"She’s my best friend, and she’s been through something horrific. She’s still recovering, so... please, just leave, okay?"


    Despite the quiver in her tone, there was a glint of defiance in her eyes, as if she was mustering all her bravery to stand her ground.


    Hera didn’t bother responding to Alice. Instead, she calmly tilted her head to the side, her gaze bypassing Alice entirely to catch a glimpse of a startled Minerva.


    "Are you still in pain?" Hera asked gently, her tone soft but focused, making it clear that Alice’s theatrics weren’t worth her attention.


    Only then did Minerva snap back to her senses.


    She opened her mouth to speak but found herself at a loss for words, her emotions still raw from crying her heart out to Alice moments ago.


    All she could manage was a hesitant nod in response to Hera’s question.


    A strange unease settled over Minerva as she processed the situation.


    Alice’s usations toward Hera felt misced and unwarranted. After all, it wasn’t Hera who had wronged her—it was the other way around.


    Minerva had stolen Hera’s boyfriend and done countless things she should be ashamed of.


    Yet, despite all that, Hera had still helped her. Even if it was for Rafael’s sake, Hera had extended her hand when Minerva needed it most.


    The realization weighed heavily on her, leaving her conflicted and unable to meet Hera’s gaze.


    "A-Alice, it’s alright," Minerva said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, yetced with sincerity.


    She lowered her gaze, her cheeks flushed with shame. "Hera... she actually saved me and my brother."


    Though hesitant, Minerva spoke with the hope of diffusing the tension and ensuring that Alice wouldn’t continue being rude or misunderstanding Hera.


    It was the least she could do for someone who had stepped in to help despite everything.


    "Eh?! H-how is that possible?" Alice blurted out, her voice tinged with disbelief as her mind raced.


    She waspletely thrown off by the revtion.


    In her past life, none of this had happened. Instead, ’she’ was supposed to be the one kidnapped, with Rafaeling to her rescue alongside his friends.


    ording to how things ’should’ have unfolded, she had helped Minerva escape first, leading to her own capture. That selfless act had been the turning point, bringing her closer to Rafael.


    But now? Everything was unraveling differently, and she couldn’t fathom why.


    Since Alice hadn’t been allowed to meet Minerva recently, and Rafael had been keeping Minerva cooped up at home without any exnation, she assumed the kidnapping wouldn’t happen yet.


    Confident in her assumptions, she had beenid back, focusing on boosting her poprity instead.


    But hearing that Minerva and Rafael had been caught up in such a dangerous incident shocked her, prompting her to rush to the hospital to figure out what had happened and why things had deviated so drastically from her expectations.


    Learning that it was ’Hera’ who saved Rafael and Minerva only made her head spin as she scrambled to piece together an exnation.


    <i>’Something’s definitely wrong here; I’m certain of it,’</i> Alice thought, biting the inside of her bottom lip.<i> ’Since when did things start deviating from my past life?’ </i>


    She forced a wry smile at Hera, then extended it awkwardly toward the men still standing outside the door.


    They clearly had no intention of stepping inside or mingling with her and Minerva, instead waiting patiently for Hera to finish.


    Theirck of acknowledgment made Alice feel like an outsider, and the unease bubbling inside her only grew stronger.


    Her thoughts spiraled as impatience gnawed at her.


    The way events were unfolding—so out of sync with her expectations—sent rm bells ringing in her mind.


    Something was deeply wrong, and the more she tried to piece it together, the more antsy and out of control she felt.


    "I-I’m sorry, Hera," Alice said, her voice softer now, though still carrying an edge of uncertainty.


    "I was just really worried about Minerva, about her mental health, and I ended upshing out at you. Please forgive me, okay?"


    She walked over to Hera, stopping just a foot away.


    Alice raised her arms and lightly swayed them as if they were close friends, putting on a yful, almost flirtatious act.


    She tried to look cute, her expression shifting to one of feigned innocence, hoping to smooth over the tension with her charm.


    Hera felt a cringe wash over her from Alice’s overly sweet, almost sharine tone.


    Without needing to nce behind her, she knew Alice’s act wasn’t meant for her—it was for the men standing just beyond her.


    Hera caught the fleeting nces Alice kept casting in their direction, the way she subtly tried to position herself as the center of attention.


    But Hera wasn’t interested in ying that game. She came here to check on Minerva, not to entertain Alice’s maniptions.


    After spending time with the men, Hera hade to realize they weren’t fools.


    They could easily see through people, and their version in the novel seemed to suggest they had simply turned a blind eye to Alice’s antics, allowing her to y the role of the "damsel" in the story.


    It wasn’t that they were ignorant—it was just that they didn’t bother with petty women’s struggles, showing their affection in ways that didn’t require indulging in every trivial drama.


    In the novel, the male leads would always step in to help Alice when she needed them the most, as that’s typically how stories like this unfold—rescuing the heroine or letting her grow through her challenges.


    But things were different now. With all the male leads already attached to Hera, and some of Alice’s ’female lead halo’ now transferred to Hera, the men no longer showed any interest in Alice.


    The once maic allure she held over them was fading, and they were no longer drawn to her as they should have been like in the novel.