The voice wasn’t loud, nor was it too soft, but it still cut through the tense atmosphere, drawing both Rafael and Alice’s attention.
As Hera turned toward the source of the voice, she saw Minerva, being gently pushed in by a nurse.
"How are you feeling?" Hera’s expression shifted instantly, settling into a calm andposed demeanor.
Minerva smiled at her warmly, her gaze drifting to therge thermal bags Hera was carrying. <i></i>
<i>’Those must be heavy,’</i> she thought to herself. Hera noticed her eyes but didn’t make any effort to conceal the bags.
"Are you here to visit my brother?" Minerva asked, her tone light but filled with curiosity.
Hera nodded, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"I brought you food, just like I promised." At her words, Minerva’s eyes briefly sparkled with excitement, though she quickly masked it with a calm expression.
Hera couldn’t help but chuckle softly at the sight.
"Please,e in," Minerva said, motioning toward the door as the nurse gently pushed her wheelchair inside.
Both Rafael and Alice were now watching intently, waiting for the two to enter.
Rafael’s eyes were filled with anticipation and excitement upon hearing that Hera had arrived, while Alice’s face twisted with displeasure—almost anger—as she realized Hera was intruding on her time with Rafael.
She hated the thought of anyone else stealing his attention.
Just as Hera and Minerva stepped into the room, Zhane arrived, looking slightly disheveled with his hair out of ce and a hint of breathlessness in his voice.
Without hesitation, he reached out to help Hera carry the bags she was holding.
Hera didn’t pull away, allowing him to take some of the load.
Though Hera had worked as a delivery person before and carrying such a load was no trouble for her, seeing her small figure with the heavy bags made both Zhane and Rafael’s hearts ache.
Fortunately, Hera had messaged Zhane the moment she arrived at the hospital, inviting him to join her for dinner.
As soon as he received the message, he had raced from his office straight to Rafael’s room.
After Zhane took the bags from Hera, he effortlessly carried them with one arm while gently holding her other hand, leading her inside and purposefully ignoring Alice, who was seated near the patient’s bed.
Once they reached the small dining table, he carefully set the bags down and then looked at Hera’s delicate hands.
They were soft, but her palms were red with faint marks from the straps of the bags.
"You should’ve waited for me to pick you up downstairs," Zhane said, his voiceced with a hint of self-reproach, as though he were scolding himself rather than Hera.
Minerva couldn’t help but chuckle from behind them, giving her brother a teasing nce.
"Brother, if you keep being so slow, Hera might be stolen away," Minerva teased.
Instead of the usual irritation, Rafael’s expression softened, and a smile tugged at his lips, his mood lightening at the yful banter.
"Your sister-inw wouldn’t just favor the new and discard the old. Don’t you believe in your brother’s charm?" Rafael replied, his eyes shifting to Minerva, who was sitting in the wheeled chair.
His gaze softened as he looked at her, a mix of affection and concern in his eyes.
He couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret that she had to endure this difort.
If this had been before, a little pain would have sent Minerva into tears, calling out to their parents or him forfort.
But now, despite the ache, she was still smiling at him, her strength shining through.
<i>’She’s really grown so much.’</i> Rafael thought, a swell of pride and tenderness rising in his chest.
Not long ago, he had believed that he had exhausted his love for his sister, worn down by their constant arguments over Alexi.
But the events that had unfolded between them felt like a bridge, reconnecting them in a way he hadn’t expected, bringing them closer once again.
Minerva, too, sensed the shift, and the joy in her heart was so overwhelming that she found herself crying at night, silently thanking the deities for giving her the chance to change, to be someone who could restore the bond she shared with her brother.
It felt as though the two siblings had returned to the closeness they once shared, where Rafael would always go to great lengths to protect his sister, and Minerva, though spoiled, still understood her boundaries—so much so that Rafael indulged her every whim.
But after Alexi came into their lives, everything changed.
Rafael became frustrated with Minerva’s constant threats of suicide whenever things didn’t go her way, and her reckless use of his hard-earnedpany resources to support Alexi.
She even redirected funds that were meant for his other artists, all for Alexi’s sake.
Rafael couldn’t bring himself to openly oppose his sister, so he was always the one to clean up the messes Minerva created.
It was the same as when Hera had first entered the picture.
Over time, instead of the love he once had for his sister, it transformed into a burden—a responsibility that weighed heavily on him.
<i>’When did our rtionship start to change?’</i> Rafael thought, a heavy sense of guilt creeping into his chest.
’<i>Was it when I got busy with my ownpany and stopped making time for her? Or had it started long before that?’</i>
"Minerva,e here. How are you feeling?" Rafael asked, his voice gentle as he gestured for her toe closer.
Minerva blinked, a wave of emotion rising in her chest.
Her eyes reddened as she rolled her wheelchair closer to him.
She had missed this—Rafael’s tenderness and indulgence.
After the ident in the forest, it was as if a fog had lifted from her mind.
Maybe it was because Hera had saved her, or perhaps it was the overwhelming feeling of vulnerability when she thought she and Rafael might die there.
Hera had been the one to pull them back from the brink.
At that moment, the bitterness and hatred she’d once harbored seemed to evaporate.
Her desire to bring Hera down vanished entirely.
But deep down, she knew it wasn’t just her heart that had changed—it was something else— the storyline’s grip on her that had finally loosened.