Mark hurried over and immediately hugged Alice, whispering calming words in her ear.

He did not even glance at me as I stood with a shocked look on my face.

Only after Alice's tears stopped did Mark finally turn to me. He just frowned and started scolding me without asking any questions.

"If you're innocent, why were the nuts found in your pocket and not someone else's?

"Admit what you did and apologize to Alice. It's not going to kill you.

"Mr. and Mrs. Clark didn't send you here to pick on a poor girl!"

Each word he shouted felt like a knife cutting into my heart.

The other students, seeing Mark take charge, stopped their whispers. They began to join him in blaming me.

"If even Helen's fiancé is accusing her, then she must be guilty of triggering Alice’s allergies!”

"Yeah, Helen's jealousy is scary. She'd do anything to stop Alice from becoming the Belle of the Ball. No wonder Mark is upset with her!"

Alice's smug thoughts echoed in my head again.

'I just love that he stood up for me against his own bride-to-be. It's so nice to be protected by someone so rich and clueless!'

'Helen, you're such a loser!'

I looked over at Alice.

She was small, but she stood behind the tall and protective Mark. When she caught my eye, she just smirked and raised her eyebrows as if she had won.

I kept telling myself that even if Mark did not believe me, I could not let Alice ruin my good name.

"I already told you I didn't do it. If you don't believe me, let's go check the security cameras," I said.

Some classmates who had not joined the others in blaming me nodded in agreement.

"Right, there are cameras at this event. Instead of arguing, let's just watch the footage," one of them said.

"Helen sounds so sure of herself. Maybe there's been a big mix-up. We should look at the cameras to find out what really happened," another added.

Alice's eyes filled with tears again.

She gave Mark a sad, puppy-dog look.

Mark gently patted her shoulder and then turned to me with an icy sneer.

"Ms. Clark, how much are you planning to pay off the security guys, since you're so keen on checking the cameras?" he asked.

I froze, staring at Mark. It felt like he was a stranger now.

The man who used to always stand by me, no matter what, was now on Alice's side.

Alice pulled at Mark's sleeve and said in a small voice, "It's okay, Mark. Let Helen have a look. I don't want any hard feelings."

I honestly thought that once we looked at the footage, I would be off the hook.

However, the guy from the security room said the cameras had been messed with that morning.

Everyone turned and stared at me.

I was totally lost for words.

Mark just shrugged and laughed meanly.

"See? I told you so," he said.

"Helen, you've really outdone yourself trying to pick on Alice.

"Are you that jealous of her? Are you scared she'll take your spot in my heart?"

My spot?

I had known Mark my whole life, and I thought I understood him.

I never planned on marrying anyone but him, and I thought he felt the same.

That was until Alice showed up.

He told me, "Alice is strong, hardworking, and pure. She’s nothing like you and those other rich girls.”

Ignoring our engagement, he kept siding with her, choosing her over me. He crushed my pride and reputation beneath his feet.

I let out an icy laugh and turned to walk away, but he yanked me back. His gaze was icy as he snapped, "You're not going anywhere until you apologize to Alice!"

"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.