Episode 59

**"My Confrontation (part 1)"** is the fifty-ninth released episode of My Deepest Secret by Hanza Art. After falling into the trap that Yohan set up, Sophie confesses all of her past indiscretions to Hanamika and Emma. With the truth finally revealed, Hanamika exacts justice for the harm Sophie inflicted on others.

## Synopsis

At the designated time, Sophie apprehensively opens the door of the warehouse. She finds herself facing a solemn Hanamika standing in the dark with her arms crossed. Comprehension dawns on Sophie as she deduces that Hanamika is the culprit behind the threatening notes she received that night. Angrily, Sophie pulls the notes out of her pocket and demands if Hanamika is doing this in retaliation for the harassment notes from the previous semester. In a cool voice, Hanamika asks why Sophie pushed Emma into the river, explaining that Emma is unable to swim. Sophie crushes the notes in her hand and defends herself, claiming that the incident was an accident and that she was unaware Emma cannot swim. At these words, Hanamika raises her eyebrows skeptically. Aggravated, Sophie argues that she is not the only one at fault, since she was startled by Emma after finding her on the edge of the cliff. She continues to criticize Emma for not learning how to swim after reaching adulthood. If Emma accidentally gets into an accident in the future and drowns, the only person she can hold responsible is herself.

Coldly, Hanamika concludes that Sophie was too concerned about her own conscience to ever stop and consider Emma's safety throughout the entire ordeal. Having heard enough, she turns around and asks if Emma successfully taped the entire conversation. Emma emerges from the shadows holding a cell phone, its camera pointed at Sophie. Taken aback by Emma's sudden appearance, Sophie jumps back in shock. She realizes that the entire night was a set up, and that she was thoroughly tricked. Sighing, she drops the notes to the ground and declares that she no longer needs to keep up appearances as Emma's friend.

Emma pauses the recording and hands the phone over to Hanamika. With a sad expression on her face, Emma inquires the motives for Sophie's actions. She clarifies that depending on Sophie's response, she may have to hand the video over to the authorities. Feeling her anger rising, Sophie claims that Emma was making fun of her ugliness. She states that pretty girls like Emma only act nice to maintain an innocent facade in public while disregarding the collateral damage inflicted on ugly people. Complimenting others to the extent of lying is entirely selfish, as pretty people only do this to make themselves feel better. Ugly people like Sophie already acknowledge how hideous their appearances are and do not need to hear the lies of others. Thoroughly perplexed by the direction the conversation is heading, Emma insists that she did not lie. Sophie laughs crudely and jabs an accusing finger in Emma's direction, pointing out that Emma is once again lying. She accuses Emma of being a hypocrite, demanding to now what there is to gain from being nice to others.

Emma begins to protest but stops mid-sentence. She recalls when Elios asked her the same question. Her surroundings seem to fade away as she wonders when she decided to become a "nice" person, questioning whether or not she is truly only doing such things to feel better about herself. As she dwells over this sudden revelation, her head begins to throb painfully. Noticing this, Hanamika asks Emma if she is alright. As Emma clutches her head, unable to respond, Hanamika heaves a heavy sigh. She originally wanted to stand on the sidelines and watch as Sophie was interrogated. Since Emma was on the defense, however, there is nothing left for Hanamika to do but interfere. As Hanamika approaches her, Sophie trembles as she attempts to stand her ground. Hanamika gives Sophie a cold warning that she is not a nice person.

Without another word, Hanamika lifts her hand and strikes Sophie hard across the face, knocking Sophie's glasses to the ground. Flabbergasted, Sophie screeches that she has never been slapped in her life before, even by her parents. Hanamika blatantly ignores her protests and slaps her over and over again. The slaps echo throughout the warehouse as Hanamika punishes Sophie for every indiscretion she made in the past. Sophie falls to knees, her cheeks red and swollen from Hanamika's harsh assault. Trembling in fear, she threatens to report Hanamika. Hanamika towers over Sophie's crouched figure as she coldly calls Sophie's bluff, pointing out that Sophie has no evidence of who slapped her. Hanamika and Emma, on the other hand, have video proof that Sophie sent harassment notes and pushed Emma off of a cliff without remorse. Realizing that Hanamika is right, Sophie squeaks in fear.

Having vented out her anger, Hanamika casually states that Sophie is the type of person who uses her low self-esteem to blame others for their own flaws. She chastises Sophie of being delusional and advises her to stop assuming other people's actions are always associated with her. Hanamika jabs a finger in Emma's direction, demanding if Sophie ever considered the struggles Emma had to face for being pretty. Rather than drowning herself in despair and self-pity, Sophie should stop and think about the consequences others have to face for being who they are.

Sophie kneels on the ground as angry tears slide down her face. In a small voice, she insists that it is unfair how alone she is, while Emma has friends to support her. Emma and Hanamika stare at Sophie's trembling form in confusion, wondering how Sophie reached this conclusion. Sophie recalls when she confront Camie for the same situation in high school. Camie's friends wall defended her, explaining that she did nothing wrong. Though Camie appeared to tearfully apologize, she also slyly pointed out that Sophie was responsible for following the advice in the first place. Realizing that she will always be alone while the pretty girls have friends to defend them, Sophie shouts in frustration and punches the wall of the warehouse.

A plank loosely fitted into the roof of the warehouse above Sophie's head begins to tilt from the momentum of the punch. Not noticing this, Hanamika points out that Sophie had Emma as a friend before she sabotaged their friendship. Emma looks up in alarm as the wooden plank slips from its position and begins to fall. She screams out in warning and rushes forward to push Sophie out of the way.

## Characters

*Characters are listed in order of appearance. Character first appearances are **bolded**.*

* Sophie McCarthy
* Hanamika
* Emma Wilson
* Camie (flashback)