SSS-Class MILFs And Their Yandere Daughters, I Want Them All!

Chapter 422: Making Amends

Mika, of course, took one look at the Nuri body pillow and nodded with a maddeningly satisfied expression.

"As expected."

Astrid covered half her face with one hand.

"Mika."

He ignored her completely, holding the Nuri pillow up between them.

"A pillow of Nuri herself. Imagine my surprise."

He glanced back at Astrid, and his teasing expression sharpened.

"You act like you can’t stand her. You act as if the very fact she’s a demi-human is enough for you to start hissing like a winter wind. But clearly..."

He shook the pillow slightly.

"That’s not the whole story."

Astrid refused to meet his eyes.

Mika’s voice softened, though only a little as he said,

"It makes sense, though. You knew Nuri from before all of this. Before the politics. Before the hatred became the thing you wrapped yourself in."

He looked down at the pillow thoughtfully.

"And out of everyone, Nuri was the only one who actually called you big sister all the time, wasn’t she?"

"Me? Your sisters? We all pushed back. We all rolled our eyes. We all made your life difficult."

He smiled faintly.

"But Nuri...Nuri was enchanted by you from the beginning."

That made Astrid’s face go softer in spite of herself.

"She followed you everywhere." Mika continued. "And you loved that, didn’t you? Because for once, someone truly acted like your little sister. No resistance. No arguments. Just affection."

"You two..." His voice dropped with a hint of sadness now. "You two had something really good."

Astrid said nothing, but her hand tightened around the edge of her skirt.

"Then everything collapsed." Mika sighed. "And you pushed her away too. Not because you stopped caring, but because at that point there was no way you could allow yourself to be seen with her."

"Not with the path you chose. Not with the alliance you built around yourself. Not with the image you were trying so desperately to become."

Astrid lowered her gaze.

"That didn’t stop you from wanting to spend time with her, though."

He gestured at the pillow.

"Even today, when you met Nuri, you acted cold and distant. You probably didn’t even want to acknowledge her. But inside?"

"I’m pretty sure you were absolutely giddy. Jumping with excitement just from being able to talk to her after so long."

Astrid said nothing.

But the look on her face told him everything.

He was right.

Again. And again, he was right.

"You know, Astrid..."

Mika let out a deep sigh, his expression shifting to something more thoughtful and concerned.

"You might think Nuri doesn’t like you anymore. You might think she hates you because of how you’ve treated her for so many years."

"But let me tell you—that’s not true at all."

He looked down at the pillow again, then smiled to himself.

"In the past, she adored you. She clung to you. She called you big sister all the time. You two played together constantly. She’d flap around after you, and you’d cover her up with your tails whenever she got cold or scared."

"You were an absurdly adorable pair."

Astrid’s face betrayed her again.

"And I know for a fact..."

Mika said with conviction.

...that she misses those moments too. So whatever nonsense you’ve built up in your head about it being too late, or her not wanting you anymore, or you ruining everything beyond repair..."

He shook his head.

"You’re wrong."

"As long as you go to her honestly. and just let her in—even a little—you’ll get that friendship back faster than you think."

Her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t answer. She just sat there, thinking.

Mika, seeing her hesitation, continued more softly.

"And it’s not just Nuri. It’s your sisters too. You think opening up to them is going to destroy everything, but it won’t. They’re still your sisters."

"You all might be rivals. You all might drive each other mad. You all might be dramatic disasters in different ways. But at the end of the day, you love each other. And I’m pretty sure they love you too."

Astrid’s eyes flickered.

"So if you actually tell them the truth—what you’ve been carrying all these years, how lonely you were, how badly you wanted to fix things—I think most of these problems would vanish before you even finished speaking."

That made something spark in Mika’s mind, and suddenly he straightened with a bright look in his eyes.

"In fact, I can help you."

Astrid looked up sharply.

He was already reaching for his phone.

"If doing it yourself is too embarrassing, I can coordinate everything. I can talk to them, explain the situation, drag all of you into the same room if I have to, and make sure everything comes out properly."

"It’s really not that hard. Give me ten minutes—"

But before he could unlock the screen, Astrid lunged forward and grabbed the phone with both hands.

"No, Mika. Don’t."

He frowned. "Come on, Astrid. I can—"

"It’s not that."

She looked down, hesitant.

"It’s not that I think they won’t accept me."

Mika paused.

"I already know that if I really opened up to them—if I spoke from the heart—they would accept me."

"They’d forget the past and welcome me back without hesitation."

Now Mika was confused.

"Then why—"

"Because I can’t." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Even though I want to say everything, even though I know they’d accept me...I just can’t."

She looked up at him, and there was so much pain in her eyes.

"The guilt is overwhelming. The shame is too much. To just walk up to them after everything I’ve said, everything I’ve done, and act like none of it happened? To ask them to just forgive me?"

"I can’t face that. I can’t be so...shameless."

Mika’s heart ached at the rawness in her voice.

"But if you’re struggling to express yourself, I can—"

"No." She cut him off firmly. "You can’t do that either."

She met his eyes.

"This is my responsibility. I need to do this on my own. I need to make amends myself. If you do it for me, it won’t be sincere. It won’t be real. And I don’t want that."

Her expression shifted to something more determined.

"Trust me, Mika. I am trying. I really am trying to fix everything."

A wry smile crossed her face.

"It may not seem like it. I know I’m weird and awkward and confrontational about it. But this is my way of doing things."

"It’s slow. It’s strange. It probably looks ridiculous from the outside. But this is me doing my absolute best to make everything right."

She reached out and took his hand.

"So please. Let me do this on my own. Not because I don’t appreciate your help—I do. But because this is something I need to do for myself."

Mika looked at her.

At this vulnerable, sincere, determined woman who was trying so hard to reconnect with the people she loved, even if her methods were bizarre and roundabout.

He let out a long sigh.

"Fine. Fine."

A smile tugged at his lips.

"If you’re doing your absolute best, I guess I can leave you to it."

He squeezed her hand.

"And honestly? I’m so proud of you for taking this step. I thought I’d have to interfere, to force you to change your mind. But it seems like you understood everything on your own."

Astrid let out a quiet, crooked little laugh.

"I wouldn’t say I understood it on my own." She muttered. "It’s more like I was forced into it. After years of loneliness, eventually even someone like me starts breaking."

"And because of that." She said, looking down. "I was forced to come out of the shell I built and look at the person I used to be."

Mika nodded slowly.

"Well...it’s good that you’re moving forward. Good that you didn’t stay trapped in the past forever."

Then, as if something only just occurred to him, he tilted his head and asked,

"Speaking of the past...what about your mother? Are you doing the same thing with her? Are you trying to reconnect?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Astrid’s face changed.

The vulnerability remained, but it was joined by something heavier. Something darker.

Hesitant.

Lost.

She looked away, and Mika knew immediately—this was different.

This wound was deeper.

This relationship was more complicated.