Refusing the Main Character Destiny for a Love That Is Real

After insisting that Harper put on the delicate costume lingerie again, a line of floating text suddenly scrolled across my vision:

[The toxic male side character is shameless, always trying to find ways to humiliate our heroine!]

[It's okay. When the heroine meets her tycoon father and becomes a commercial magnate, she'll ruin his family!]

[Skip the toxic side character's scenes! Just show me the hero and heroine's sweet daily life!]

The commentary vanished, and my hand, which had been unhooking the back of Harpers dress, paused.

She was flushed, but her eyes held a cool, clear depth. "Not continuing?" she asked.

I took a deep breath, redoing the button I'd just undone.

"You can go."

Harper froze. "Excuse me?"

I lowered my gaze. My eyes trailed down her soft chest, her fair waist, until they settled on her hands resting at her sides. The delicate lace trim on the cuff looked like fine snowflakes dusting her wrist.

I had spent weeks picking out this outfit for her. The top was tailored, perfectly tracing her figure. It wasn't overtly revealing. In fact, paired with Harper's cool demeanor, it looked almost regal.

But according to the commentary I'd just seen, she was supposed to be feeling humiliated right now. She thought I was doing this just to degrade her.

The thought made the whole endeavor feel pointless. I put the camera down.

"I said, you can go. I don't want to shoot anymore."

I was co-running a startup with my friend, Sam. Sam designed the intimate apparel, and I photographed the models. Harper had volunteered to be the one to model the clothes I'd picked out for this collection.

She ripped the bunny ears from her head. Her thin lips tightened, hinting at annoyance. "Albert, what sort of mood are you in now? I agreed to the shoot, didn't I? What else do you want?"

Just then, the aerial commentary, which had momentarily disappeared, scrolled across the air again:

[Why is the side character throwing a fit? The heroine put aside her self-respect to pose for him, what's his problem?!!]

[He's just trying to build up more hate in her. He's asking for a tragic ending.]

[Don't worry, everyone. This toxic creep ends up jumping from the eighteenth floor. He dies miserably~]

The eighteenth floor.

Because of Harper?

I involuntarily shivered and subtly put more distance between us. My voice dropped a notch. "I'm not throwing a fit. I just I don't think you genuinely want to do this. I don't want to make you do something you hate."

Harper was taken aback. A flicker of disbelief crossed her eyes. Perhaps I had been too persistent in the past. My sudden capitulation seemed to genuinely confuse her.

"Is that all? Are you plotting some new scheme beneath that innocent look?"

I quickly shook my head. "No. Nothing like that."

She studied me, her expression unreadable. After a long silence, just as I thought she wouldn't speak again, she placed the rabbit-ear headband into my hand. Her voice was slightly hoarse.

"Then I'm going back to studying."

Only after Harper left did the tension drain from my body. More commentary drifted by:

[As if the toxic side character would let the heroine off so easily.]

[This is definitely a strategic retreat. He's cooking up a new way to torment her.]

[Remember last time? She wouldn't go to the amusement park with him, so he retaliated by firing her mom, the housekeeper. Her mom was secretly crying as she left with her bags.]

My fingers tightened into a fist. That wasn't how it happened.

The reason I had so forcefully dismissed her mother, Maria, right in front of Harper was because I had discovered Maria's cancer diagnosis just before. Maria didn't want the astronomical medical debt to weigh on Harper or interfere with her graduate thesis defense, so she was trying to keep it a secret.

I found out, immediately contacted the best oncologists, and insisted she start treatment and stay in the hospital. I had to stage that "firing" to keep the truth hidden from Harper. Just yesterday, the doctor said her surgery went well and she would be released soon.

Early the next morning, I woke up thirsty and headed downstairs for a glass of water. Passing Harper's room, I noticed her light was still on.

The image of her sitting bolt upright at her desk, her long fingers turning a page, her lips slightly pursed in concentration, flashed through my mind.

Then, the mornings commentarythe predictions, the dramaslammed me back to reality. I shook my head hard.

A faint sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway. I retreated to the stairwell, peeking around the corner. I saw Caden, my stepbrother, in pink sleepwear, knocking on Harper's door with a glass of milk.

New floating text appeared before my eyes:

[Aah! The hero is finally here! He's so cute, like a little sunbeam!]

[Waaah! Only the hero in this house actually cares about our girl.]

[ I have complex feelings for the hero: I want to mother him!]

Harper opened the door quickly, seemingly unsurprised. She pushed her black, half-rimmed glasses up her nose and familiarly took the milk, thanking him with slightly red ears.

When their fingertips brushed, the scrolling commentary went wild, declaring they were "shipping" them too hard.

Caden's voice was bright. "Harp, will you go to the amusement park with me this weekend?"

Harper paused, not answering immediately. She simply tilted her head back and finished the glass of milk.

[What is the heroine doing!! Why isn't she agreeing to go with our little sunbeam?]

[Relax, she's the reserved, repressed type. Give her a minute.]

[Just kiss already! Aah, I'm dying here!]

Caden pouted, looking slightly hurt. "If you don't want to, thats fine. I can go alone."

Harper leaned in, bracing one hand on the door frame, closer to him now. "Who said I don't want to? You get motion sickness, I was just trying to figure out if anti-nausea meds would help with those 3D simulator rides."

Watching the intimate scene, my heart felt gripped by an invisible hand. My eyes stung, and a heavy knot formed in my chest.

When I used to ask Harper to go to the park with me, she would always say the same thing: I don't have time to waste on such childish things.

Now, she not only agreed instantly to Caden but was thoughtfully considering how to manage his symptoms.

It wasn't that she feared wasting time. She just feared wasting time on me.

Back in my room, staring at the 99+ notifications of people "shipping" them so hard, my eyes burned again.

In this sweet romance novel, I was just the villain, the toxic side character everyone despised. Caden, my non-biological stepbrother, was the hero of this world. And Harper was his destined match.

So, what did my years of devotion mean?

Harper was sickly growing up. To ensure she was healthy, I often insisted she eat the vegetables and meats she hated. Later, in high school, she worked late nights at a study lounge's coffee bar to save up for tuition, barely staying awake in class the next day. I found out, secretly got her fired, and convinced my father to cover her tuition until graduate school.

Only after seeing the commentary did I realize that all the moments I thought were acts of love and protection were seen by her as coercion and humiliation. All leading to a future where she would seek revenge and destroy my family.

If that was the reality, I had to stop loving her.

I spent the next few hours packing all the gifts and tokens Harper had ever given me into a cardboard box. They weren't exactly gifts, just random things she'd handed me. But I had kept them meticulously for years. I tossed the box into the storage room.

Harper and I attended the same graduate program, sharing the same advisor, though I was a year behind her.

The next day, after we finished an experiment, Harper stayed behind to organize her data. Unlike my usual habit of waiting for her, I simply packed my bag and headed for the door.

"Albert." She called out my full name.

I turned back, my expression intentionally cool. "What is it?"

She stood and walked toward me. "Are you leaving now?"

"Yes." I started to turn away again.

She grabbed my wrist, her grip firm, almost impossible to pull away from. "It's dark out. I'll walk you home."

"No need."

Harper looked down at me, her eyes dark and intense. "Are you throwing a fit again? Because I went to the park with Cade? Are you jealous?"

More text flashed across my mind:

[Is the side character ever not annoying? The slightest inconvenience and he forces the heroine to comfort him.]

[Shes only walking him home because she has to swing by the bakery to grab a pastry for the hero.]

So, that's why.

A sharp tug of pain went through my chest. It was foolish not to have seen it sooner. Since childhood, she always called Caden "Cade" or "Cady." She always called me by my full name.

That was the difference.

I pulled my wrist free. "I'm not throwing a fit. It's your business who you go to the park with."

Harper gave a light, knowing laugh. She looked like she saw right through my denial. "Still claiming you're not jealous?"

I was exhausted. I didn't want to argue anymore. I simply turned and walked out.