<Maki's pov>

"M-Mom!?" I almost yelled when I saw the sight of my mother half naked, lying chest down with the ex-chairperson of Otonokizaka Academy on her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked casually.

"Isn't that my line?" I asked. "Where have you been all this time?"

"I've been here for quite some time now." She simply replied before turning to face the lady behind her. "The massage session is over for now, Minami. We'll continue shortly after this."

Mrs Minami then flashed a calming smile before leaving the room along with her daughter.

"Now, why did you come here?" She asked as her face showed no signs of emotions.

Nico then nudged my waist with her elbow and whispered into my ear, "We're bringing her back."

"Wh-what? Why?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs Nishikino. Could we have a minute?" Nico turned to face Mama.

"Sure. Whatever." Mama shrugged.

"Didn't you tell me that your mother opposed to your father?" Nico whispered, making sure that Mama couldn't hear anything.

"Yeah. I did... but-"

"It's your chance to tell her whatever that had happened. I mean... she's here now to side with you. She could stop your father from whatever he'd done to you. She's your only hope for your future. Do you still want to live with that selfish brat?"

I could see everything now. Why we had suddenly went to this place. Why we were consulting Mama right now. Why Nico brought me here. Everything made sense with me now. Nico was trying to free me from him. She was protecting me.

"I-is that so? Thanks, Nico-chan." My face softened into a warm smile. I turned to face Mama and shot her with the most persuasive look I could make. "I want you to come back home."

"Hm? Is this why you came here? To bring me back?"

I nodded.

"Did your father send you down here just to get me back? Did he finally come to his senses and ready to apologize for what he'd done?"

I shook my head slowly. It's not even close to why we're here.

"This is my home now. I'm not going back to that prison-like mansion."

The plan is starting to break apart. "B-But Mama... Papa is out of control." I stuttered. I felt tears stinging in my eyes as they threatened to fall. Mama is my only hope to free me from Papa's demand... To free me from his clutches... To free me from that monster.

"Maki-chan, I'm.... I'm sorry. I can't." She looked away for a second before turning her attention back to me. "Look. You might not know this but ever since you moved out to live by yourself, your father and I had been... uhh... not in a good term with each other."

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked. I know that she had always opposed my father but what did she mean by 'not in a good term'? Was their argument this time a lot more worse than it used to?

"Let's just say that his greed got over him. What's important to him was just his profit from the hospital. His wealth. His prosperity. His life. Himself. Me? I was left there... hungry... cold... alone. I was treated like those unpaid slaves in the mansion." She got up and slipped on a white T-shirt. "That was before I decided to end the torture and move out to live with Minami. This is where I belong. This is where my happiness lies. This is where I.... could be myself. There's no way I would return to that sad excuse for a mansion."

"Mama.. Please..." I sniveled into my sleeves. Our plan had failed, hadn't it?

"Sorry. I won't. I'm not seeing him again."

"Look, Mrs Nishikino," Nico stepped forward. "We're not trying to get you both together. We're trying to stop him. Because of your husband, Maki-chan here is forced to live according to his desire. She isn't allowed to live her life freely. Shouldn't you, as his wife, try and stop him?"

I could see her flinched a bit the second 'wife' slipped out of Nico's lips.

"N-no. Not this time."

Those words hit me like a slap across my face. What did she mean by 'this time'? Did something similar happened before? If it does, why haven't I remember any parts about them splitting up?

"Mama, what do you mean by 'this time'?" I gathered all my courage to ask her that painful question.

Her eyes widened for a moment before she calmed herself down and leaned over the edge of the bed. She let out a soft sigh before she answered. "We were hoping you won't find out about this since it happened a long time ago, when you were really young. When you were three, your father and I had some time apart to settle our differences. However, it just only happened for just four months before we decided to give us a second chance. Since it didn't have any effect on you back then, we decided it's for the best to keep it a secret from you."

"I-is that so?" I muttered.

Mama just nodded before she got up, wiped off some imaginary lint from her pants and headed towards the door. "I'm sorry, Maki-chan." She whispered as she walked out the door.

Once she's out of earshot, Nico approached me and wrapped her arms around me. Her hug feels warm. Feels a lot like when Mama used to when she confronted me at times when I was feeling down.... a long time ago.

"Looks like we failed... I'm sorry." She sobbed.

I could tell that she had spent some time coming up with that plan. She seems really disappointed in herself when it backfired.

I hugged her petite sized body warmly, allowing her to calm down. She had gave all her best to come up with the plan. It's about time I try to stop him myself...
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A/N

Heey everyone. YFG here. It has been a while since this book have a proper update. People had been asking me to update this chapter so here it is! I'm really evil to let you guys waiting muahaha- //slapped. Aaanyway, my schoolwork was piling up and I had tons of exams. Since it's all over (for now...) I finally get to update. Yey!

YFG, signing out