Chapter 8: The Story the Comments Never Saw

The next morning, I woke up with swollen eyes.

I barely remembered falling asleep.

The only thing I remembered was Elias's quiet voice from the study.

"She actually believes I'm letting her go..."

Had I imagined it?

Or had he really said those words?

The comments quickly interrupted my thoughts.

[Don't overthink it.]

[The male lead is just feeling guilty.]

[He still ends up with the female lead.]

[Stop giving yourself false hope.]

I forced myself to look away.

At work, I tried to focus on the reports in front of me.

Around noon, my phone vibrated.

An unfamiliar number.

"Hello?"

"Nancy? It's Yoana."

I froze.

"Can we meet for a few minutes?"

My heart sank.

Was she finally going to ask me to leave Elias?

The comments exploded excitedly.

[It's happening!]

[The female lead is confronting the side character!]

[This is where she gracefully steps aside.]

An hour later, I arrived at a quiet café.

Yoana was already waiting.

She smiled warmly as I sat down.

"Thank you for coming."

"What did you want to talk about?"

She looked slightly embarrassed.

"Actually... I wanted to apologize."

I blinked.

"Apologize?"

"I think I accidentally caused a misunderstanding between you and Mr. Carter."

Before I could respond, she reached into her bag and took out the small cat plush.

"This?"

"It isn't mine."

I stared at it.

"What?"

"It belongs to my little niece."

"She left it in Mr. Carter's car when he helped me move some company equipment last week."

"I completely forgot to take it back."

I looked at the plush in silence.

The comments immediately appeared.

[She's lying.]

[Don't believe her.]

[She's protecting the male lead.]

For the first time...

I didn't immediately believe the comments.

Yoana continued.

"There's something else."

"The pillow I gave him..."

"It wasn't a personal gift."

"The company bought one for every department manager after the health seminar."

"I was simply delivering his because I lived nearby."

"That's all."

I slowly looked up.

"That's... all?"

"Of course."

"Why would there be anything else?"

She suddenly laughed.

"Nancy..."

"Do you know everyone in the office thinks Mr. Carter is obsessed with you?"

"What?"

"Yesterday he nearly frightened poor Jim to death."

"He spent half the afternoon asking people whether you'd really rented an apartment."

"He even canceled two meetings early."

I felt completely stunned.

That wasn't what the comments had said.

"Actually," Yoana added with a helpless smile,

"I've been engaged for almost a year."

She held up her phone.

The wallpaper showed her standing beside another man.

Both of them wore matching engagement rings.

"We're getting married this autumn."

Everything inside my head suddenly went blank.

The comments became chaotic.

[Wait... engaged?]

[That wasn't supposed to happen.]

[Did the plot change?]

[Impossible.]

For the first time since these strange comments had appeared...

They sounded uncertain.

Yoana tilted her head curiously.

"Nancy? Are you alright?"

"You keep staring into space."

"I'm fine."

I smiled awkwardly.

"I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

I lowered my eyes.

"Maybe... I misunderstood someone important."

When I left the café, the comments continued scrolling across my vision.

But unlike before, they no longer sounded confident.

[Something's wrong.]

[The story isn't following the original plot.]

[Why is the female lead engaged?]

[Then... who is the female lead?]

I looked at the words floating in front of me.

For the first time...

I quietly asked them.

"Have you been wrong this whole time?"

None of the comments answered.

That evening, as I stood outside the villa holding my keys, I suddenly noticed something through the living room window.

Elias was sitting alone on the sofa.

Beside him lay every single thing I had ever given him.

The scarf.

The coffee mug.

The keychain.

Even the old pillow I thought he had replaced.

He was carefully putting each one back into its original place.

As if he had never intended to replace any of them at all.