After the confrontation at the mall, Mizuki and Nancy returned to Willemspark in a suffocating silence. Nancy had been oddly quiet, her face ashen, her eyes distant. It was as if her mind had slipped away from the moment, lost in some dark, swirling abyss.
The events at the mall had exposed too much, too quickly. Sophia and Andrea had been blindsided by the truth, the revelation that Nancy had spun a web of lies about Mizuki. The anger in their eyes had been enough to tear through the carefully constructed facade they had all lived behind.
Back at the mall, when Sophia and Andrea realized they'd been tricked, they had turned to Nancy with accusations. "Why did you make us believe Mizuki was a parasite?" Sophia demanded. "Why did you lie about her?"
Mizuki, though already hurt, had played the innocent. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand," she had said, her voice trembling with feigned confusion. "Can someone explain this to me?"
Nancy, frantic to salvage the situation, had tried to deflect. "This isn't the time or place," she insisted, urging them to go to a quieter place, a café where they could talk without drawing attention. "Let's just sit down and clear this up."
Once they were at the café, Nancy had begun to weave her lies, her voice shaky as she tried to gaslight them. "It's just a misunderstanding. I never meant to say Mizuki's family wasn't rich," she cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "I just meant they aren't... they aren't as rich as some people think."
But the girls were smarter than Nancy had given them credit for.
Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Not that rich? We never made the connection before because you spelled Mizuki's last name Woolfe last time. But the Wolfe Family? The Wolfe family ranks 8th among the richest families in the Netherlands, while the royal family ranked tenth, and you're telling me they're not rich enough?" She scoffed, incredulous. "Who are you kidding?"
Andrea joined in. "You've always told us that you family has been providing for her all these years. You even said Mizuki was a playmate they gave to you, someone they gave to you because they pitied you!"
The words cut through the air, and Nancy's face drained of color. Mizuki's lips curved into a smirk, a small laugh escaping her as she absorbed the absurdity of it all.
"Is that a joke?" Mizuki asked, her voice cold and sharp as she turned to Nancy. Nancy stood frozen, pale and terrified, unable to deny the truth.
Sophia pulled out her phone, showing Nancy the message she had received yesterday: a text from Nancy, complaining about how she didn't want to bring Mizuki shopping, but her parents had insisted. The text spoke volumes.
"Is this true?" Mizuki asked coolly, her eyes narrowed.
Nancy couldn't respond, her throat dry and tight. Mizuki didn't wait for an answer, her words coming with a biting clarity. "I'm not sure about what exactly she told you, but I'm the only daughter of the Wolfe family," Mizuki said, her tone calm but firm. "She's our housekeeper's daughter, who I thought was my best friend. My parents made sure we went to the same schools, but I didn't know she felt like this."
Mizuki turned her gaze to Nancy. "Apparently, I'm the only one who thought we liked each other's company."
The conversation was peeling back layer after layer of lies, unraveling the years of deceit Nancy had carefully stitched together. The air was thick with tension as the girls, shocked and disillusioned, realized the truth.
Finally, Sophia and Andrea apologized to Mizuki. "We're sorry we believed her," they said, their words laced with regret. They glared at Nancy before standing up and walking away, leaving the broken friendship behind.
None of them looked back.
At the mansion, the silence between Mizuki and Nancy was palpable. The air felt heavy, as if the weight of the unspoken words pressed down on both of them. Mizuki got out of the car and began walking toward the door, but Nancy hurried after her, her voice desperate.
"Mizuki, it's not what you think. It's a misunderstanding, really," Nancy pleaded, her voice shaky with fear. She reached out to Mizuki's arm, but Mizuki pulled away, her heart pounding with a mixture of anger and disbelief.
"Then what should I think?" Mizuki countered, her voice rising. Nancy froze, unsure of how to answer. "It's clear we were never friends," Mizuki continued, the bitterness creeping into her tone. "You told everyone I was your servant, that I was your family's leech. Aren't you talking about yourself?" She glared at Nancy, who now stood pale and trembling, unable to meet her gaze.
Mizuki's heart was heavy with the weight of betrayal, but she had no intention of letting it slide. "I'm done. We're done," she declared coldly, turning to walk away.
But Nancy was frantic. She rushed forward, grabbing Mizuki's arm, spinning her to face her. "You can't be done! You can't just walk away from this!" Nancy screamed, her voice raw with panic.
Mizuki turned to her, her face a mask of disbelief. "Why not? What reasons do I still have to stay friends with you?" Her voice was steady now, no longer laced with confusion or hurt. "I don't need this kind of betrayal. We were never friends, Nancy. Not really."
Nancy's face crumpled with desperation, her eyes wild. "No, you don't understand! You can't do this to me! You can't just leave me like this!"
But Mizuki was done. She stepped away, breaking free from Nancy's grip.
"Why not?" she asked again, her voice low and final. "You wanted it this way. You made this happen."
Nancy, choking on her words, refused to let go. "It's your fault," she screamed. "It's your fault I'm like this! You don't understand what you did to me!"
Mizuki's mind reeled as she processed the words, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. "My fault? Are you serious?" she asked, her voice rising in disbelief.
Nancy's voice cracked as she spoke, her emotions finally spilling over in an overwhelming flood. "You made me want things. Things I couldn't have. You showed me a life I could never live, and now... now I can't go back to the way things were before."
Mizuki shook her head slowly, feeling both sympathy and anger. "You're angry at me? At what I have? You're angry because I tried to be your friend?"
Nancy's chest heaved with sobs. "I never asked for this. I never asked to be a part of your world!"
Mizuki's heart broke, but it didn't change the fact that she had no patience for this warped sense of entitlement. "I didn't make you want things, Nancy. You wanted them. You wanted to be part of my world, but you couldn't handle it. And now, you're blaming me for your own dissatisfaction."
The air grew thick with tension as Nancy's anger reached its peak. She collapsed onto the floor in a heap of sobs. Emma, the housekeeper, appeared in a rush, her face stricken with worry.
Seeing her daughter on the floor, Emma knelt beside her, wrapping her arms around Nancy, trying to calm her. "Nancy, please," Emma whispered, her voice breaking. "Please, don't do this."
Nancy shoved her mother away. "It's all your fault, too!" she cried, her voice laced with fury. "You made me see how different we are. You made me realize I would never be good enough. How can you be happy being a slave? You're as bad as them!"
Emma's face was filled with sorrow, but she remained silent, tears streaming down her face as she hugged Nancy close. She turned to Mizuki with pleading eyes. "Young Miss, I'm so sorry. Please forgive her."
Mizuki's heart softened at the sight of Emma's tears, but she knew there was nothing she could do. "It's not your fault, Emma," she said quietly. "You only wanted what was best for her. We all want what's best for the ones we love."
But as Mizuki watched Nancy, her mind raced with conflicting thoughts. Was Nancy right in a twisted way? Had Mizuki unknowingly fed into her greed, creating this monster of entitlement and resentment? Mizuki didn't know. She didn't have all the answers. All she knew was that Nancy had crossed a line—and Mizuki would not be the one to clean up the mess.