>>41384594You're completely right, it's not Alice. I forgot Grace's mom's name and got them mixed up.
I actually totally forgot the stuff with Alice and Burner. I guess it didn't even register to me as something people would have a problem with because they were sort of side characters.
I think the purpose of the stuff with Alice is that the whole "fantasy" with her is that she's the troubled damaged girl who has to be "saved." The "prostitute with a heart of gold" is a relatively common trope in fiction, which seems to be the role she fills.
Like, let's be real, the big reason people have a problem with cucking in fiction is because you want to get invested in that relationship so cheating hurts. But because Burner and Alice were just the POV characters' best friends, their relationship problems didn't carry the same hurt, if that makes sense?
