Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 420 Torture
With her neck constricted by the collar, Yamami Maki looked up at the cold-faced girl.

She felt like crying.

If Jun Matsueda were here, he would definitely tell the two of them that love is not like that.

Love shouldn't be about calculating what you give, because not all lovers have equal wealth, status, and power. So instead of calculating what you give, it's better to confirm each other's feelings—knowing that someone loves you is enough to make you happy.

However, the boy wasn't there, so Yamami Maki had to face the girl's questioning alone. The anxiety, guilt, and panic that had been brewing in her mind and dreams all night were finally ignited by the aggressive Mochizuki Haruka.

"I didn't want to either!" Her voice seemed to have lost control. The bird across the living room fluttered in its cage, frightened by its owner.

“This is the kind of environment my family is in. I grew up here. I’ve adapted to these things that you find hard to accept for over ten years! Now you’re telling me to go against those adults and break away from the family? What am I supposed to do?!”

The girl collapsed onto the sofa, her tight collar loosening, her vision blurring, and tears falling onto the back of her hand.

"Then you shouldn't be with Songzhi."

Mochizuki Haruka's eyes were no longer so fierce, but her tone remained cold, "In the end, isn't it just that you weren't mentally prepared?"

"Liking someone isn't an easy thing, especially for someone like you who only enjoys the sweet parts."

The girl's words were filled with resentment and indignation. She glanced out the French windows as if searching for a tombstone that did not exist there.

"Hey, has that guy mentioned the system to you?"

Yamami Maki wiped away her tears. "Did Yuka tell you that too?"

Mochizuki Haruka smiled. "Of course, it's because I have one too."

When she came down the mountain and saw Moji, she was so surprised that she stopped crying. She watched as the girl sat back down on the sofa that was bathed in sunlight.

"Don't you believe me? When Songzhi and I were tormenting each other because of the system, you and him were probably just ordinary friends."

"That's why I hate your naive and innocent feelings, those feelings that have never encountered any setbacks," Mochizuki Haruka said in a vicious tone.

"You know about my aunt's disappearance before, right? At that time, everyone was saying that she was seriously ill and unconscious, and that the Wangyue family was doomed."

Yamami Maki was well aware that when she overheard her parents talking about this at the dinner table, she had genuinely worried about Mochizuki Haruka's future.

“My aunt’s condition was indeed serious, and there was no cure. In the future that the system showed me, she was truly dead.”

"..." Yamami Maki had a deep impression of the elegant and beautiful head of the Mochizuki family, and she found it hard to imagine the woman's passing.

"So when my aunt first fell into a coma in real life, I was so desperate that I was on the verge of a breakdown."

"It was the pine branch that held me back, or rather, it was I who tried every means to tie the pine branch to my side."

“I’ve tried many methods. At first I tried to control him, then I tried to bribe him, but I could only keep him by my side unwillingly.”

The girl paused here, picked up the kettle on the table, poured herself a glass of water, and while drinking it, looked at the girl with a blank look in her eyes at the other end of the sofa.

"So I know better than you what kind of person Songzhi is at heart. When I said I would leave the entire Wangyue family to him, he wasn't even tempted."

"So do you think he cares about all those plans your family made for him, like connections, education, and resources? He's only putting up with your family's control because of you."

Yamami Maki's shoulders trembled slightly, like a frightened bird in a cage. Mochizuki Haruka nodded in satisfaction and continued.

"So before I truly realized my feelings for Matsueda, I had no choice but to take advantage of his kindness and recklessly rely on him." The girl recounted how she moved into Matsueda Jun's apartment—begging, hysterical destruction, and bloody wounds—before finally getting a night's rest by the boy's side.

"So how could someone like you understand what it takes to stay by his side?" Mochizuki Haruka looked down at her with condescending pity.

"You're just shameless, aren't you?" Yami Maki couldn't help but retort. "You haven't changed anything, have you?"

“But I changed later,” the girl said proudly.

"With love for him, I endured it all, facing my aunt's illness alone, the repeated disappointments, and the struggle in pain... In the end, I became the human he wanted me to be."

Under the sunlight, Mochizuki Haruka's face even carried a hint of piety.

"If you really like someone, you'll be willing to change for them."

Of course, Haruka Mochizuki wouldn't tell anyone about the story of "The Little Prince," or about Jun Matsueda's patience, sincerity, and tolerance—it's a treasure that belongs only to a young girl, and she has no intention of sharing it with others.

“I’m changing,” Yami Maki said weakly. She had never argued with her parents before.

"Do you want me to sever ties with my family now?"

"That's your own business." Mochizuki Haruka's tone remained unwavering. "Are you just going to watch Matsue sacrifice for you? How much longer are you going to make him wait?"

"Will we wait until Jun Matsue is no longer Jun Matsue?"

The girl was silent.

"You have absolutely no awareness of loving someone." Mochizuki Haruka continued her merciless criticism. "What exactly is Matsue to you? Is it a driving force enough to keep you surviving under family discipline, or a splash of color to make your youthful school life more beautiful?"

"To me, Songzhi is everything except my aunt, even more important than her."

"Without the pine branch, my aunt would not have woken up. It was he who supported me to keep going when there was no hope, and my aunt and I were able to turn our lives around."

"He changed me; he shaped me into the person I am today, Mochizuki Haruka."

"What your family can give, the Mochizuki family can give too; what you can't give, we can give—there are no constraints or restrictions. As long as Matsue wants it, the entire Mochizuki family will be his sooner or later."

"So why should I watch him wallow in your disgusting quagmire, becoming unhappy for someone as utterly unworthy as you?!"

Yamami Maki held her breath. The girl's thoughts were a jumbled mess, and she no longer wanted to unravel them; she just wanted a moment of relaxation.

Even if Songzhi accepts everything and stays with you, is that a good outcome for him?

"Even if you don't know how your actor brother-in-law is wasting his time, you should at least know whether your sister is happy or not, right?"

"If you have even the slightest sense of responsibility, please think this through and stop putting pressure on the pine branches."

"But it's okay if you can't figure it out. I've told you all this just to let you know that I can't possibly give up on Songzhi."

"I will prove to him then what kind of future he deserves."

Mochizuki Haruka stood up in the sunlight and walked past Yamami Maki, who was slumped in the shadows.

"Someone like you, whose life has been too easy, shouldn't get involved in our affairs."

(End of this chapter)