"Yes, Em, I helped her. I helped a friend."

"Cerise…"

​​

No, you weren't helping a friend. You were helping a cruel criminal who played with a depressed girl's heart. That evil bitch killed a girl!

Why would you let that kind of woman stay with you and manipulated your brains out?! How idiotic can you be!?

I was so frustrated with Cerise. I was still in disbelief that the sweet Cerise would be an accomplice to a basically second-degree murder!

Cerise seemed to realize that I've gone silent. She tried to defend herself by saying, "E—Em, Kristen is my savior back then. I don't have anyone other than Kristen in my life. And that's the first time she actually begs me to help her…."

"And you comply with her request?!"

"… Yes…"

What an idiot.

This girl was a total idiot!

I just… it was just so nauseating how someone could be so weak-willed, yet so malicious at the same time.

I had a suspicion that Cerise also hid many of the chats between Kristen and Helena because she was mentioned in that. Cerise even said before that she and Helena were childhood friends and neighbors.

"Cerise, don't you feel remorse for Helena? I mean, she is your friend and neighbor…."

"D—Don't make me sound like an evil guy here, Em! All I did is helping my friend!"

"Helena is also your friend…."

"B—But Kristen is a greater friend. You know you got to sacrifice something for your best friend…."

You just sacrificed an innocent girl's right for justice for your twisted sense of friendship.

You were also a nasty accomplice, Cerise. Instead of reporting it to the police, you played your role to hide the evidence of Kristen's crime.

This plot twist hurt me more than I expected. Because I truly regarded Cerise as my friend in the previous life. I thought that she was a kind, gentle and weak-willed girl. So I was protecting her.

But the show must go on. I didn't know what I would do next with Cerise. But I had to extort as much information as possible from her.

Because there was no way, I would let Kristen off.

She might not be able to get charged because she was still a juvenile, and the police must've closed this one-year-old case as suicide by depression.

But I could turn her into the most hated person in the school—no, in the world. At least I could ruin her reputation. Nobody would want to talk with her in the future.

"E—Emmy, you're not mad, right? Y—You should understand my position before. At that time, I really regarded Kristen as my friend, so I helped her. But after she bullied me and ditched me for Ashley…." Cerise sounded sad. But for me, it sounded like a criminal trying to justify her action.

But of course, it wasn't the time to judge her.

"Well, since things have developed at this point, I don't think you need to hide anything from me. Tell me everything, then I will help you," I said.

Cerise was reluctant for a moment, then she finally told what really happened based on Cerise's story.

—

After realizing that, Kristen called Cerise and begged her to break into Helena's house. Cerise questioned what happened, but she waited for Kristen to come, and she took the key from under a potted plant.

Cerise then guided Kristen to Helena's room. Because Cerise often visited Helena, she knew where her room was.

She opened the door, and they were greeted by Helena's body hanging lifelessly. She was still holding that 'Thank you, Kristen.' paper that would convict Kristen.

Thus, Kristen snatched the paper and took it with her. Meanwhile, she asked Cerise to throw the phone away, and they left as soon as possible.

—

"Did you actually threw the phone away?" I asked.

"… I've been keeping it for a while. Because I thought it would be beneficial in the future…."

Seriously, I wanted to choke this girl to death.

She literally had something that would turn against Kristen in the end. That phone had everything someone needed to put Kristen in jail.

But out of everyone, that thing ended up in Cerise's hand.

"Cerise, you're an accomplice, you know that, right?"

"I—I know…." Cerise sighed. "I fucked up, Em. And I've regretted ever doing it…."

"You're my friend, right? You told me that you will help me no matter what. That's why I'm telling this to you!" Cerise insisted.

There was no way to say no at this point in time. Besides, I needed that phone anyway.

"Cerise, hand me the phone, and I will end everything quickly," I said.

"C—Can you make sure that I don't get dragged? I don't want to get hurt by Kristen and the p—police…."

Huh, so you knew that your deed would risk you getting charged. But you kept doing it nonetheless.

There was something in me that told me both Cerise and Kristen deserved no pity. They were both criminals, just with different degrees of involvement.

But at the same time, my heart also said that I should fulfill my promise. I promised Cerise to protect her at least once. Because I knew deep down, at least she didn't have the same malicious intention as Kristen.

…

After a moment of consideration, I tried to convince Cerise for the last time, "I will make sure that Kristen won't be able to attack you. In fact, she won't be able to see you anymore after this."

"So give me the phone."