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Whether it’s the allure of wealth, the danger of the underworld, or the beauty of love against all odds — Ashley’s Stories brings you tales that are bold, emotional, and unforgettable.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00You ever try to hold your life together with both hands while it's already slipping through your fingers?
00:04That was me.
00:06Every day, every night, pretending I was fine while praying nobody looked close enough to see the cracks.
00:11I thought I could outrun my past.
00:13Turns out it had a better car.
00:15The day everything fell apart started quiet.
00:17Too quiet.
00:18My daughter, Lily, was in the kitchen,
00:21humming something soft while she drew hearts in her cereal milk.
00:24Six years old, all sunshine and questions.
00:27She asked me if I'd ever worn a wedding dress.
00:29I laughed.
00:31Told her that was a long story.
00:32Then she looked up with those serious brown eyes that always scared me a little and said,
00:37Mommy, I want a wedding.
00:39I want to dance and have cake and wear a pretty dress.
00:43She didn't mean it the way it sounded.
00:45She meant happiness.
00:46She meant safety.
00:48Things I'd been promising and failing to deliver for years.
00:50I kissed her hair, told her one day she'd have all of it,
00:54and tried not to let my voice break.
00:56By the time she was done eating, I knew we had to run again.
00:59The man I used to work for, the one I stole from, had found me.
01:03Or maybe I'd just been stupid enough to stop looking over my shoulder.
01:06I packed Lily's clothes in silence.
01:08The sound of her cartoons filled the apartment while I shoved our lives into a duffel bag.
01:12She asked if we were going on vacation.
01:15I told her yes.
01:16That lie cost me something.
01:18Lies always do.
01:18We drove until night pressed against the windows like a warning.
01:22I didn't have a plan this time.
01:24Just fear and a tank of gas.
01:26The money I'd hidden was gone.
01:28My last favor dried up weeks ago.
01:30I was down to prayer and luck.
01:32And neither had ever liked me much.
01:35Somewhere outside of Philadelphia, the car started coughing.
01:38Then dying.
01:39I pulled into a gas station that looked abandoned and told myself it was fate.
01:43Not punishment.
01:45Lily was asleep in the back, hugging her stuffed bear.
01:47I covered her with my jacket and stepped out into the night air.
01:52That's when I saw him.
01:53He was leaning against a black car like he owned the ground it stood on.
01:57Tall, broad shoulders under a black shirt.
02:00Top buttons undone like he didn't believe in rules.
02:03The kind of man who looked at you once and saw everything you were hiding.
02:06And I hated that my first thought wasn't run.
02:08It was finally.
02:09He didn't speak at first.
02:11Just watched me.
02:12Then, with a voice that sounded like smoke over whiskey, he said,
02:16Car trouble.
02:17I lied.
02:18Just stopping for gas.
02:19He glanced at the tank.
02:21You didn't pull up to a pump.
02:23That's when the panic started crawling up my throat.
02:26I don't need help, I said.
02:29Yeah, he said quietly.
02:31You look like you don't need help at all.
02:33Something in his tone made me freeze.
02:36Not threat.
02:37Recognition.
02:37He knew me.
02:38I turned to get back in the car, but he said my name.
02:41My real one.
02:42The one I hadn't heard in three years.
02:44Clara.
02:45My chest went cold.
02:46I gripped the car door.
02:48Who are you?
02:49Someone who's been looking for you.
02:52I looked at him properly then, his eyes gray like a storm about to break.
02:57Calm but deadly.
02:58Everything about him was control.
03:00The way he stood, breathed, even blinked.
03:04It was all deliberate.
03:05Men like him didn't show up by accident.
03:08You with Santino?
03:09I asked.
03:10My voice barely held.
03:12He tilted his head slightly.
03:14Used to be.
03:15Used to be.
03:16That meant he knew the life I was running from.
03:18Which meant I couldn't afford to stay standing there.
03:22But before I could move, he said something that stopped me cold.
03:26He knows about Lily.
03:27My heart stopped.
03:28I opened the door, grabbed my daughter's small sleeping body and whispered,
03:33Hold on, baby.
03:34He didn't try to stop me.
03:36Just followed me with his eyes, slow and steady, like he was memorizing every move.
03:41By the time I started the car again, it made a noise that sounded like a death rattle.
03:45He knocked on my window, crouched down beside it.
03:49You won't make it five miles.
03:50Let me help.
03:51I shook my head.
03:52You think I'd trust someone who works for him?
03:55I don't work for him, he said.
03:57I'm the reason he's looking for you.
03:59I didn't know what that meant, and I didn't want to.
04:03But the engine gave one last groan and died completely.
04:06Lily stirred in my lap, whispering,
04:09Mommy.
04:10I looked at her.
04:11Then at him.
04:12Then at the black car behind him, gleaming under the sick fluorescent light.
04:16Fine, I said.
04:18You drive.
04:19He opened the passenger door for me like it was a date, not a rescue.
04:23I wasn't lying, he murmured.
04:26My name's Raphael.
04:27I didn't answer.
04:28I buckled Lily into the back seat and sat as far from him as possible.
04:33The car smelled like leather and something darker.
04:35Gun oil, maybe, or danger.
04:37The silence stretched thin until he said,
04:40You shouldn't have taken that money.
04:43I turned toward him slowly.
04:45You shouldn't care.
04:47He almost smiled.
04:48Maybe I don't.
04:49But he did.
04:49I could see it in the way his jaw tightened every time I shifted.
04:53Like keeping me safe was irritating but necessary.
04:57We drove for hours, through the blur of passing headlights and broken sleep.
05:01Lily mumbled in her dreams.
05:03Raphael said nothing until he finally pulled up in front of a huge iron gate that opened like it knew him.
05:09The house behind it wasn't a house.
05:10It was a fortress.
05:12Where are we?
05:13I whispered.
05:14Safe, he said simply.
05:16For now.
05:17He walked me inside, past marble floors and heavy silence.
05:22Men stood guard in the shadows.
05:24I hated every second of it.
05:25This world, his world, was everything I'd escaped.
05:29I looked down at Lily, clutching my hand, eyes wide but trusting.
05:33She needs to sleep, I said.
05:36Raphael nodded, motioning for one of the women in the hallway to take her to a room.
05:40When Lily disappeared upstairs, he finally turned to me.
05:44I need to know what Santino has on you, he said.
05:46Why?
05:47Because if he's sending men after a woman who used to count his money,
05:51it means you stole something more valuable than cash.
05:54I laughed bitterly.
05:56I stole peace.
05:57He doesn't forgive that.
06:00Raphael studied me like he could pull the truth out with his eyes.
06:03You were his accountant.
06:05I was his mistake.
06:07For a moment he said nothing.
06:08Then, quieter.
06:10You don't have to be.
06:13That was the first time I felt the shift.
06:15The tiniest pull toward him that scared me more than Santino ever did.
06:19He was danger in human form, but danger that saw me.
06:22I wanted to say something cutting.
06:24To end the tension before it swallowed me whole.
06:26Instead, I said,
06:28You're not doing this out of kindness.
06:30No, he said.
06:32I'm doing it because I owe you.
06:34Me?
06:35He hesitated, eyes flicking to the floor before meeting mine again.
06:39Your husband saved my life once.
06:41I froze.
06:42My husband.
06:43The man buried three years ago because of Santino's greed.
06:46You knew Daniel?
06:47I did.
06:48His voice softened.
06:50He talked about you.
06:51Said you had fire in you.
06:53Said if anything happened, I'd know where to find you.
06:56I couldn't breathe.
06:57That's impossible.
06:59Not impossible, he said.
07:01Just a promise.
07:02I sank into the nearest chair, trembling.
07:05So you've been watching me?
07:07Protecting you.
07:08You call this protecting?
07:10I snapped.
07:11You bring me back into this world?
07:13Into his house?
07:14This isn't Santino's house, he said sharply.
07:17It's mine.
07:19Something in the way he said it, low, quiet, absolute, made the air around us still.
07:26You're a boss, I whispered.
07:28He nodded once.
07:29I should have run.
07:30I should have screamed.
07:32But I didn't.
07:33Because beneath the shock, there was something else.
07:37A terrible, burning relief.
07:38For the first time in years, I wasn't running alone.
07:41He looked at me for a long moment.
07:43You don't trust me yet, but you will.
07:45I won't.
07:46He smiled faintly.
07:48You already do.
07:49I hated that he was right.
07:51Because when the night finally went still,
07:53and the sound of Lily's breathing echoed faintly from upstairs,
07:56I let myself look at him without pretending I wasn't drawn to him.
08:01And in the silence between us, something dangerous took root.
08:04The kind of thing that ruins or saves everything.
08:06I didn't know which yet.
08:08But I knew this.
08:09Whatever Raphael was, whatever he'd done,
08:12he was the man my story had been leading me to all along.
08:15And I'd already trusted him without meaning to.
08:18That was the night my fall began.
08:19I was the man.
08:23It's strange how quickly danger starts to feel like routine.
08:28After a few days in Raphael's mansion,
08:30I stopped jumping every time the guards spoke in low voices.
08:33Stopped counting the security cameras.
08:36Stopped wondering if the windows were bulletproof.
08:38I knew the answer anyway.
08:40Everything in that house was Lily.
08:42Somehow.
08:43Loved it there.
08:44She thought the long marble halls were made for hide-and-seek,
08:48and that the gardens behind the house looked like a fairy tale.
08:51She started calling Raphael Mr. Rafe,
08:54which made him look both startled and,
08:56God help me, soft.
08:58I'd catch him watching her sometimes,
09:00his eyes losing that cold distance for a heartbeat.
09:04Like he was remembering something good before life hardened him.
09:08Me?
09:08I kept my distance, or tried to.
09:11Every time I passed him, something in my chest sparked.
09:14He wore those damn dress shirts every day.
09:16Black or white.
09:17Collar open.
09:18Sleeves rolled up like sin in human form.
09:21He didn't belong in the daylight.
09:23But that house was full of him.
09:25His scent.
09:26His order.
09:27His rules.
09:28And I was trapped inside it.
09:31One night, after I put Lily to bed,
09:34I went downstairs and found him in the study.
09:37He was pouring a drink, the light low, his shoulders tense.
09:40There was a gun on the desk beside him,
09:42casual like a paperweight.
09:44You ever relax?
09:45I asked quietly.
09:47He didn't turn.
09:48Not really my line of work.
09:50You could try.
09:50He looked over his shoulder, smirked.
09:53Says the woman who sleeps with a chair against her door.
09:56Old habits.
09:58Good habits, he said.
10:00They keep you alive.
10:01I stepped closer.
10:03Alive isn't the same as living.
10:05Something flickered in his eyes.
10:07For a moment, the wall between us cracked.
10:09He looked tired.
10:11Human.
10:12Then he said,
10:13You talk like someone who wants to forget.
10:16Don't you?
10:17His jaw tightened.
10:19I stopped trying.
10:21We stood there in silence.
10:23The kind that hums with too many things unsaid.
10:26Then he poured another glass and slid it across the desk toward me.
10:30For forgetting, he said.
10:31I shouldn't have taken it.
10:33But I did.
10:34The whiskey burned down my throat, sharp and smoky.
10:38He watched me drink like he was memorizing the sight.
10:41You said you owed my husband.
10:43I said.
10:43What did he save you from?
10:45Raphael leaned back, eyes on the glass in his hand.
10:49Santino's wrath.
10:50Daniel found out I was planning to leave.
10:52Said he'd cover for me.
10:53He lied for me, and he died for it.
10:55I froze.
10:56You're saying he cut me off.
10:58I'm saying I wasn't the bullet.
11:00But I was the reason Santino loaded the gun.
11:03The room tilted.
11:04Every nerve in my body screamed.
11:06Then why the hell am I here?
11:08Because I can't undo it.
11:09He said quietly.
11:11But I can make sure his family never pays the price again.
11:14I wanted to hate him.
11:15To scream.
11:16To grab Lily and run until my legs gave out.
11:19But something stopped me.
11:20The way his voice broke on the word family.
11:23I left without another word.
11:25Locked my door that night and sat in the dark until sunrise.
11:30The next morning, Lily woke up to breakfast already waiting on the kitchen table.
11:35Pancakes shaped like hearts.
11:37She thought I made them.
11:39I didn't have the heart to tell her it was Raphael.
11:42He didn't come to breakfast.
11:44Or lunch.
11:45Or dinner.
11:45For three days, I didn't see him at all.
11:48And somehow that made it worse.
11:50I started to realize something terrible.
11:52I missed him.
11:55When he finally appeared again, it was in the middle of the night.
11:59I heard voices in the hall.
12:00Angry ones.
12:01Men arguing.
12:03Then a slam.
12:04I opened my door and stepped into the hall, heart racing.
12:08Raphael was there.
12:09Jaw bruised.
12:10Shirt blood stained.
12:12His men hovered nearby.
12:13Restless.
12:14What happened?
12:15I whispered.
12:16He looked at me.
12:17Eyes dark and burning.
12:19Santino sent a message.
12:21What kind of message?
12:22He didn't answer.
12:24He just walked past me into his study and shut the door hard enough to make the walls shake.
12:29I followed him, ignoring the guards.
12:32He was pacing when I entered, running a hand through his hair.
12:36He found the house I keep in Jersey.
12:39Burned it.
12:40Two men inside.
12:41I felt sick.
12:42You can't keep doing this, Raphael.
12:44He'll kill you.
12:45He already tried, he said.
12:47He missed.
12:48That's not victory.
12:49He turned then, and something in him snapped.
12:52You think I don't know that?
12:54You think I wanted any of this?
12:55I wanted out, Clara.
12:57But there's no out in this life.
12:59There's just blood and promises.
13:01His voice cracked on that last word.
13:03I stepped closer before I could stop myself.
13:05Then why keep me here?
13:07I said softly.
13:09He looked at me like I was the only steady thing in a world spinning too fast.
13:13Because when I see you, I remember what it feels like to want something clean.
13:19I didn't mean to cry.
13:22But tears came anyway.
13:23He reached for me, slowly, like I was something fragile he didn't want to break.
13:28When his hand touched my face, everything inside me went still.
13:32It wasn't a kiss.
13:35Not yet.
13:36But it was something deeper.
13:38Something that made my breath stutter and my heart betray me.
13:43Then Lily's voice came from the hallway, sleepy and small.
13:47Mommy?
13:49We broke apart instantly.
13:51I turned, wiping my face, and called out,
13:53I'm here, baby.
13:54Go back to bed.
13:55She padded tortoise in her pajamas, clutching her bear.
13:59When she saw Raphael, she smiled shyly.
14:02You're hurt, he crouched down.
14:04Just a scratch, she frowned serious.
14:07You need a band-aid, he smiled then, soft and real.
14:10I think you're right.
14:12And just like that, the air shifted again.
14:14The walls softened.
14:16The child's presence pulled us back to something almost normal.
14:19I took Lily's hand and led her back upstairs.
14:23But before I left, I glanced back at Raphael.
14:26He was watching us go, blood drying on his jaw, eyes unreadable.
14:32The next morning, he was gone again.
14:35For a week, there was no word.
14:38No messages.
14:39His men kept patrolling the property.
14:41But the house felt hollow without him.
14:44I hated that it bothered me.
14:46I hated what it meant.
14:47That he'd become more than a savior or a mistake.
14:51He was the pulse I didn't realize I'd been living by.
14:54On the seventh night, I heard engines outside.
14:58Then shouting.
15:00Gunfire.
15:01I grabbed Lily and ran to the panic room Raphael had shown me the first day.
15:05I locked us inside, heart slamming so hard it hurt.
15:08Lily cried quietly against my chest while I whispered lies about fireworks and safety.
15:13The gunfire stopped after what felt like hours.
15:17Then silence.
15:18When I finally opened the door, the hallway was chaos.
15:22Smoke.
15:23Broken glass.
15:24Blood on marble.
15:26One of Raphael's men lay slumped against the wall.
15:28Alive but wounded.
15:29Where is he?
15:30I asked.
15:32He pointed toward the courtyard.
15:33I found Raphael outside, kneeling beside one of Santino's men.
15:38His shirt was torn, his hands shaking, his gun still warm.
15:42When he saw me, he stood too fast.
15:43Are you hurt?
15:44He demanded.
15:45No.
15:45I said.
15:46You?
15:46He shook his head, but his breathing was ragged.
15:49They came for you.
15:50What?
15:51They knew you were here.
15:52Someone told them.
15:54The world blurred.
15:55Then we have to go.
15:56Tonight.
15:56He grabbed my wrist.
15:58No, they'll expect that.
16:00I'll move you somewhere they don't know.
16:02Raphael.
16:03I said no.
16:04His voice cracked with something close to fear.
16:07You think I can lose another family because of him?
16:10For the first time I saw it.
16:12The man beneath the power.
16:13The grief he carried like armor.
16:16He let go of my wrist slowly.
16:18I promised Daniel I'd protect you.
16:19I won't fail him again, Raphael.
16:22I said quietly.
16:23You already kept your promise.
16:25But this, this life, it's going to destroy Lily.
16:29His eyes softened.
16:31Not if I end it first.
16:32He meant it.
16:33Whatever plan he was forming, it was suicide dressed as revenge.
16:37I stepped closer, voice shaking.
16:40If you go after Santino, he'll kill you.
16:43He smiled faintly.
16:44Then he'll have to catch me first.
16:47Don't do this.
16:48He looked at me like I was sunlight and ruin.
16:50Clara, if something happens to me, take Lily and go to the address in my safe.
16:57There's money, passports, everything.
17:00Stop talking like that.
17:02I have to finish this.
17:05He brushed his fingers against my cheek, tender and final.
17:08You were the one thing I never meant to find.
17:11Then he turned and walked toward the waiting car.
17:15Lily's voice echoed faintly from the doorway, confused and sleepy.
17:18Mommy, where's Mr. Rafe going?
17:21I couldn't answer.
17:23Because I already knew.
17:25He was going to end the war that started the day my husband died.
17:29And the part that terrified me most wasn't that he might not come back.
17:34It was that if he didn't, my heart would go with him.
17:38Time is cruel when you're waiting to know if someone you shouldn't love is still alive.
17:46The night Raphael left, I sat on the floor of Lily's room, listening to her breathe,
17:54counting every inhale like a prayer.
17:57Every sound outside made me flinch.
17:59I thought about running again, but I couldn't.
18:01Not this time.
18:02Running wouldn't bring him back.
18:04Three days passed.
18:06Then five, then eight.
18:07The house was too big, too empty, too haunted by him.
18:11His scent still lingered.
18:12Clean soap, gunpowder, faint smoke.
18:14I'd find myself walking past his study, half expecting his voice to come from the dark,
18:20calm and sharp as always.
18:22But nothing came.
18:25One morning, I went into his office.
18:28I wasn't supposed to.
18:29His men avoided it like a tomb, but I had to see something, anything,
18:34that made me believe he was still real.
18:36The room was untouched, like he'd only stepped out for a moment.
18:39There was a photo on his desk.
18:41I'd never seen it before.
18:43Him and my husband Daniel standing side by side.
18:46Daniel had his arm around him, both of them laughing.
18:49I sank into his chair and touched the frame, my throat closing.
18:53I'd spent so long hating Raphael for his world, for the blood that followed him.
18:59But looking at that photo, I realized something painful.
19:03He'd carried Daniel's ghost, too.
19:05He'd been trying to make peace in the only language men like him knew.
19:10Violence.
19:10A knock at the door broke the silence.
19:14It was one of his men, Nico.
19:17His face was grim.
19:19He called, he said.
19:21I stood so fast the chair scraped the floor.
19:24He's alive?
19:25Nico nodded once.
19:27For now.
19:27But Santino's dead.
19:29I stared at him.
19:30What?
19:31He did it.
19:31Ended it.
19:32But he's hurt.
19:33Bad.
19:34We're getting him out of the city tonight.
19:36I didn't think.
19:37I just grabbed Lily's coat, my bag, and said,
19:40Take me to him.
19:42Nico shook his head.
19:43He said you stay.
19:45Then he can be angry at me later.
19:48We drove through the night.
19:50Rain starting to fall in thin streaks against the windshield.
19:53I almost laughed.
19:55Rafael always said he hated the rain.
19:57It ruined the clean lines of things.
19:59I wondered if he'd find that funny now, or if he was past laughing altogether.
20:04When we reached the safe house, I barely waited for the car to stop before running inside.
20:09The place smelled like antiseptic and blood.
20:12Rafael lay on a couch, shirt half open, bandages wrapping his ribs and shoulder.
20:17His skin was pale, his breath shallow.
20:20He still looked infuriatingly beautiful.
20:23The doctor muttered something about him needing rest.
20:26But I didn't hear it.
20:28I sank to my knees beside him.
20:29His eyes opened slightly.
20:31Clara?
20:32I tried to smile.
20:33You look awful.
20:35He tried to smirk, but it hurt too much.
20:37You came.
20:38Of course I came.
20:39You shouldn't have.
20:41Then stop almost dying.
20:43A weak laugh escaped him, barely there.
20:46You sound like your husband.
20:47Don't.
20:48My voice broke.
20:49Don't talk like he's the only one who mattered.
20:52He turned his head toward me, eyes heavy but clear.
20:56He'd be glad you were safe.
20:58And you?
20:58His gaze softened.
21:00I'd be glad you were mine.
21:02It was the kind of line that should have felt wrong.
21:05Cruel, even.
21:06But it didn't.
21:07Because he said it like a confession, not a claim.
21:12I pressed my forehead against his hand.
21:15You don't get to say that.
21:16And then leave me here to pick up pieces again.
21:18I didn't think I'd live long enough to say anything.
21:23Well, I whispered.
21:26You did.
21:27So now you have to deal with me.
21:29His lips curved faintly.
21:30God help me.
21:31The doctor came back with instructions, pain meds, warnings about infection.
21:36I nodded through all of it.
21:39Raphael was half-conscious, fading in and out.
21:41When he finally slept, I sat beside him until dawn, holding his hand and watching the color
21:48slowly return to his face.
21:50Lily woke up in the next room and came patting over in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes.
21:56Is Mr. Rafe okay?
21:59He will be, I said.
22:01She crawled onto the couch carefully, kissed his hand, and whispered,
22:05You can't leave us.
22:07Something in me cracked open then.
22:09Maybe all the pretending was done.
22:12Days passed.
22:12He healed slower than he wanted, but faster than anyone expected.
22:16He was stubborn, reckless, but alive.
22:19When he could finally stand on his own, he started walking the grounds outside the house.
22:24I'd watch him from the porch, hands in his pockets, staring out at nothing.
22:29One afternoon, he found me there.
22:31You planning to keep watching me like that forever?
22:35Maybe, I said.
22:36You do stupid things when no one's looking, he chuckled.
22:39You say that like you weren't the reason I'm still breathing.
22:42I shrugged.
22:43You're not easy to kill.
22:45Neither are you.
22:46We fell quiet.
22:48The silence wasn't heavy anymore.
22:50Just full of the things we both knew but didn't need to say.
22:54He leaned against the railing beside me, close enough that I could feel the heat of him.
22:59You could go, you know.
23:01Start fresh somewhere.
23:02You and Lily.
23:03I turned to him.
23:04You want us to leave?
23:05I want you to have peace.
23:08You think peace is somewhere without you?
23:10He looked down.
23:12Like he didn't trust himself to answer.
23:14I think peace doesn't come easy to people like me.
23:17Maybe it's not supposed to.
23:19Maybe it's something you fight for.
23:21He smiled faintly.
23:23You sound like Daniel again.
23:25No.
23:26Daniel wanted to fix the world.
23:28I just want to survive it.
23:29He nodded slowly, thoughtful.
23:31Then maybe we can do both.
23:32That night, after Lily fell asleep, I found him in the kitchen, pouring tea instead of whiskey for once.
23:40He handed me a mug.
23:42You never told me what she said.
23:44He murmured.
23:46Who?
23:46Your daughter.
23:47The day you left home, I laughed softly.
23:50She said she wanted a wedding.
23:53He looked up at that, eyes steady on mine.
23:55And what did you say?
23:57I told her she'd have one someday.
23:59He took a slow sip of his tea.
24:02Then I guess we both still have something to look forward to.
24:05I blinked.
24:06What are you saying?
24:08He didn't smile this time.
24:09I'm saying I'm done with the old life.
24:12I'm taking the men who want out, burning what's left.
24:14And when it's over, I'm going to ask you something I've never asked anyone.
24:19Raphael.
24:20Don't answer yet, he said softly.
24:23Just stay long enough to see if I mean it.
24:26And I did.
24:27Weeks turned into months.
24:29The violence ebbed away.
24:30The mansion turned quieter, lighter.
24:32Raphael kept his word.
24:34He dismantled everything Santino left behind,
24:37cut ties with the ones who wanted to keep bleeding for power.
24:40It was ugly, hard work.
24:42But he did it.
24:44One morning, I found Lily in the garden,
24:47wearing a crown of daisies she'd made herself.
24:51Raphael was kneeling beside her,
24:52pretending to be her royal guard.
24:55He looked ridiculous,
24:56and happier than I'd ever seen him.
24:58When he saw me, he stood and walked over,
25:01brushing petals from his shirt.
25:03She says we need a castle, he said.
25:06I smiled.
25:08She's six.
25:09Everything needs a castle.
25:11He glanced toward the garden again,
25:12then back at me.
25:14She asked me if I'd be at her wedding someday.
25:16My breath caught.
25:18What did you tell her?
25:19I said I hoped so.
25:20He paused.
25:22Then she asked if I was going to have one first.
25:24I looked up at him, heart hammering.
25:27And what did you say to that?
25:29He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
25:31I told her, so do I.
25:33For a moment, everything went still.
25:35The sunlight, the air, my heartbeat.
25:38It all froze in the space between us.
25:41Then I said quietly,
25:42You're serious.
25:45Completely.
25:46I wanted to laugh, or cry, or both.
25:50You think we can build something real
25:51out of everything we've been through?
25:53He reached for my hand.
25:55We already did.
25:57Lily ran toward us then,
25:59shouting for me to look at the butterfly she'd caught.
26:02Her hair was a halo in the afternoon light.
26:04I knelt down,
26:05helping her cup her hands gently
26:07so it could fly away.
26:09When I looked up,
26:11Raphael was watching us
26:12with that same quiet awe
26:13I'd seen in the beginning.
26:15The night he said my name like a secret.
26:18Only this time,
26:19there was peace behind it.
26:22Later, after Lily fell asleep,
26:24we sat on the porch again,
26:26the world finally quiet.
26:28I told him something
26:29I hadn't told anyone.
26:31I used to think love
26:32was supposed to save you,
26:34I said.
26:34Now I think it just shows you
26:35what's worth saving.
26:37He nodded.
26:38Then you saved me.
26:40I smiled, tired and full.
26:42We saved each other.
26:43He leaned in.
26:45Slow.
26:46Certain.
26:47No danger left in the movement.
26:49Just gravity.
26:50The kiss was nothing like the chaos
26:52that brought us here.
26:53It was steady.
26:54Deep.
26:55Full of all the words
26:56we didn't need to speak.
26:58When it ended,
26:59I rested my head against his chest,
27:01listening to the heartbeat
27:02that shouldn't still exist.
27:05You really think this can last?
27:07I whispered.
27:08I don't know,
27:09he said.
27:09But I want to find out.
27:11With you.
27:12And for the first time in years,
27:15I believed him.
27:17Because love wasn't the fire
27:18that burned us down anymore.
27:20It was what rose from the ashes.
27:23If you felt her heartbeat
27:25in this story,
27:26if you saw the danger,
27:29the love,
27:29the impossible choice,
27:31don't leave without telling her
27:32you were here.
27:34Subscribe, like, and comment
27:35what moment hit you hardest.
27:36Every word you share
27:37keeps stories like this alive.
27:42and maybe you Firth.
27:44Über that way.
27:45Then you start to find out.
27:46You have to be like,
27:47Whoo!
27:47Have a great day.
27:49See you.
27:49Can I wish you that?
27:51See you.
27:51vice-president
27:51man.
27:51And if it was huge
27:52for you.
27:52Because he's got collapsed,
27:53and you're filling.
27:53If it's got 멋.
27:54You're in this way you're running night.
27:55And it burns out.
27:56As you're reaching for you,
27:57it's got to move on.
27:58So you're going to get the You.
27:59As I think
28:00to get theICK
28:01and you're hitting the Leo
28:01when God
28:02to go behind it.
28:03I really want a fantastic
28:04thing.
28:04heart
28:05When I fichi
28:06can play
28:08it?
28:09It bao
28:09between
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