Her Hidden Hero from the Unwritten Page novel Chapter 36

It was the aura of someone sitting at the top of the food chain.

How could that be?

Rhea forced out a strained smile. "I was just curious why Winona gave you that cupcake this morning."

Jupiter asked dryly, "Is that any of your business?"

"Jupiter, I was just asking." She pouted, her large eyes welling up with grievances. If anyone else had been standing in front of her, that innocent, pleading gaze would have instantly melted their heart.

But Jupiter knew exactly what was hiding beneath that mask.

He didn't feel a shred of pity. "You say you're 'just asking', but you clearly care a lot."

She never expected him to call her out so bluntly. Stripped of her disguise, Rhea's face flushed crimson with embarrassment and anger.

As the standoff stretched on, Sarah Ximenez pushed open the front door. She was carrying a bag of discounted groceries from the supermarket and froze when she saw the tension. "What's going on?"

Rhea let out a delicate sob, instantly transforming into a bullied child seeking a parent's protection, and threw herself into Sarah's arms.

"Mom, he was being so mean to me just now."

Sarah quickly freed one hand to pat Rhea's shoulder soothingly. "It's okay, Rhea. You know Jupiter has a cold personality. He's always been like this, hasn't he?"

Jupiter watched the two of them huddle together, looking for all the world like a real mother and daughter. The corner of his mouth twitched in a faint, cynical smirk. "I'm going to my room to do homework."

Sarah hastily nodded. "Okay, okay, go ahead."

Jupiter shut his bedroom door and sat at his desk. He unzipped his backpack, pulled out a half-finished math worksheet, and grabbed a charger for his dead phone.

It wasn't until he had flawlessly completed the entire math paper that he picked up his phone to check it. The first thing he saw was the message from Melancholy Sweetie.

Seventeen-year-old Winona was supposed to absolutely despise him.

Yet yesterday, she had asked to copy his homework.

This morning, she had given him a cupcake, and this afternoon she had gone out of her way to explain herself to him.

In that moment, Winona's conscience suffered a silent, heavy blow.

*Winona, Winona, you actually used to bully him?*

*How could you have been so cruel to an academic god who lets you copy his homework without a second thought?*

Winona scrambled to copy down the answers at lightning speed, then forwarded a copy to Melody.

The other girl was profoundly touched.

With Math done and waiting on Physics, Winona powered through her English homework.

Propping her chin on her hand, she scrolled through TikTok. The local algorithm pushed a transformation video onto her feed.

The creator was quite pretty, ending the video wearing a red ancient warrior gown and wielding a prop sword.

The more Winona watched, the more familiar the girl looked.