep due to his gloomy demeanor and entricity.
Theirck of attention only deepened his sense of istion, making Hera’spanionship all the more important to him.
Who would have thought that when Hera brought Sasha to the inte café, he would discover a passion for hacking instead of gaming?
At first, he had no idea what he was doing, but after browsing the web for a while, he was captivated by the wealth of knowledge avable.
A spark ignited in his eyes, and from that moment on, they often returned to the café together.
While Hera immersed herself in games, Sasha focused on learning to code and hack.
Even though Hera could only spare a maximum of two hours a day due to her busy schedule, her presence meant the world to Sasha.
He appreciated her dedication and treated her with the respect of both a friend and a boss, someone he would follow with his life.