- 8 hours ago
Short Film My Fiancé Almost Kill Me On Thanksgiving Day
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Thanksgiving night was the last calm moment I remembered.
00:04I tasted black truffle on my tongue, a holiday tart.
00:07Grayson insisted I try, and then everything blurred.
00:10The world tilted. My limbs went numb.
00:18And consciousness slipped out of my hands like water through broken glass.
00:23When I woke, both of my arms were broken, the pain sharp and white hot.
00:28And I was lying somewhere deep inside the Sierra Nevada wilderness.
00:35My fiance handed my private jet to his assistant like it was a party favor.
00:41I didn't even pause to process the insult.
00:46My fingers were dialing the FAA emergency line before the outrage fully settled in my chest.
00:53And within minutes, they intercepted her midair, grounding the plane at the nearest federal airfield.
00:59When Grayson Whitmore found out, he didn't look shocked.
01:02He didn't look guilty either.
01:04He looked irritated at me, not her.
01:07Jesus Celeste.
01:08He sighed, stroked his forehead as if I were the unreasonable one.
01:13Mia just wanted to fly home for Thanksgiving and make a good impression.
01:17It's not that deep.
01:19She's still being held by federal officers.
01:21Would you please go down there and explain it was a misunderstanding?
01:23They're not going to prosecute a girl for wanting to feel important.
01:27Sometimes I wondered whether he genuinely believed the bullshit he said or if he simply thought I was too soft
01:32or too in love to call him on it.
01:35Grayson, this isn't about feeling important.
01:39This is about flying a multi-million dollar aircraft without a pilot's license.
01:45If he was showing off.
01:47And people who break federal aviation law should face the consequences, even if they flutter their eyelashes at you.
01:53He let out a long theatrical exhale, the kind meant to signal I was being impossible, before turning away.
02:00I'll have Whitmore Enterprise's legal department deal with it.
02:04You never know how to pick your battles.
02:11The cold earth pressing through my skin like a second heartbeat.
02:14A red glow washed over me.
02:16The beam of an infrared camera before Grayson's voice followed, low and venomous.
02:21You know, Mia was detained for 48 hours because of your little tantrum.
02:24He asked, his tone dangerously calm.
02:26She was terrified.
02:27So you can fly a plane.
02:30Big deal.
02:32Let's see what other impressive skills you have.
02:35Think you can walk out of here naked and make it home.
02:38My vision shook, but I forced my good fingers, what remained of them, to reach the side of my AR
02:43tactical glasses.
02:45The emergency signal was faint, but it was there.
02:48I pressed the button, my voice cutting through the wind in a low, steady rasp.
02:51Get here in 30 minutes, and I will owe you everything.
02:56Celeste Montgomery, you're going to apologize to Mia right now, and say out loud that you're nothing but a worthless
03:02bitch.
03:03Otherwise, you can rot out here in the Sierra Nevada until the toxins in the air finish you off, or
03:08until something with fangs does.
03:10Mia Carrington nestled comfortably against his chest as if this were some sick holiday movie scene,
03:15instead of an attempted murder broadcast to criminals slid into the frame.
03:20Celeste, honey, your arms are broken.
03:23Maybe just give in a little?
03:24Well, if you apologize, I'll ask Gray to pull you out of here.
03:28Grayson pulled her in and kissed her, the glow of the screen sharpening the cruelty in his eyes.
03:32Then he lifted the drone controller, sinking our feed to a Darknet livestream packed with faceless buyers who treated human
03:39suffering like a sport.
03:40Ladies and gentlemen, your Thanksgiving special begins now.
03:45Celeste Montgomery, daughter of old money royalty, former federal wilderness survival specialist.
03:51We'll attempt to cross the Sierra Nevada with no gear, no clothes, and two broken arms.
03:56Place your bets on how long she'll last.
03:59$1,000 per minute.
04:02No upper limit.
04:10You heard the crowd.
04:12Let's give our patrons what they paid for.
04:14He zoomed the camera in obscenely close, letting the lens trace the line of my collarbone, drift down the bruises
04:20on my ribs,
04:21hesitate over every inch of exposed skin.
04:23His greed felt physical, like oily fingers crawling over me.
04:27You always said people should pay the price for their mistakes, Celeste.
04:31Now look at you.
04:33Your arms are useless.
04:34You can't even dress yourself.
04:35Tell me, is this enough of a consequence to help you remember how much you hurt Mia?
04:40I was naked under the floodlight of the drone, stripped not only of clothing, but of privacy, dignity, and safety.
04:47I pressed my forearms tight against my chest, desperate to shield whatever fragments of myself I could still claim.
04:55Their laughter oozed into my ears.
04:57I felt vile burn into the back of my throat.
05:00My broken bones scraped against the torn flesh of my arms, and a cold sweat spread down my spine.
05:06All this because I reported Mia's illegal flight.
05:10For five years, I helped build Whitmore Enterprises from the ground up.
05:14For five years, I used Montgomery resources and old money leverage to clear his path, fight off his competitors, and
05:20shield him from the consequences of his own incompetence.
05:23I made him into something.
05:25I took a scholarship kid with nothing but ambition and turned him into a rising star.
05:30And now that he thought my family was losing influence, now that he believed he no longer needed me,
05:35he stripped me, threw me into the wilderness, and broadcasted my suffering to the highest bidder.
05:41Grayson laughed again, loud, cool, almost giddy with the power he thought he held.
05:46In that moment, I realized he had never loved me.
05:49He had only loved the way I made him feel powerful.
05:52And now he wanted to prove he could destroy me just as easily.
05:56Make sure every paying creep in that channel has the time of their lives.
05:59It's Thanksgiving.
06:00Give the bosses something to be thankful for.
06:08Here's the deal, Celeste.
06:09Transfer 10% of Montgomery Global right now, right into Mia's name, and I'll have that drone drop a thermal
06:14blanket before the wolves smell you.
06:15Otherwise, happy holidays.
06:17Gray, babe, that's too much.
06:20I can't take her shares.
06:25Celeste probably hates me.
06:26She's always acting like I'm not good enough to fly the G650.
06:29Bet she thinks I'm just some gold-digging flight attendant.
06:32You've been too busy closing that Alaska pipeline deal to finish your pilot's license.
06:36Too busy closing deals?
06:38I almost laughed.
06:40Even as the aphrodisiac set my bloodstream on fire.
06:43Too busy riding Grayson's lap in the Whitmore boardroom.
06:46I collapsed against the rotting pine needles.
06:48Every nerve screaming.
06:50Blood frozen scarlet icicles on my forearms where the fall had snapped both bones.
06:54Grayson Whitmore, you make me sick!
06:56We're done.
06:57The gauge meant over!
07:05For one heartbeat, the mask slipped.
07:07And I saw the same kid who used to sneak me into Met Gallus and promise me the world.
07:13Then Mia whispered something and the mask slammed back down.
07:16Harder.
07:16Crueler.
07:17Celeste, you can't just throw away five years unless you already have some side piece lined up.
07:27Some Wall Street wolf waiting in a Park Avenue penthouse.
07:36Montgomery Global stock is tanking faster than SPS.
07:39Celeste, you're nothing without me.
07:41You want to call off the wedding?
07:43Fine.
07:43When the feds freeze every offshore account your grandfather buried in the Caymans.
07:48Get that drone in her face.
07:49Give the subscribers the money shot.
07:52Forte.
07:52Night vision.
07:53The works.
07:54I threw up a broken arm to shield myself.
07:57Then remembered I was naked underneath the ruins of a $10,000 gown.
08:01Shame burned hotter than the chemical fire in my veins.
08:04I curled into a ball, slid another foot down the ice-lip slope, and nearly pitched into the ravine.
08:11Somewhere below, timberwolves started howling.
08:14Real ones, not metaphors.
08:16Celeste, honey, just sign the transfer.
08:18It's only money.
08:18Let Grayson cool off.
08:19We'll airlift you out, get you a spa day at Mirval.
08:22Pretend this never happened.
08:23A second drone swooped in, mechanical claw, gripping a tablet, displaying the share transfer agreement.
08:27It hovered six inches from my nose like a guillotine.
08:30Sign or freeze.
08:32Your choice.
08:36Go to hell!
08:42Something slithered over my cheek.
08:44Centipede.
08:44Six inches long.
08:46Rocky Mountain paranoia venom.
08:48It crawled into my ear.
08:50The pain was so bright I almost welcomed it.
08:52Then gravity took over again.
08:54I clawed at frozen granite fingernails snapping and slid closer to the poison ivage of Oklahoma, where rattlesnakes denned for
09:03winter.
09:03Keep talking tough, Princess.
09:05Ten more feet and you're in the viper pit.
09:07Let's see that harbor mouth negotiate with diamondbacks.
09:09You're not the Montgomery heiress anymore, Celeste.
09:12Grayson says if you sign and apologize live, admit you framed me for cooking the books, tried to send an
09:16innocent girl to federal prison, he'll call the chopper.
09:19I'll even forgive you for that SEC subpoena you paid for.
09:22You vicious bitch!
09:24Trying to lock Mia up?
09:26What about her little sister who needs chemo?
09:30The first drone released a glass ampule.
09:33It shattered at my feet in a hiss of white vapor.
09:37The snow around my bare feet melted into black sludge.
09:40Military-grade corrosives.
09:42Flesh on my calf bubbled like acid on steak.
09:45I screamed until my throat tore.
09:49Scared yet, Celeste?
09:51Apologize to Mia.
09:52Now.
09:54Or the next one goes in your face.
09:56I dragged myself an inch uphill, blood painting the snow red.
10:00The metallic scent drew every leech, tick, and beetle in a five-mile radius.
10:06They burrowed under what was left of my dress.
10:08I couldn't swap them off.
10:10For the first time in 28 years of boardrooms, bailouts, and Forbes covers.
10:15Celeste Montgomery was out of moves.
10:18I lifted my head to the drone lens.
10:20To the man who once swore he'd burn the world before he'd let me get hurt.
10:25Grayson, when I get out of here, and I will, I'm going to take everything.
10:32Then, the centipede in my ear released its venom.
10:35The ravine rushed up to swallow me.
10:37And the last thing I heard was Mia laughing, like she'd already want him.
10:45Everything bled crimson blood.
10:47Mud.
10:48The strobing red of the drone's emergency LEDs.
10:51I couldn't tell where one ended, and the other began.
10:54My pulse hammered so loud.
10:56I barely heard the dark net chat lose its collective mind.
11:02Even Grayson's executive assistant started sweating bullets.
11:06The guy had buried bodies for Whitmore Enterprises in three continents.
11:09But live streaming a billionaire heiress getting eaten by wolves apparently crossed a line.
11:15Mr. Whitmore, sir.
11:16Celeste looks half dead already.
11:18Heart rate's crashing on the biometric feed.
11:21She's not dying.
11:23Girls like Celeste don't die.
11:25They just get humbled.
11:27If she hadn't spent the last five years trying to frame Mia for securities fraud, maybe I'd have gone easy.
11:35Tonight's just a friendly reminder.
11:42I forced my head up, locked eyes with the drone's cold lens, and let every ounce of Montgomery Steel pour
11:48into my glare.
11:49I did nothing wrong.
11:50Why the hell should I hand over 10% of the company my great-grandfather built from steel mills in
11:55Pittsburgh?
11:56Just because some trust fund psycho wants to flex.
12:00Bugs, bugs, please.
12:01I'd spent summers tagging grizzlies with federal wildlife teams and catmine before I could legally drink.
12:07This was just another Tuesday in hell.
12:09With everything I had left, I rolled onto my back and dragged myself across the jagged shale.
12:14Rocks tore fresh gashes across my shoulder blades, but the pain was a blessing.
12:18It scraped off half the leeches and centipedes burrowed into my skin.
12:23Blood mixed with snow into pink slush.
12:25Yet somewhere in the haze I spotted it.
12:27A cluster of wild sagebrush glowing faintly under the drone's floodlight.
12:31The same plant rangers in Denali square by.
12:34Crushed leaves, mass blood scent for exactly 11 minutes.
12:38I take six.
12:39Lest Montgomery have you no shame?
12:42Beg right now, or the next thing coming down that ravine won't be bugs.
12:48You never planned to let me walk out of here, Grayson.
12:51Dead or broken.
12:53You decided to second you, fight the champagne.
13:00Oh my god, Celeste, what are you doing?
13:03As I clawed the sagebrush closer, bit the stem until bitter juice flooded my mouth, then smeared the pulp across
13:09every bleeding wound.
13:10The alkaloids hit my bloodstream like ice water, numbed the nerve endings, killed the scent trail.
13:16Temporary, sure.
13:17But temporary was all I needed.
13:19Mia always said you were a snake.
13:21Guess she's right.
13:22You're trying to fake a suicide, pin it on me, ruin Whitmore Enterprises on Black Friday weekend.
13:28Classic Celeste.
13:29Even half-naked in a blizzard, you're still scheming.
13:34Five years, Grayson.
13:35Five years I cleaned up your messes.
13:37Quieted the SC.
13:39Buried the insider trading rumors.
13:42Paid off that flight attendant you knocked up in Vegas.
13:45Without Montgomery Capital, you'd be still slinging dime bags outside Yale.
13:54For one heartbeat, the mask slipped again.
13:57Something raw flickered behind those Wall Street eyes.
13:59Guilt, maybe, or the ghost of the boy who used to sneak me onto the roof of the Met to
14:03watch July 4th fireworks.
14:05Then Mia whispered poison in his ear, and the mask hardened into granite.
14:11This chick's got nine lives, boss.
14:13I thought she was done ten minutes ago.
14:16Then let's burn through the rest.
14:18I want to see how long that Montgomery pride lasts when the wolves start chewing.
14:23Celeste, sweetie, don't make the wolves angry.
14:27You're screaming loud enough to wake every predator from here to Glacier's National Park.
14:32When you tried to send Mia to federal prison for cooking the books you cooked up yourself, did you warn
14:37her?
14:37Open the speakers.
14:39The drone's PA system blasted a recorded alpha-wolf snarl at 180 decibels.
14:44Enough to rattle bones, every tree around me exploded with movement.
14:49Branches snapped, snow cascaded.
14:51The real pack answered the call.
14:53I froze every muscle seizing.
14:56Pain from my compound fractures, the acid burn on my calf, the centipede venom.
15:01None of it compared to the primal terror of glowing eyes circling in the dark.
15:04Eight, maybe ten sets.
15:06Timberwolves, coastal giants.
15:07The kind that take down moves for fun.
15:10One stepped into the floodlight above me.
15:12Silver gray, 200 pounds of pure hunger.
15:15Its breath deemed in the sub-zero air.
15:18I heard the crunch of its paws, the low rumble in its chest.
15:22Grayson wanted me shredded on camera.
15:25Survival instinct kicked harder than any drug.
15:27I eased backward, inch by inch.
15:33Running now, princess?
15:35Where's all that billionaire backbone?
15:38Hide and seek with a wolf pack.
15:40How's that for a Thanksgiving tradition?
15:42Green eyes multiplied in the darkness.
15:44Fangs caught the light like switchblades.
15:47Last chance, Celeste.
15:48Kneel.
15:49Apologize to Mia on stream.
15:51I'll hit the ultrasonic repellent.
15:53Keep fighting in your dinner.
15:57Say you're sorry, damn it.
16:00This is how the Montgomery line ends.
16:09She doesn't owe a single gum and damn apology to anyone.
16:14And somewhere above the treeline, a Black Hawk chopper roared in love.
16:36Celeste, I've got you.
16:41Nathan Hale swung down like some avenging Spectre, former Delta Force.
16:46Three-time National Combatives champion, and the man my grandfather trusted with every dirty secret
16:52the Montgomery fortune ever needed buried.
16:55Nathan Hale?
16:57Nathan didn't answer him.
16:59The rage in his stare could have melted the glacier behind us.
17:03But his hand stayed gentle when he stripped off his plate carrier parka
17:06and wrapped it around my shaking shoulders.
17:10Celeste, I've got you.
17:12He scooped me up like I weighed nothing.
17:14So careful to keep pressure off the places where bone pokes your skin.
17:18I tried to shrink away, mortified that Nathan Hale, of all people,
17:22was seeing me like this naked, filthy, broken.
17:25It's over, sweetheart.
17:28Nobody touches you again.
17:30His team dropped in behind him.
17:32Suppressed rifles barking in short, surgical bursts.
17:35The remaining wolves scattered into the dark like they'd never existed.
17:39Who the hell are you people?
17:42This is a private matter.
17:44Private?
17:47Kidnapping, aggravated assault, attempted murder.
17:51When did federal felonies become a couple spat?
17:54Raising Whitmore, Mia Carrington killed a stream.
17:57Right now, or I start putting rounds through optics,
18:01and we watch whose skull blooms next.
18:07Captain Hale, sir, this is a misunderstanding.
18:10Save it for the U.S. Attorney,
18:12or for the Montgomery Legal Division.
18:15Your choice.
18:16Montgomery?
18:18Which Montgomery?
18:20The one that makes the Dow twitch every time the old man sneezes.
18:23The one your boyfriend's been siphoning from for five years,
18:26thinking nobody was watching.
18:31Celeste Montgomery.
18:33Heiress.
18:35Majority shareholder.
18:36And the woman you just tried to feed to wolves on Thanksgiving.
18:40Surprise.
18:46Grayson.
18:47The annulment papers hit your desk tomorrow morning.
18:49And the bankruptcy petition hits the Southern District of New York five minutes later.
18:54Happy Thanksgiving.
18:55Sleep tight on that private jet cot.
19:03I still couldn't stop shaking partly from hypothermia,
19:07part the special kind of cold that settles in your bones
19:10when the man you loved tries to murder you for sport.
19:13Nathan knelt between the jump seats,
19:15cleaning blood from my forearms with steady marine precision.
19:19Every swipe of the alcohol wipe felt like fire,
19:22but his touch never faltered.
19:24The Patriarch's got the estate on full lockdown.
19:27Top orthopedic trauma surgeon out of Johns Hopkins
19:30is already wheels up from Baltimore.
19:32Your grandfather tried to charter a C-130
19:34to come rip Whitmore apart with his bare hands.
19:37Took three generals to talk him down.
19:40This one's yours to finish.
19:42I managed to nod.
19:44Every memory from the last five years rewound in high def.
19:47Grayson kissing my knuckles.
19:49After the Montgomery Trust quietly bailed out his failing startup.
19:53Mia sliding updated contracts across his desk.
19:55Pupils blown wide with victory.
19:59The way he'd snap.
20:01What is that?
20:03Can you stop being so paranoid?
20:05Every time I pointed out her forged signatures,
20:08I'd ignored every red flag
20:10because I thought love meant trusting harder.
20:12Five years,
20:14I'm the punchline in a joke I helped write.
20:17You trusted the wrong person, Celeste.
20:20That doesn't make you stupid.
20:22It makes you human.
20:24And humans get even.
20:32Here's Mia's greatest hits.
20:34We've got her cold.
20:36I scrolled.
20:36She hollowed Whitmore Enterprises out
20:38like a Thanksgiving turkey
20:39and stuffed the carcass with iOS.
20:42Another file.
20:44Whitmore's real balance sheet.
20:47Red ink deep enough to drown Manhattan.
20:50Our legal team drafted everything.
20:53An annulment returns every gift,
20:55every trust contribution,
20:56every share he ever touched.
21:01Attempted murder,
21:02conspiracy,
21:03violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
21:05for the Darknet stream.
21:07The drone footage alone will put them away
21:09for 25 to life.
21:10I closed my eyes
21:11and saw Patriarch Montgomery's face
21:14crinkled with worry the last time.
21:16I turned down his offer
21:17to vet Grayson personally.
21:19He'd known.
21:20Of course he'd known.
21:21And I'd been too proud,
21:23too in love,
21:24too blind.
21:29Take me home, Nathan.
21:31Tomorrow we burn their empire to the ground
21:33and salt the earth.
21:36Copy that, ma'am.
21:37Next stop,
21:39Montgomery State,
21:40Aspen.
21:41Then we make them
21:44wish the wolves
21:45had finished the job.
21:48Five years ago,
21:50I sat across from Patriarch.
21:52I told him
21:53I wanted to try a relationship
21:54without the Montgomery name attached.
21:57No private security tale.
21:59No trust fund safety net.
22:02Just me and some guy from Yale
22:04who swore he loved me for my brain.
22:06Not my portfolio.
22:07The old man's face
22:08went the color of ash.
22:10He smashed his favorite
22:12crystal wine glass on the floor
22:13and roared that.
22:14I was throwing away
22:15a century of blood
22:16and steel
22:17for a pretty smile.
22:19In the end,
22:20he caved like he always did.
22:22When I dug my heels in.
22:23Play your little game, Celeste.
22:35I opened my eyes
22:37in the Blackhawks' dim cabin.
22:39The morphine finally wearing off
22:40enough for the words
22:41to cut through the pain.
22:44Noitify every major outlet,
22:46CNN, Bloomberg, Fox,
22:48The Journal,
22:49all of them.
22:50Tomorrow,
22:5110 a.m. sharp,
22:52Penthouse Ballroom,
22:53Montgomery Global Tower,
22:55mid-down Manhattan.
22:56I'm holding a press conference.
22:57Copy that.
22:58Comms team's already spinning up.
23:00We'll have every network
23:01on the continent
23:01begging for seats.
23:05The PR director met me
23:07in the private elevator.
23:08Ma'am,
23:09the ballroom's locked down
23:10tighter than Fort Knox.
23:11We've got every Tier 1 journalist
23:13from here to Tokyo.
23:14Live feeds to every financial desk
23:15in the world.
23:16The bespoke Armani suit
23:18hid the road rash
23:19and acid burns like armor.
23:21Only the faint tremor
23:22in my fingers
23:23betrayed the truth.
23:24Tell them I'm on my way.
23:2830 minutes later,
23:30I stepped onto the day eyes
23:31under a constellation
23:32of camera flashes,
23:33hot enough to melt steel.
23:35Nathan flanked my right.
23:37Eight more operators
23:38ring the stage,
23:39hands never far
23:40from concealed six hours.
23:43Good morning.
23:44Thank you for coming
23:45on short notice.
23:46I'm here to set the record
23:47straight on one matter
23:50and to announce a decision.
23:54Grayson Whitmore stormed in
23:56looking like he'd slept
23:57in a dumpster.
23:58Mia clung to his arm,
23:59mascara tracks carving rivers
24:01through her foundation.
24:02Celeste,
24:03you vicious bitch.
24:05What did you do
24:06to my company?
24:08Every account frozen,
24:09every supplier ghosting me.
24:11Do you have any idea
24:13what you've cost me?
24:15Celeste, please.
24:17Gray only lost his mind
24:18because he loves me.
24:20Punish me, not him.
24:22Camera swung like howitzers.
24:24The flash storm was blinding.
24:27Nathan started forward.
24:28Celeste, I stopped him cold.
24:33Let them through.
24:37Five years, Celeste.
24:39Five years and this is
24:40how you repay me?
24:43I ignored him completely,
24:45nodded to Nathan.
24:47The 80-foot LED wall behind me
24:49flared to life.
24:50The Aspen backcountry
24:52filled the screen.
24:53My own screams echoed
24:55through the ballroom sound system.
24:56You said a real player
24:57could walk home naked, right?
24:59Let's test that theory.
25:07The moon temperature
25:08seemed to drop 20 degrees.
25:10Grayson went whiter
25:11than the marble floor.
25:14This is the clarification.
25:16I am Celeste Montgomery,
25:19majority shareholder
25:20and designated heir
25:23to Montgomery Global.
25:24Last night, my fiancé,
25:26Grayson Whitmore,
25:28in collusion with
25:30his executive assistant
25:31Mia Carrington,
25:33kidnapped me,
25:34drugged me
25:34and attempted to murder me
25:36on a dark-knit
25:37last stream for sport.
25:43And the decision,
25:45effective immediately,
25:47Montgomery Global
25:48is initiating
25:49Chapter 7 liquidation
25:51of Whitmore Enterprises.
25:53Every asset,
25:54every patent,
25:55every offshore shell
25:56will be seized to compensate
25:58for emotional distress,
25:59physical damages
26:01and five years of fraud.
26:04The double doors opened again,
26:07this time to a phalanx
26:08of U.S. Marshals
26:09in tactical vests.
26:11Grayson Whitmore,
26:13Mia Carrington,
26:14you are under arrest,
26:16kidnapping,
26:17aggravated assault
26:18with a deadly weapon,
26:19attempted murder
26:20and conspiracy
26:21to commit the same.
26:22You have the right
26:23to remain silent.
26:27Remember when you said
26:28I'd come crawling back
26:29once the money ran out?
26:31Turns out the money
26:32never left.
26:33You did.
26:34The marshals dragged them
26:35past rows of reporters,
26:37now shouting questions like,
26:39machine gun fire.
26:40I stayed on the dais
26:41until the doors slammed shut
26:43behind the circus.
26:45Then I turned to the cameras
26:46one last time,
26:47voice steady
26:48as the empire at my back.
26:49Happy Thanksgiving, America.
26:52Justice is served cold.
26:54And today,
26:55the Montgomery table
26:56is finally full.
27:00Nathan Hale stepped to my side,
27:02offered his arm
27:03for the walkout.
27:04In my head,
27:05I could already hear
27:06Patriarch Montgomery
27:07raising a glass
27:08to the granddaughter
27:09who finally came home.
27:19I'm telling the truth.
27:22Mia masterminded everything.
27:25She's been jealous
27:26of Celeste
27:27since day one.
27:29Kept whispering
27:30that Celeste
27:31was sabotaging me,
27:33laughing at me
27:34behind my back.
27:36The Aspen Tripp,
27:38her idea.
27:40She said it was
27:41just a scare,
27:42a little humiliation
27:43to force the share transfer.
27:45He shoved every ounce
27:46of blame across the hallway,
27:47like it could save him.
27:51I'm just a secretary.
27:55Grayson resented Celeste
27:56for years,
27:57said she lorded her money
27:58over him,
27:59treated him like a charity case.
28:00He wanted revenge,
28:02told me to play along
28:03or he'd destroy my family.
28:04I was trapped.
28:06Please help me.
28:07Two people
28:07who used to finish
28:09each other's sentences
28:09now tore each other apart
28:11like rabid dogs.
28:13Grayson finally ran out
28:14of oxygen
28:14and collapsed forward.
28:16The memories hit harder
28:18than any punch.
28:23The night we met
28:25at that Yale alumni mixer,
28:26me in a borrowed dress,
28:27laughing that,
28:28my family ran a couple
28:30hardware stores
28:30back in Pittsburgh.
28:32The week his startup
28:34was bleeding out
28:35and I slid term sheets
28:36across the table.
28:37Montgomery money laundered
28:38through a dozen blind trusts.
28:40He never questioned.
28:41The flu that knocked him
28:42flat for six days,
28:44I sleeping upright
28:45in a plastic hospital chair
28:46with my hand on his IV.
28:51Every time I pointed out
28:52Nia's forged invoices
28:54and he snarled.
28:55You're just jealous
28:56and she's better
28:57at the job
28:57than you ever were.
29:00All those moments
29:01I thought were love,
29:02he'd seen as charity
29:03from a girl too naive
29:04to know her own worth.
29:14I wasn't some small town
29:16factory owner's daughter.
29:17I was the Montgomery heiress
29:20and I wasted five years
29:21shielding his ego
29:22while he sharpened the knife.
29:29I lay perfectly still
29:31while the city's
29:32top orthopedic surgeons
29:33swapped temporary splints
29:34for titanium-laced casts,
29:36light enough
29:37for primetime close-ups.
29:50Whitmore Enterprises
29:51is iced.
29:52Every account,
29:53every patent,
29:54every square foot
29:54of real estate
29:55proceeds transferred
29:57directly to your
29:57personal restitution trust.
29:59Darknet Rain
30:00has been taken offline
30:00by Cyber Division.
30:02Every username,
30:03every crypto wallet,
30:05our litigation teams
30:06filing suits
30:07faster than they can
30:07delete browser history.
30:09And the ex-lowbirds
30:09sang like canaries
30:10on our left-right-hand.
30:12Full confessions,
30:13cross-corroborated,
30:15they're typed.
30:15They're looking at 15 to 20,
30:17easy?
30:18No parole.
30:23You sure you're ready for?
30:25What comes next?
30:27The board's already
30:28floating your name for CEO.
30:30Patriarch wants you
30:31in the corner office
30:32by New Year's.
30:33I flexed my new
30:34titanium-laced forearm.
30:36Felt the bite
30:36of metal meeting bone.
30:38Painful,
30:39perfect,
30:39permanent.
30:46Tell Grandfather
30:47the prodigal's home.
30:49And this time,
30:50I'm not asking
30:52permission.
30:56Montgomery Estate,
30:57Aspen.
30:58Three days after Thanksgiving,
30:59the snow had stopped
31:00falling,
31:01but the wind still
31:02howled like it wanted
31:03back in.
31:11Ma'am,
31:12there's someone
31:13at the main gate.
31:14Who?
31:16Grayson Whitmore's mother.
31:18Let her freeze.
31:21Copy that.
31:23She's already been
31:24out there two nights.
31:25Security won't even
31:26give her coffee.
31:27Good.
31:29When I feel like it,
31:30I'll decide if she gets in.
31:31Not before.
31:33Oh,
31:34and Nathan,
31:35make sure Grayson
31:36gets the morning paper
31:37in his cell.
31:39Front page,
31:40above the fold.
31:42Whitmore Enterpurse's
31:43liquidated assets
31:44to Montgomery heiress.
31:46I want him to read it
31:48while he eats
31:48his Thanksgiving leftovers.
31:50Cold.
31:50Already on the
31:51warden's desk, ma'am.
31:53Day three.
31:54I finally had them
31:55escort Mrs. Whitmore
31:56to the East Parlor.
32:02Celeste.
32:03Thank God.
32:05Celeste,
32:06my son is an idiot.
32:08A monster.
32:09Whatever you want
32:10to call him.
32:11But he's still
32:12my only child.
32:15I'm begging you
32:16look at what we meant
32:17to each other once.
32:18Find it in your heart.
32:20Auntie?
32:22You seem confused.
32:24Your son
32:25didn't break my heart.
32:26He committed
32:27felony kidnapping
32:28and attempted murder.
32:30You want mercy?
32:31File an appeal
32:32with the First Circuit.
32:36Let me refresh
32:38your memory.
32:39Three years ago,
32:40your heart was failing.
32:42Grayson couldn't
32:42scrape together
32:43thirty grand.
32:44I sold my mother's watch,
32:45the one she wore
32:46the day she died,
32:47so you could have
32:47the best surgeon
32:48in Boston.
32:51You woke up,
32:52took my hand,
32:53and told me to stay
32:54out of men's business.
32:57You mistook kindness
32:59for weakness.
33:01You taught your son
33:02the same mistake.
33:04Now you're both
33:05learning the price.
33:07You're up.
33:13You're up,
33:27You're right,
33:27and I could have
33:27And I could have
33:27tying in,
33:44Celeste wouldn't.
33:47She loved me.
33:50There's more.
33:52Montgomery Legal just added commercial fraud to the indictment.
33:56They have your original pitch decks.
33:59Every inflated revenue number, every fake vendor contract you used to impress her
34:04back when you thought she was just a girl with a trust fund.
34:20They're saying he tried to hang himself with his jumpsuit, didn't get far.
34:26Let him live long enough to watch every cent he ever touched come home to me.
34:34Tell Legal to drop the papers.
34:36I'm taking the coroner office January 1st.
34:40And schedule a board meeting.
34:42It's time the world remembered what happens when you bet against a Montgomery.
34:53The trial had been a coronation in reverse.
34:56Every Montgomery lawyer in a 500-mile radius showed up in Zegna and vengeance.
35:01Evidence stacked higher than the jury's coffee cups.
35:04His public defender tried the crime of passion angle, temporary insanity, toxic masculinity,
35:10whatever buzzword might shave off a decade.
35:12It was like watching a toddler argue with a tsunami.
35:14It's all going according to plan.
35:17Your honor, new evidence.
35:26Gray, Celeste found the offshore transfers.
35:29What do I do?
35:30Let her bark.
35:31I'll just say she's jealous and trying to tank your career.
35:33Keep moving the money.
35:34Once we push her out, Whitmore Enterprises is yours.
35:37Push her out.
35:38Whitmore Enterprises is yours.
35:50Backstabbing bitch!
35:52You were a stepping stone, Grayson.
35:54A very expensive one.
35:56I recorded everything in case you ever forgot who held the leash.
36:02He finally understood.
36:04He'd never been the king.
36:05He'd been the pawn she kept in the front row in case the queen decided to sacrifice something.
36:11The judge didn't even look up from his notes.
36:14Mia Carrington.
36:1515 years.
36:17Federal penitentiary.
36:18Credit for cooperation.
36:20Grayson Whitmore.
36:22Kidnapping.
36:22Attempted murder.
36:23Commercial fraud.
36:24Conspiracy.
36:25Life imprisonment.
36:26No parole.
36:28Political rights terminated for life.
36:33Celeste.
36:34I'm sorry.
36:39I'm sorry.
36:41I'm sorry.
36:42I'm sorry.
36:43I'm sorry.
36:44Grayson's apology floated behind us.
36:47Thin and worthless as the paper jumpsuit he'd wear for the rest of his life.
37:06You just beat my kill ratio, ma'am.
37:09The Air Force is gonna cry.
37:11Hands are better than ever.
37:12Book the Gulfstream.
37:14G800.
37:15We're doing the globe run.
37:16Pole to pole.
37:1890 hours.
37:19No stops.
37:22Swallowed three competitors before breakfast.
37:25And still found time to get type-rated in everything with wings.
37:28You wasn't the girl who used to wait up with soup anymore.
37:31I was Celeste Montgomery.
37:33CEO in waiting.
37:35Heir to an empire that made nations blink.
37:41Prison mail.
37:43Whitmore.
37:44Tenth won this month.
37:46Summary?
37:47Same sob story.
37:48He is sorry.
37:49Praise every night.
37:50Misses the old days.
37:51Blames me, huh?
37:52Says if she hadn't existed, we'd be married by now.
37:55Wants one visit.
37:57Just one.
37:58Tell Leavenworth we're done forwarding mail.
38:02Grayson Whitmore died on that mountain as far as I'm concerned.
38:06Cremate the rest.
38:07Yes, ma'am.
38:13Are you ready to face a new storm at 41,000 feet?
38:17Like making a cup of coffee?
38:19Yep.
38:20Just like the coffee you made every day.
38:23I didn't slow down.
38:25I didn't need to.
38:27I was flying to everything.
38:30I was flying to everything.
38:31I was flying to everything.
38:33I was flying to everything.
38:36See you above all?
38:36I was booming제.
38:36I went here toendo.
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