Selena's breath trembled.

"…I… I…" Her voice cracked, barely a whisper fighting against the weight crashing down inside her chest. Nancy's words didn't just hit her they detonated. Every sentence felt like an explosion inside her skull, shaking her so violently that even her legs seemed ready to give out. She wanted to deny it. She wanted to argue. She wanted to scream that Nancy was wrong, that it wasn't as simple as she made it sound.

But she couldn't.

Because every word Nancy threw at her harsh, cruel, merciless echoed with a truth Selena had always been too afraid to face.

Her fingers trembled at her sides. Her jaw quivered. Her throat tightened so painfully she couldn't force out even one defense.

Because she had none.

Nancy only continued to stare at her with that expression filled with disgust not mild irritation, not anger, but pure, visceral disgust. The kind that said you sicken me more than anything else in this world.

And that alone was enough to crush whatever was left of Selena's already fragile heart.

Nancy scoffed, her expression twisting even further as she pointed a sharp finger directly at Selena's face.

"And now i think about it?" she said, her voice cutting like a blade dipped in venom. "I honestly don't even care about war Or innocent people dying. Because anyone who'd fight for you people is a fucking idiot anyway."

Selena's head snapped up slightly, eyes widening not in offense, but because… Nancy meant it. Every syllable.

Nancy took one step closer, the cold wind brushing her hair back as if to heighten the pressure around them.

"Like seriously," Nancy continued. "What would they even be dying for? For you disgusting people? For stupid reasons that wouldn't even matter in the long run? If anything, dying for you would be the most disappointing, pathetic excuse for a death I've ever heard.. Let them fucking die because they be fucking weight on this fucking planet."

Selena's lips trembled. Her fingers curled weakly at her sides.

Nancy's voice sharpened even more.

"So don't flatter yourself into thinking I came here to save anyone. Because I don't care. I'm only here because I owe my life to Razeal. He saved me. That's the only reason I'm even wasting my breath on you."

That sentence.. He saved my life hit Selena harder than the slap earlier.

Her eyes, golden and trembling, slowly filled with tears that spilled silently down her cheeks.

Her voice cracked, barely a ghost of sound.

"I… I don't know what to do anymore," she whispered. "I really don't…"

Nancy didn't soften.

But Selena still smiled through her tears a broken, trembling smile that carried sorrow deeper than words.

"But… I'm glad," she admitted, her voice trembling. "I'm happy that there is someone who could see Razeal for who he truly is… someone who believes in him. Someone who stands up for him…"

Her tears kept falling, dripping from her chin.

"Thank you, Nancy… truly… thank you for standing by him. I…" Her voice cracked again. "…I wish I could've been like you."

For a moment just a brief second Nancy's eyes flickered. Not with sympathy, but with recognition. She could see it. The genuine pain, the sincerity, the real affection still buried inside Selena despite all her mistakes.

But sympathy did not follow.

Nancy inhaled sharply, then exhaled through her nose like she was steadying her rage before speaking.

"You know what?" she said coldly. "When I first learned the truth.. the real truth I thought Razeal was a fucking coward."

"I thought he was weak. Pathetic. That he didn't have the guts to stand in front of the world and call out your lie. That he ran away instead. Every time he had a chance to speak, he stayed silent. I thought he was pathetic."

The air froze.

Selena's lips parted, but Nancy didn't give her a chance to speak.

"But now?" She stepped closer close enough that Selena could feel her breath, her anger, her disgust.

"Now I understand."

Her voice dropped low, deadly.

"He isn't weak. He isn't a coward. He isn't scared of you or anyone else."

Nancy continued, voice heavy but sincere in a twisted, frustrated way.

"He's stuck in something terrifying. Bigger than anything i can grasp. He doesn't even have time to deal with your bullshit. Or theirs. He's in the same situation I'm in now maybe worse. Maybe much worse."

Nancy's voice began shaking not with fear, but with a raw honesty she rarely exposed. "I am scared. Terrified. Something horrible is going on around me. I want to ask my family for help but I can't. Something stops me. And do you know how horrifying it is to face danger alone?" Her fists trembled.

"And then I realized… Razeal went through the same thing. Alone. With no one. Not even hope. Because YOU took that from him."

Nancy grabbed Selena's collar with both hands, pulling her forward harshly. "You fucking took that from him," she growled. "Just imagining how scared he must've been how alone… how betrayed makes me want to rip you apart. Because unlike me, he didn't have anyone. I can at least stay in my family's home. Know someone would protect me. But he? You took that chance away from him."

Selena broke into harder sobs, her hands trembling at her sides.

Nancy glared deeper, breath shaking, voice trembling with fury she couldn't contain. "I swear just thinking about this makes me want to kill you. And I'm NOT joking. If I don't walk away right now, I might actually do it. So stay away from me. Because next time." Her voice dropped into a deadly whisper.

"I might not stop myself." And with that she shoved Selena backward with both hands as she let go..

"Danger… what danger?" Selena's voice shook so violently it barely sounded like her own. Her eyes widened, trembling, refusing to blink as she stared at Nancy. The moment Nancy mentioned danger real danger something twisted painfully inside Selena's chest. Her heart skipped, then raced, then clenched all at once.

She staggered forward totally ignoring the pushed back scene and instinctively grabbed Nancy's wrist, her cold fingers tightening with desperation.

"What are you talking about?" she repeated, breathless. "What danger? What happened to him? Tell me.. please tell me!"

Her voice cracked. The panic in it wasn't something she could hide, not even if she tried.

Nancy narrowed her eyes at Selena's hand grabbing her, disgust instantly flashing across her face as if she'd just been touched by something filthy. She shook her arm harshly, trying to free herself. But then just for a split second she saw Selena's expression clearly.

The fear.

The worry.

The trembling panic in her eyes.

The guilt carving its way deeper and deeper into her soul.

Nancy paused.

The disgust didn't vanish, but it shifted twisted into something more complicated. Irritation, anger, hatred… but also a faint flicker of pity she absolutely hated feeling.

She clicked her tongue sharply and finally yanked her hand free.

"You know…" Nancy exhaled, shaking her head as if Selena was some sad joke. "I am… actually feeling sad for you."

Selena froze.

Nancy looked at her fully now.. not ignoring her, not brushing her off, but genuinely staring straight into her soul. And the things she saw there made her expression twist even more.

"I can see it," Nancy said bitterly. "You actually care about him. You're genuinely scared for him. Genuinely wanting to help him. Even go to any damn lengths for him."

Selena bit her lip, tears forming instantly at the edges of her eyes.

"But you know what?" Nancy continued, voice turning colder, sharper. "I'm even more sad for you because of that."

Selena's throat tightened.

Nancy continued mercilessly.

"Because he knows," she said. "He knows you would help him. He knows you still care. And even then.. look at your reality even then, he didn't come to you.. Even with what fucking situation he is in right now."

Selena's breath broke.

Nancy stepped closer, her gaze drilling into her.

"And you should understand your position by that alone. He doesn't want anything to do with you. Not your help. Not your sympathy. Not your presence. Nothing."

Selena staggered a step back, her entire body trembling.

"So what is the point of me telling you anything?" Nancy scoffed. "You think I'm going to share things he wouldn't want others to know? You think you deserve that? You think you should be involved when he doesn't even want that himself?"

She shook her head slowly, eyes cold as ice.

"I owe him so I definitely won't do something he might hate. I'm not telling you anything."

Selena swallowed hard, but her voice barely crawled out.

"…He… he doesn't hate me," she whispered weakly, though even she didn't sound convinced.

Nancy let out a dry laugh one with no amusement at all.

"Please. He does not want anything to do with you. Maybe.. maybe someday if he decides to tell you what's happening, then maybe you'll know. But right now? No."

Selena quietly lowered her head, her heart violently twisting.

Nancy continued, voice rising again:

"And honestly? I don't think he has any feelings for any of you. You disgustingly ruined his life. So stop whining like you can somehow fix things now. Stop pretending you're capable of doing anything good for him. You're not."

Tears spilled.

Selena didn't lift her head.

She couldn't.

Nancy's voice grew harsher.

"When he needed someone.. anyone when he needed just a little hope… he didn't get it. Because you took that from him. You all took that from him."

Selena's breathing became uneven, shallow.

"So why do you think he'd want help from the same people who destroyed him? Why would he want your hand now? Stop dreaming."

Selena wobbled backward again. Her legs felt weak, her vision blurred. She had thought she already faced her guilt… but she had never faced it like this.

Nancy exhaled sharply, shaking her head with disgust.

"You people are unbelievable," she muttered softly as she walked past her.

Selena didn't stop her this time. She just stood there like a corpse, a hollow statue, an empty shell staring at nothing.

Because Nancy didn't just speak harshly.

She spoke reality.

And reality was cruel.

The moment Nancy passed her, Selena's knees nearly buckled. Her eyes were empty completely, utterly empty. The guilt she once carried like a burden was now something else entirely… something massive and suffocating, like a weight crushing her bones, her lungs, her heart.

She didn't even turn to look.

She didn't call Nancy's name.

She simply stood there, breathlessly drowning in everything she had run from for so many years.

Nancy walked a few steps farther… but then suddenly stopped.

Selena didn't move.

Nancy slowly turned her head, glancing back. She couldn't see Selena's face only her back but she didn't need to. She could feel the emptiness from here.

"You know…" Nancy started, her voice lower but far more cutting than before.

"If I were you… I would've killed myself."

Selena's entire world stopped moving.. as he body suddenly trembled.

Nancy's expression didn't soften once.

"In fact," she continued calmly, brutally, "maybe you should apologize to him next time you see him… and then kill yourself right in front of him. That might be the only thing close to satisfying him."

Those words landed like knives.

Deep.

Sharp.

Unavoidable.

Her voice dropped even lower:

"Because redemption? I don't see it for you. There's no place where you get to be forgiven. So stop dreaming about it."

And with that final merciless blow, Nancy turned and walked away this time without even a single backward glance.

Her footsteps faded.

Her presence vanished.

Selena remained.

Still.. frozen and totally destroyed.

Her tears fell silently, tracing the shape of someone who had finally brutally woken up from the lie she had lived for so long.

And she realized:

This wasn't guilt anymore.

This was despair.

This was truth.

This was the reality she had created with her own hands.

And she didn't know if she could ever breathe again.

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