The Shape of Happiness: A Family Crumbling Due to the Mother's Infidelity, a Wounded Middle School Daughter, and a Struggling Father Finding a New Form of Happiness. - Episode 51

“Hey, don’t mess with me!”

Inside the Ferris wheel cabin, just as it reached the top, Misaki grabbed Akiko by the collar in a fit of rage.

Akiko was terrified by the furious expression on Misaki’s face.

“‘I’m sorry’? ‘I loved you’? If you really meant that, you wouldn’t have cheated!”

Akiko couldn’t look away from Misaki, who was shouting right in front of her face.

“You slept with different men and gave birth to me! You don’t even know whose child I am! And then you dumped all the responsibility on Dad! You used his love for you!”

Tears of regret streamed from Akiko’s eyes.

“There are women who selfishly have kids without thinking about the child’s happiness, but you’re even worse! You didn’t even realize what you were doing! You tricked Dad into raising me without even knowing the truth! You’re the lowest kind of woman!”

Akiko had no words to respond.

“And you even tried to have a child with your affair partner! I saw the disgusting photos and videos saved in the cloud! ‘I want proof of our love’? Give me a break! A child isn’t some kind of trophy to celebrate your dirty affair! A child’s life isn’t something to play with!”

Images of her foolish self, happily accepting everything from Atsushi, flashed through Akiko’s mind.

“Tell me! Who am I?!”

Tears fell from Misaki’s eyes.

“I wasn’t born out of love—I was born from your lust! Even after I came into this world, all you gave me was fake love, and in the end, you betrayed and abandoned me! The only thing that kept me going was Dad! Dad was the only one who truly loved me! But even that was a lie! Dad wasn’t even my real dad!”

Akiko could do nothing but cry as she listened to her daughter’s painful screams.

Misaki tightened her grip on Akiko’s collar, shaking her violently as her voice trembled with emotion.

“Tell me! Who am I?! What am I?! Damn it! Damn it!”

—A Lost Identity

Misaki’s heart had shattered. Losing the bond she had with Shinichi as her father, the one thing keeping her grounded, had destroyed her sense of self. The DNA test had denied everything she had believed in, leaving her completely lost. She had almost regressed into a childlike state—her mind’s way of trying to protect her by returning her to a time when she knew nothing.

But when she realized she couldn’t go back, her mind activated its final defense mechanism—

After screaming her heart out, Misaki slowly let go of Akiko’s collar and dropped heavily onto the cabin seat, hanging her head. The Ferris wheel cabin swayed gently.

Then, she lifted her face toward Akiko.

“!?”

Akiko’s eyes widened in shock.

Misaki, her eyes red and swollen from crying, was looking at her with a twisted smile.

“I’ve lost everything. It was all fake. I never imagined that even I would turn out to be something so fake… But after I found out I wasn’t really Dad’s child, I thought about it. If I lose something, I just have to get it back. I just have to create it again.”

Akiko remained silent, staring at Misaki in fear.

“Living at Grandma’s house turned out to be really lucky. Everything was set up so easily.”

“P-Prepared…?”

“Yeah, prepared. So I could make my own version of happiness.”

“W-What do you mean…?”

Akiko couldn’t understand what Misaki was saying and asked without thinking.

Misaki hesitated for a moment, then grinned at her again.

“Hmm… Maybe I should tell you.”

As the Ferris wheel cabin slowly descended, bringing their isolated world closer to an end, Misaki began to talk about her own version of happiness—