Chapter 3

"Why should I apologize for something I never did?" I stood tall, broke free from Mark's grip, and stared right back into his furious eyes.

All around me, my classmates were directing blameful looks at me. "Mark must have fallen for Alice. Helen's just jealous, so she's picking on Alice!"

"I can't believe how mean Helen is, throwing her weight around because of her family's power! I'm too scared to even talk to Mark now. What if Helen comes after me, too?"

"She has to apologize!" They all took Alice's side, accusing me one after another, thinking they were standing up for justice by defending Alice.

They did not realize that I was the one actually being bullied. Mark was the first one to hurt me. He cornered me, slammed his fist into the wall by my ear, and growled, "Alright. So, you won't apologize, huh? Do you believe I'll break off our engagement if you don't?"

Right then, I heard Alice's thoughts once more: 'Ugh, this guy can't really like me, can he?'

'I barely lift a finger, yet he comes running like a puppy begging for a treat.'

'If I were his fiancée, I'd rather bang my head against a wall than be with him.'

'He might be a bit slow, but he's innocent and loaded. Who'd say no to a backup plan? Once I find someone better, I'll just kick him to the curb.'

I sneered.

I suddenly wondered, ‘What would happen if Mark heard what Alice was really thinking?’

However, even though Alice was worried on the inside, she pretended to be scared on the outside.

She grabbed Mark's hand, looking like she was about to cry, and said, "You can't do things that hurt yourself.

"I don't care if Helen doesn't say sorry. I'm more worried about you than winning the Belle of the Ball title!"

Mark looked a bit calmer at this, but he was not ready to drop the issue.

"Okay. Alice asked me to go easy on you, so no apology needed."

He grabbed a cream cake from the table and smooshed it right on top of my head.

Everyone stared in shock. My perfect makeup and hairdo, which I had specially done for the ball, were totally wrecked.

"No apology, no Belle of the Ball crown for you.

"You didn't listen today, so this is your punishment. It's only fair."

I stood there, a complete mess, feeling like I could not breathe or speak.

That was the last straw.

I ran to the bathroom with tears in my eyes. Alone, I finally let the tears flow and texted my mom.

Just then, I saw Alice at the door, smirking as if she had won.

Her rash was gone, and she stood next to me, not hiding her glee or her taunting expression.

"Helen, you must be wondering about the nuts in your pocket and who put them there, huh?"

I dried my tears and stared at her down. "Alice, did you ever think about what could happen to you for messing with me?

"Did my being nice make you forget who my dad is? He's the mafia don. Are you not scared to set me up?

"Aren't you scared that you might just vanish off some street corner one day?"

Alice gulped, her eyes wide with fear. Then, she burst into tears, shouting, "Helen, I only came to comfort you because I felt sorry for you!

"You won't even say you're sorry, and now you're threatening me! I've been nothing but nice to you, so why are you picking on me?"

Before she could say another word, Mark burst into the bathroom and stood protectively in front of Alice, shoving me aside.

"As long as I'm here, you're not going to lay a finger on Alice."

He pushed so hard that I stumbled back into the sink, a jolt of pain shooting through my waist.

Mark looked down at me, his voice icy. "Helen, what makes you think you're so much better than everyone else?

"If you don't apologize, I'll have my parents cancel our engagement. And once I'm in charge of the company, I'll end all the deals with your family."

Alice peeked out from behind Mark, giving me a smug smile.

With her smile came the sound of her thoughts.

'Helen, so what if you're the Don's daughter? You can't beat me!

'It's not just Mark. From now on, I'm going to take everything you love!

'I'll make sure everyone at school hates you!'

'Really?' I thought to myself.

I watched her gloating with a calm face and turned to Mark. "I've done nothing wrong. I agree to call off the engagement."

Mark froze, completely taken aback.

Then, a robotic voice echoed in my head, ‘The Thought Sharing feature has now been activated. Please choose who you want to share it with.’

Thought Sharing?

The person I picked could hear Alice's thoughts, too?

I looked at Mark, still in shock, and calmly touched my face.

‘I choose Mark.’

Right then, Alice's inner voice rang out again, just in time.

'Can you believe it? With just a little trick, Helen has given up on Mark all by herself?'

She snuck a look at Mark.

'Now that no one's competing with me for him, this loser Mark doesn't seem so special after all!'

Mark looked like his entire world had fallen apart.