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Rekindled love in error - FULL | DramaReel
#shortdrama
#heartstringshub
#shortdrama
#heartstringshub
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00:02My stepbrother, Sebastian, was drugged.
00:05I undid my own clothes and dedicated my first time for my stepbrother.
00:09I fantasized about this scene countless times.
00:12I really wanted him. His big manhood.
00:15When I got pregnant, parents pressured him to marry me.
00:18The same day Sebastian agreed, he got a car incident.
00:21He was an ice hockey star and billionaire.
00:24I didn't care that he'd never skate again.
00:26I still wanted to be his bride.
00:28I thought he'd be grateful.
00:30I thought we'd grow old together.
00:32Until our wedding night, the estate caught fire.
00:35I woke up choking and my first thought was to get him out.
00:38Instead, he smashed a vase over my head.
00:42It's you! You destroyed me!
00:45Don't think I don't know you orchestrated that night?
00:47Did you this thirsty?
00:49But I will never love you. I love Sienna forever.
00:52Now you can go to hell!
01:00I woke up to Sebastian's ragged breathing from the next room.
01:04I opened my eyes.
01:05Familiar walls.
01:06No wedding decorations.
01:08No smoke.
01:09I'd been reborn.
01:12Ellie.
01:14Get me some water.
01:16I checked my watch.
01:17I'd come back to the night he was drugged.
01:23The memory hit me all at once.
01:25The blood blurring my vision.
01:27The fire eating through my skin.
01:29It felt like it was happening again.
01:31Every instinct I had said, run.
01:33Get as far from Sebastian Holt as possible.
01:36I hadn't even grabbed my shoes when he appeared in my doorway.
01:40Sarah, I already called Sienna.
01:43Go pick her up now.
01:45Quickly.
01:46I knew the drug tearing through him.
01:48He needed release.
01:49Was Sebastian reborn too?
01:51Obviously this time he called Sarah because he didn't want to sleep with me.
01:55Grabbed my keys and slipped past him sideways.
01:57Walking fast for the door.
02:01The address Sebastian gave me was near the arena district.
02:04An apartment building a few blocks from the practice facility.
02:08So Sebastian and Sienna had been living together this early.
02:11He said I destroyed his love life.
02:13He wasn't wrong.
02:15Sienna spotted my car and yanked the door open, dropping into the passenger seat.
02:20She looked panicked.
02:21I caught a flicker of satisfaction in her eyes.
02:23How is he?
02:25You'll see when you get there.
02:27I didn't want to talk to her.
02:29Not because I was jealous.
02:30Because neither my mom nor I had ever trusted her.
02:33Sienna Walsh had been a charity case my family sponsored through school.
02:37At first my parents adored her.
02:39She was driven.
02:40Brilliant.
02:41Dad and mom personally flew her out to Chicago to start college.
02:45I always thought her eyes looked calculating.
02:48I told myself I was being paranoid.
02:50Then one night, she called dad crying.
02:53Some drunk guy had cornered her outside a bar.
02:56He rushed over and she threw herself against him.
02:59The second he arrived, arms around him, face buried in his chest.
03:03She was dressed very provocatively, rubbing her breasts against dad's chest.
03:07And her genitals were also rubbing wildly against dad's body.
03:11Dad froze with both hands in the air, looking like he'd touched a live wire.
03:16Mom pulled up 30 seconds later and saw the whole thing.
03:23Sienna cried and said she thought of dad like a father.
03:26She'd been so scared she hadn't thought.
03:28My parents said all the right things.
03:30But after that, she was never invited to the house again.
03:34And dad never dealt with her directly.
03:36Mom wasn't stingy.
03:37She had her assistant wire, Sienna, $50,000.
03:41The night before Sienna was supposed to fly out, she came to say goodbye.
03:45And she walked right into Sebastian.
03:48He'd just gotten back from his graduate program in Vancouver.
03:51Fresh off two seasons playing in the Western Hockey League.
03:54First round draft pick.
03:56Already a name, people said with a little extra weight.
03:58The next day, Sienna returned every dollar and told mom she'd thought it over.
04:02She was going to work first, save up.
04:05Do things right.
04:06Sebastian was heading out the door when he heard her say it.
04:09He looked at her.
04:10Plain clothes, steady eyes, and something in his expression shifted.
04:14A month later, Sienna joined the Holt organization.
04:18Personal executive assistant to Sebastian.
04:21I told him she wasn't what she looked like.
04:23That getting close to him was a strategy.
04:25Ellie.
04:27Not everyone thinks about romance all day like you do.
04:29Less than a year later, she had a key to her apartment.
04:32I drove fast.
04:35Ellie.
04:36Being upset doesn't mean the rest of us want to die.
04:39Sienna walked into the building.
04:41I stayed in the car and stared at the steering wheel.
04:44I knew exactly what was happening up there.
04:46I wasn't jealous.
04:48In my last life, my death had taken my parents down with me.
04:51That was what finally made it clear.
04:54What I felt for Sebastian was poison to him.
04:57Just being loved by me cost him something.
05:00Ellie.
05:00He's your brother.
05:03Whatever twisted thing you felt for him drove him to another country.
05:07He has me now.
05:08Let it go.
05:10Sebastian had known.
05:11He'd known all along that I had feelings for him.
05:14And he'd left for Vancouver to get away from me.
05:17If I'd known that sooner, I wouldn't have.
05:20Last time, watching him suffering and barely conscious, I wouldn't have reached for my own buttons.
05:25You're an adult now.
05:26It's time to find someone right for you.
05:29She was afraid I'd cling to Sebastian.
05:31I wouldn't.
05:32Not this time.
05:34Whatever I'd felt for him was gone.
05:39Sebastian came down in his sleeping clothes.
05:42Where were you last night?
05:43The marks on his neck were obvious.
05:45His voice was rough, lazy.
05:47I went to see my friend Jess.
05:49Jess was my best friend.
05:50Sebastian had met her.
05:51He still thought to check where I'd been.
05:53Maybe he'd made peace with things too.
05:55Maybe we could just be siblings again.
05:57Normal.
05:58I almost let myself feel hopeful.
06:00I know you look down on Sienna's background.
06:02Think she's not good enough.
06:03But she's the woman I'm going to marry.
06:05And you're gonna treat her with respect.
06:06When had I ever looked down on where she came from?
06:08I must have shown the confusion on my face.
06:11Drop the act.
06:12She put herself on the line fixing a mess you made.
06:14She paid for your mistakes with everything she had.
06:16What does that mean?
06:17If you're gonna tell me the drug wasn't from you,
06:20Sienna is a decent person.
06:21She wanted to wait until our wedding night.
06:23You took that from her.
06:25I didn't.
06:26I said it loud and clear.
06:27Yes, I had feelings for Sebastian for years.
06:30But I would never have done something like that.
06:32We had dinner out, came home,
06:33I drank the milk you left on my nightstand.
06:35If it wasn't you, who?
06:36Last time, I never understood why Sebastian didn't investigate.
06:39I assumed he'd been compromised outside the house
06:41and was too ashamed to dig into it.
06:43He thought it was me.
06:44That's why he hated me so much.
06:46Enough to want my parents to burn with him.
06:48Enough to make sure our six-month-old baby never saw the world.
06:52Something bitter sat in my chest.
06:53My eyes burned.
06:54Believe me or don't.
06:55But it wasn't me.
06:57Sebastian's bedroom door opened.
06:59Sienna stepped out wearing his dress shirt,
07:01looking like a startled rabbit.
07:03Sebastian, is Ellie angry at me?
07:05His eyes were a clear warning.
07:09Ellie's not angry.
07:10She's happy for us.
07:12Sebastian's right.
07:13Congratulations, you two.
07:15Sienna saved Sebastian.
07:16I'll talk to mom and dad.
07:18I'll make sure they agree to the wedding.
07:19A flicker of triumph crossed Sienna's face.
07:21Sebastian watched me like he was looking for the trap.
07:24Let him look.
07:24He was willing to die for her.
07:26Even knowing what she was,
07:27I wasn't going to let my parents carry any more risk because of me.
07:31Don't make things hard for his parents.
07:32I know I'm not what the family expected.
07:34I just want to be by his side.
07:36Sebastian pulled her close.
07:37Sienna showed me the look of someone who had already won.
07:40Ellie, your brother kind of wrecked my shirt.
07:43Can I borrow something?
07:44Last month you didn't wear the dress I gave you.
07:46You said you didn't like it.
07:47Why not give it to Sienna?
07:48He had given it to me for my birthday.
07:50I hadn't worn it because I was saving it,
07:52giving away something he gave me, a small thing.
07:54And I knew it.
07:55I felt it anyway.
07:55Then I didn't.
07:56Sienna put on my dress and did a little spin,
07:59asking Sebastian if she looked beautiful,
08:01ignoring me completely.
08:02None of it touched me.
08:03This time I just wanted my parents and me to be okay.
08:06Mom and Dad got back from vacation after two weeks away.
08:09The day they returned,
08:10Sebastian told them he was marrying Sienna.
08:12When I got home,
08:13there were broken pieces of a teacup on the living room floor.
08:16Mom sat beside Dad,
08:17rubbing slow circles on his back.
08:18Her face was stone.
08:20Sebastian sat across from them,
08:22expressionless.
08:22Mom.
08:24Dad.
08:24I went straight to them and wrapped my arms around them both,
08:27fighting my eyes.
08:28Their faces softened immediately,
08:30but he was already ruffling my hair.
08:32Mom pulled me onto the couch.
08:33You're grown and you're still doing this.
08:35Sebastian wants to marry his assistant.
08:37What do you think, Ellie?
08:43Sebastian's eyes came to me too.
08:45I think it's great.
08:46Sienna and Sebastian are good together.
08:49You really think that?
08:50Mom, Sebastian is 26.
08:52He gets to choose his own life.
08:54We should support him.
08:55Whether you like Sienna doesn't matter.
08:57What matters is Sebastian wants her.
08:59After the wedding,
09:00they can have their own space
09:01and I'll live with you two forever.
09:02That softened their faces a little.
09:04I caught Sebastian's eye and gave him a small nod.
09:07Our whole lives.
09:09Mom, Dad.
09:10After we're married,
09:11Sienna and I will take care of you both.
09:13Please.
09:13Sebastian knelt on the floor in front of them.
09:15I pushed again from the other side.
09:17They looked at each other.
09:18Then they gave in.
09:19Sebastian got his wedding.
09:20This time,
09:21the tragedy didn't have to happen.
09:22I felt the tension drain out of my hands.
09:24After Mom and Dad went to bed,
09:26I went up to my room.
09:27I'd just opened my journal
09:28when the door swung open without a knock.
09:30Sebastian.
09:32He glanced at the journal.
09:33His face changed.
09:34I barely stood up
09:35before his hand closed around my throat.
09:37Ellie.
09:39Write more of your disgusting thoughts about me.
09:43What are you talking about?
09:49Sebastian picked up the journal.
09:52You kept a whole diary full of this
09:54when you were in high school.
09:55He'd read my diary.
09:56I was furious and humiliated
09:58and I shoved his hand off me.
09:59I grabbed the journal and threw it at him.
10:01What do you want from me?
10:03I helped you get what you wanted
10:04and it's still not enough?
10:05I had feelings for you.
10:06That was my mistake.
10:08I don't anymore.
10:08What else do you want?
10:10You love looking at my private things?
10:12Go ahead.
10:13But the guy I'm writing about isn't you.
10:16You actually said yes to my brother?
10:18You want to be my sister-in-law?
10:20She was so loud.
10:21Two people at the next table looked over.
10:23I reached up and covered her mouth.
10:25I ran into him a few days ago.
10:27We just...
10:28My face was getting warm.
10:30Clicked.
10:31Okay, but tell me everything.
10:33He asked you out six months ago
10:34and you turned him down?
10:35How did you end up here?
10:36Her brother, Grant Walsh,
10:38had asked me out six months before my rebirth.
10:41At the time, my whole heart was Sebastian's.
10:43I said no.
10:44Coming back and fixing what I'd gotten wrong
10:46didn't change Sienna's behavior.
10:48She was in my house every day,
10:51marking her territory,
10:52making sure I knew my place.
10:53Even after I stepped back completely,
10:55she didn't stop.
10:56I needed to get out of the house.
10:58I went to a bar and had a few too many.
11:00And when I was dizzy and trying to find the bathroom,
11:02some guy cornered me in the hallway.
11:04I was about to cry from panic
11:06when Grant appeared out of nowhere
11:08and dropped the guy with one punch.
11:12When Grant pulled out a handkerchief to wipe my face,
11:15I laughed out loud before I could stop myself.
11:18Grant!
11:20Who carries a handkerchief in this century?
11:22What are you, 80?
11:24Do you have any idea what this cost?
11:26Doesn't matter.
11:26A napkin would have worked better.
11:28He thought about it,
11:29nodded,
11:30and threw the expensive handkerchief in the trash.
11:34Ellie says it,
11:35Ellie gets it.
11:36One handkerchief,
11:36and suddenly we were talking every day.
11:39Whenever I was low,
11:40I'd message him,
11:40and he always had some ridiculous thing
11:42that landed exactly right.
11:44After my rebirth,
11:45the only time I felt like I could breathe
11:47was when I was talking to Grant.
11:48Don't billionaires have better things to do
11:50than text all day?
11:51Because it's you,
11:52I don't want you waiting even a minute.
11:54I've basically had my phone in my hand
11:56for three weeks straight.
11:57So this was what being loved felt like.
11:59Sebastian had never given me anything close.
12:02This time around,
12:03I wanted to know what it felt like for real.
12:05I told Grant,
12:06yes,
12:06I kept a journal.
12:07Lately,
12:08the man in it was Grant.
12:09I didn't know if Sebastian had read it this time.
12:11When I got home,
12:12the notebook was sitting neatly on my desk.
12:14Sebastian was gone for days.
12:16Good timing.
12:17I used the space to tell mom and dad about Grant,
12:19the heir to the Walsh family.
12:21I held their hands
12:22and made them promise to stay with me.
12:24Always.
12:24They patted my head and said yes
12:26like I was being adorable.
12:27I didn't care.
12:28They'd agreed
12:28and I was holding them to it.
12:30That evening,
12:30Sebastian brought Sienna home for dinner.
12:32She was wearing something expensive enough
12:34to somehow look elegant.
12:35Mom and dad were polite.
12:37Nobody caused a scene.
12:38After dinner,
12:39we all settled in the living room.
12:40Sebastian,
12:41Sienna,
12:42we're not standing in the way away of your wedding,
12:44but there are things we need to say first.
12:47Sebastian's gaze kept drifting towards me
12:48throughout the evening.
12:49It made my skin crawl.
12:53Sebastian's getting married.
12:54Ellie has a boyfriend.
12:56To make sure there are no arguments down the road,
12:58I want to be clear now.
12:59Married or moved out,
13:00you each get half of what we leave behind.
13:02That doesn't seem fair.
13:03Ellie's a daughter.
13:04She'll marry out of the family.
13:05Splitting it evenly
13:06is just handing assets to strangers.
13:08You're not even part of this family yet
13:09and you're already telling us how to run it.
13:12Isn't that a little early?
13:17Ellie's boyfriend isn't trying to get his hands
13:18on our money by dating her, is he?
13:21He pulled Sienna a little closer.
13:23I'd actually say the split is unfair too.
13:25Ellie's adopted.
13:26I don't mind supporting her forever.
13:28She can marry whoever she wants
13:29and stay in the house.
13:30That's generous enough.
13:31Mom and dad's expressions went somewhere dangerous.
13:34Who told you Ellie was adopted?
13:37That's impossible.
13:38Ellie is the one who...
13:40Elissa is our biological daughter.
13:43You're the one who were adopted.
13:47Mom and dad were among the first people
13:49from their small town to go to college.
13:51They graduated, moved to the city, built something.
13:53When it started to go well,
13:54they came back for the people they'd grown up with,
13:57brought a few of the younger ones to Chicago
13:58to give them a start.
14:00Sebastian's father was one of them.
14:02The town was poor back then.
14:04Your mother ran out on you and your dad
14:06when you were small.
14:08Your father was a good driver and a good son.
14:11He didn't want to leave your grandmother.
14:14Your grandmother didn't want to be the thing
14:16holding him back.
14:18So she made the choice herself.
14:20Sebastian's face was blank with shock.
14:23Even I was hearing this for the first time.
14:26Your grandmother's last wish was for us
14:28to bring your father and you to the city.
14:30We said yes.
14:30You just started walking.
14:32Things didn't go the way anyone planned.
14:34Your father was killed in an accident within six months.
14:37He was barely 25.
14:38He left you behind at not even two years old.
14:40Mom's voice was steady, but her eyes weren't.
14:43I was pregnant.
14:45I looked at this tiny little boy alone in the world
14:47and we talked it over and we said yes to taking you in.
14:50Sebastian's expression kept shifting.
14:52You're making this up.
14:54You want to cut me out of the inheritance
14:55so you're inventing a story.
14:57More disappointment settled into dad's face.
14:59He looked at Sebastian without the warmth
15:01that was usually there.
15:08Mom and dad aren't lying.
15:09Junior year of high school
15:10when you were in the hospital with that flu,
15:12I noticed your blood type 2 matched.
15:15I brought the chart to mom.
15:17That's when she told me.
15:18We don't share blood.
15:20That was also when I started to love him.
15:22Completely.
15:23Every page of every journal.
15:25His mood was my mood
15:26and there had been years.
15:27All the years before the last month of his senior year
15:30when he was actually a good older brother.
15:33When mom and dad were working,
15:34he was the one taking care of me.
15:37I spent more time with him
15:39than I did with either of my parents.
15:41There was a stretch when I'd watched a horror movie
15:43and couldn't sleep alone.
15:44I crawled into his room every night.
15:47His classes were brutal,
15:49but he would sit with me,
15:51patient,
15:51until I fell asleep in his bed.
15:54Then he'd take a blanket
15:55to the chair in the corner.
15:57In the morning light,
15:58with his eyes closed
15:59and his face relaxed,
16:01every piece of him seemed to glow.
16:03That version of Sebastian
16:04fit every quiet dream I'd ever had.
16:07I did his laundry without telling him,
16:09straightened his room
16:10when he wasn't looking,
16:10put a hot mug of something
16:11on his desk every night.
16:12I thought I was hiding it.
16:14I wasn't.
16:14He saw it in how I looked at him.
16:16And then that pink journal
16:17nailed it permanently
16:18into something shameful.
16:20This is a lie.
16:22You're making it up
16:23to give the estate
16:24to the girl you're actually related to.
16:26Sienna's voice had gone sharp.
16:28She worked inside the Holt organization.
16:30She knew exactly
16:31what half the estate meant.
16:39Sebastian's expression
16:40was unreadable for a long moment.
16:42This can't be real.
16:43You're doing this together.
16:45All of you.
16:46If you don't believe us,
16:48we can run a paternity test.
16:50The results say
16:51you're not our blood.
16:52I'll give you a starting season
16:53and step back.
16:55Just add a go to Ellie.
16:56Dad was done.
16:57The love he'd always shown Sebastian
16:59wasn't in his voice anymore.
17:00The reason Sebastian
17:02had always been so certain
17:03I was the adopted one,
17:04last time,
17:05I had told mom
17:05to be honest with him
17:06about which one of us was bi.
17:08I didn't want our already
17:10complicated dynamic
17:11made worse
17:12by him feeling obligated to me.
17:14Sienna's eyes
17:15were doing calculations.
17:16Sebastian understood
17:17what dad was saying.
17:18Do the test
17:19and it means choosing
17:20to fight Ellie
17:21for what was left
17:21and cutting the cord
17:23on everything
17:23between our family and him.
17:25He didn't take the test.
17:28Even with Sienna pushing,
17:30he just looked at me.
17:32I looked back at him.
17:34Nothing moved inside me.
17:35After that night,
17:36Sebastian barely came home.
17:38Without him taking up
17:40space in my head,
17:41I felt lighter.
17:42I didn't realize
17:43how much of my energy
17:44had been going
17:45toward managing that weight.
17:49Grant and I started
17:50spending more time together.
17:53He kept showing up
17:54asking to formally
17:55meet my parents,
17:56his future in-laws.
17:57He called them
17:58completely straight-faced.
17:59I walked in one afternoon
18:00and mom was making soup
18:02while dad sat
18:03at the kitchen counter.
18:04She called me over
18:04to taste it.
18:06I told her it was
18:07the best thing
18:08I'd ever had,
18:09which made her glow.
18:10Mom,
18:10can we buy another place?
18:12She paused.
18:13For Sebastian?
18:14For the wedding?
18:14Not exactly.
18:15Sebastian had pushed
18:16the wedding date out
18:17two years for reasons
18:18I couldn't figure out.
18:19But even with him
18:20barely home,
18:21sharing walls with him
18:21felt wrong,
18:22especially with our rooms
18:23right next to each other.
18:25I want you to get me a place.
18:27Mom pinched my nose.
18:30Already trying to escape?
18:33You just grew up.
18:37I'm not escaping.
18:38I want you and dad
18:39to come with me.
18:40Give this house to Sebastian.
18:42Part of it was
18:42the distance from Sebastian.
18:44Part of it was
18:44that last time.
18:45This house was
18:46where we all died.
18:47The walls still
18:48made me uneasy.
18:49Before mom could answer,
18:50there was movement
18:51from the living room.
18:52Sebastian.
18:54At dinner,
18:55mom and dad
18:55seemed to have put
18:56the hard conversation
18:57behind them.
18:57They kept putting food
18:58on my plate
18:59and Sebastian's.
19:00Sebastian's eyes
19:01came to rest on me again,
19:02like they'd been doing lately.
19:03Dad,
19:05Ellie just graduated.
19:06She shouldn't just be
19:07sitting around.
19:08She should come work
19:08at the company.
19:09I was sure I'd heard wrong.
19:10He couldn't stand
19:11to be in the same room as me.
19:12Why would he want me
19:13in his office every day?
19:14Before I could object,
19:16dad nodded.
19:17Good.
19:17You should get
19:18real experience now
19:19before life gets
19:20more complicated.
19:21I don't want to.
19:22I want to be useless.
19:24Dad can support me now
19:25and when I get married,
19:26my husband can support me.
19:27I deployed full effort
19:28puppy eyes.
19:29Dad must have noticed
19:30something had shifted
19:31between me and Sebastian.
19:32He assumed it was
19:33the inheritance conversation
19:34and he'd been quietly
19:35trying to smooth things
19:36over between us.
19:40At this rate,
19:41no one's going to want you
19:42and you'll end up
19:43depending on your brother
19:44for the rest of your life.
19:46Dad was joking.
19:48Sebastian inexplicably was not.
19:50Ellie's welcome to stay home.
19:51I'll take care of her
19:52as long as she needs.
19:53The way he was looking at me
19:55had something in it
19:55I didn't want to name.
19:56It made my skin crawl.
19:58After dinner,
19:59mom and dad went for a walk.
20:01I did my makeup,
20:02a soft, deliberate look,
20:03and got ready to meet Grant.
20:05I hadn't even made it
20:06out of the hallway
20:07before Sebastian caught my arm.
20:09Are you avoiding me?
20:10Did he seriously need to ask?
20:12His eyes had an anger in them
20:13I couldn't account for.
20:15Do you actually want to see me?
20:17If you didn't have
20:18those feelings for me,
20:19I would have treated you
20:20like a real sister.
20:21I held his gaze.
20:22I don't have them anymore.
20:24But I felt for you
20:25burned up in the fire
20:26last time.
20:29His grip on my shoulders
20:30tightened,
20:31sharp enough to hurt.
20:32And then,
20:32at those last two words,
20:34his hands went still.
20:35You were reborn too?
20:39He let go.
20:44So you're running from me?
20:46Going off to marry
20:47some random guy?
20:48Is that how little
20:48you think of yourself?
20:49His expression was something
20:51I couldn't read.
20:51Angry, maybe.
20:52Regretful.
20:53And something under it
20:54that looked like it refused
20:55to accept what was happening.
20:58What random guy?
20:59At that,
21:00he looked startled.
21:00Then briefly,
21:01something like hope
21:02crossed his face.
21:05The man in your journal.
21:06This Grant.
21:08You made him up?
21:10He'd seen the journal.
21:11And apparently,
21:11he'd decided from what I wrote
21:13that Grant was some kind of
21:14street-level con artist.
21:15All I'd written about
21:16was how he'd helped me
21:17that night outside the bar.
21:19And then the things
21:19we did together,
21:20wandering through an outdoor market
21:21on the edge of the city,
21:23going to a live show,
21:24watching Grant play drums
21:25at a venue downtown.
21:27Under the stage lights,
21:28loose and confident,
21:29with half the women in the crowd
21:30losing their minds,
21:31I'd been one of them,
21:32yelling myself hoarse.
21:34Apparently,
21:34I had described a charming screw-up
21:36who preyed on rich girls.
21:37He's a good person.
21:39I pushed past Sebastian.
21:43And he's not some deadbeat!
21:45There was heat in my voice now.
21:48Come work with me.
21:50Meet real men.
21:52You'll see what you're
21:53walking away from.
21:54Then I remembered.
21:55Grant had mentioned
21:55our families were in the middle
21:57of closing a deal.
21:58Fine.
21:59I was curious,
22:00honestly.
22:02Private Grant,
22:03the one who dragged me
22:04to flea markets
22:05and crowds surfed at concerts.
22:07I wanted to see
22:08what he looked like
22:09when he walked into
22:10a room in a suit
22:11and made an entire
22:12boardroom nervous.
22:13Ellie, just stay close to me.
22:15I'll look after you.
22:16Like a brother should.
22:17I moved his hand
22:18off my arm.
22:19Something impatient
22:20rose in my chest.
22:21That's okay.
22:22I'll have my parents
22:23and my boyfriend for that.
22:25Sebastian went cold.
22:26I felt it,
22:27and I still walked out the door.
22:31On the street,
22:32I made a mental note
22:33to push harder
22:34on the new apartment idea.
22:40Grant was waiting outside
22:41in a casual jacket,
22:42forehead creased in thought.
22:45What are you thinking about?
22:49Wondering what else
22:50I can find for us to do.
22:51He folded me against his side,
22:53and I thought of something
22:54Jess had said once.
22:55She said her brother
22:56spent his early 20s
22:58being exactly
22:58what everyone expected.
23:00Reckless,
23:01loud,
23:01careless,
23:02with money and people.
23:03Then their grandfather
23:04handed him the company
23:05and put him through
23:06two years of the most
23:07intensive reshaping
23:08of his entire personality.
23:09The result was
23:10someone almost
23:11unrecognizable,
23:12steady,
23:12calculated,
23:13kind of man who made
23:14a room fall quiet
23:15when he walked in.
23:16She'd said it like a complaint.
23:17I laughed and said
23:18I'd never want a man like that.
23:20Jess asked what I did want.
23:21I said I wanted someone
23:22who'd still come out and play.
23:23We were both laughing
23:24when Grant walked in
23:25with a bowl of fruit
23:26and stood in the doorway
23:27looking completely at a loss.
23:29I looked at him now,
23:30sideways.
23:31Grant,
23:32have you been doing all this?
23:34The markets,
23:35the shows,
23:36the driving around at midnight
23:37because you thought
23:38that's what I wanted?
23:39He hesitated.
23:41You don't like it?
23:42I knew it.
23:43I felt something turn over
23:44slowly in my chest.
23:48When I'd loved Sebastian
23:50without him knowing,
23:50I'd asked him once,
23:51carefully,
23:52what kind of girl
23:53he was drawn to.
23:54He said quiet,
23:55steady.
23:55For years after that,
23:56I made myself smaller around him.
23:58He thought it was maturity.
23:59It wasn't.
24:00Grant had taken me
24:01bungee jumping,
24:02scuba diving,
24:03and to a racetrack.
24:04And somewhere in all of that
24:05I'd remembered something
24:06about myself
24:07that I'd always loved
24:08the feeling of my heart
24:09going too fast.
24:10Grant was five years
24:11older than me
24:12and somehow loved
24:13exactly the way I did,
24:14like someone who'd
24:15never been told
24:15to tone it down.
24:18Just be yourself.
24:20You don't have to
24:21keep up with me.
24:22Grant held on.
24:26I was scared you'd think
24:27I was too old
24:29or boring
24:31or insufferable.
24:32His voice had this quality,
24:33like a complaint,
24:34but soft,
24:35and it made me laugh
24:36before I could help it.
24:37I'm going to need to do
24:37a full inspection
24:38for the insufferability levels.
24:41Grant laughed
24:42and tried to get away
24:43from my hands,
24:43and I thought,
24:44this is what it feels like,
24:46being loved back.
24:48Sebastian had never
24:48given me a single
24:50second of this.
24:51Wanting someone
24:51who doesn't want you
24:52is the whole problem,
24:53I thought.
24:54That was always
24:54the original sin.
24:59I started at the company
25:00and immediately understood
25:02why Sienna had been on edge
25:03since the moment
25:04I walked in.
25:05She'd been Sebastian's
25:05assistant on paper.
25:07In practice,
25:07she was running the floor
25:08like she'd already
25:09signed a prenup.
25:11I came in as a junior associate
25:12on the projects team.
25:13And I pushed hard
25:14to keep my name
25:15out of any introduction.
25:16Dad was supportive.
25:17He thought starting
25:18at the bottom
25:19built real judgment.
25:20Sienna treated my arrival
25:21like an occupation.
25:23Three separate attempts
25:23to make things difficult
25:24in the first two weeks,
25:26and I ignored all of them.
25:27Mostly I kept to my desk
25:28and avoided the executive
25:29floor entirely.
25:31It held up for two weeks.
25:32Then the day came
25:33when Grant was scheduled
25:33to walk into the building
25:35for a deal meeting.
25:36I ran into Sienna
25:36in the break room
25:37while I was waiting.
25:40Sienna,
25:41I'm not here
25:42to take anything
25:43from you.
25:44Not Sebastian,
25:45not your standing
25:45in this company.
25:46I'm here because
25:47Dad wanted me to come.
25:48That's it.
25:49No one else was around.
25:50I said it plainly.
25:52I don't believe you.
25:57She looked at me
25:57like I'd said something
25:58in a language
25:59she'd decided not to speak.
26:00I picked up my coffee.
26:01That's your choice.
26:03All I could think about
26:04was the look on Grant's face
26:05when he realized
26:06I was already here.
26:07Then she grabbed my arm.
26:08There was a brief,
26:09sharp struggle.
26:10And then Sienna threw
26:11the contents of her mug
26:12against her own wrist
26:13and forearm.
26:13The sound she made
26:14was loud enough
26:15to pull in most of the floor.
26:17Ellie,
26:18you act like you support us
26:20to our faces
26:20and then you follow
26:21your brother here.
26:22And now this!
26:23Her voice carried.
26:24People were filing in
26:25from every direction.
26:26I know you hate me,
26:28but scalding me
26:29isn't going to make me
26:30walk away from Sebastian.
26:31The employees around us
26:32were wide-eyed,
26:33already running the math
26:34on the drama.
26:35She's his sister.
26:36That's weight.
26:37So this is a whole thing?
26:39Management is going to be
26:40stuck in the middle
26:41of a family war.
26:42Who does he side with
26:43when he shows up?
26:44Either way,
26:45he loses.
26:46The noise closed in
26:47like walls.
26:48My eyes were burning.
26:50I have a boyfriend!
26:52I said it loud.
26:55Sure!
26:56You've got a fake boyfriend
26:57to make your brother jealous?
26:58We've all seen that move.
27:00You chased him
27:00to his own company,
27:01and now you're
27:02playing innocent?
27:03I slapped her.
27:07It was reflex.
27:08The second my hand connected,
27:10I knew I'd handed her
27:11exactly what she wanted.
27:13She just...
27:14Everyone saw that!
27:16That's Sebastian's
27:17old sister
27:18hitting his fiancée
27:19because she's in love
27:20with her own...
27:20I raised my hand again.
27:23Sebastian came around
27:24the corner.
27:24Grant was beside him.
27:26Grant walked straight to me.
27:27He was in a fitted suit,
27:28the version of him
27:29that closed
27:30nine-figure deals
27:31and put entire front offices
27:32on the back foot.
27:33Sharp.
27:34Clean.
27:35The kind of presence
27:36that made a room
27:37recalibrate itself.
27:38But I knew he wouldn't
27:39turn that sharpness on me.
27:41I grabbed his hand
27:42without looking at Sebastian.
27:43Sienna.
27:44Look at him.
27:45That's my boyfriend.
27:47He's better looking
27:47than Sebastian.
27:48He has more money
27:49than Sebastian.
27:50And he actually loves me back.
27:52And I love him.
27:56Grant's expression
27:57went from anger
27:58to something that looked
27:59a little like
28:00trying not to smile.
28:01He stood up straighter.
28:02You think I don't know
28:03what you're doing?
28:04You don't want me
28:05near this company.
28:06On one side,
28:07you're scared
28:08I'll get too close
28:09to Sebastian.
28:10On the other,
28:11you're scared
28:11I'll use my share
28:12of the family assets
28:13to have a say
28:14in how this place runs.
28:15I glanced at Sebastian.
28:16My mouth pulled
28:17into something cold.
28:19This is the woman
28:20you chose.
28:22For her,
28:23you were willing...
28:23Sienna hadn't processed
28:24what was happening.
28:25She turned
28:26and pressed herself
28:26against Sebastian.
28:27Ellie hates me!
28:28She burned me!
28:30She hit me!
28:31Sebastian,
28:31I know I'm not
28:32good enough for you,
28:33but...
28:34I took a step forward.
28:35I knew Sebastian
28:37loved her.
28:37I knew my parents
28:39genuinely loved Sebastian
28:40and that I'd spent
28:41the last several months
28:42trying to make
28:43everyone happy
28:43by letting him
28:44have what he wanted.
28:45I'd been wrong.
28:47With Sienna involved,
28:48there was no version
28:49of this family
28:50that didn't
28:51eventually come apart.
28:52Sebastian.
28:55I didn't go after her.
28:57Check the footage.
28:58One of the watching
28:59employees spoke up.
29:00The break room camera
29:01has been down.
29:02Maintenance hasn't
29:03gotten to it yet.
29:04But the building's
29:05AI unit,
29:05it was stationed
29:06right outside the break room.
29:07Even without a full
29:08video record,
29:09it should have
29:09picked up audio.
29:10It should tell you
29:11pretty clearly
29:11who started it.
29:14People noticed
29:15the unit standing
29:16just outside
29:17the break room door.
29:18It blinked
29:19its camera eyes
29:20at the crowd
29:20and offered
29:21a small mechanical smile.
29:23Looks like my girlfriend
29:24has excellent taste
29:25in tech.
29:26This model uploads
29:27all audio and visual data
29:29to cloud storage
29:30automatically.
29:31Permanent record.
29:32You can pull anything,
29:34going back as far
29:35as you want.
29:36The color drained
29:37out of Sienna's face.
29:38Something close to panic.
29:39My stomach tightened.
29:42Jake, pull it.
29:43Sebastian said.
29:44No expression.
29:45Sebastian,
29:46you don't believe me?
29:47Pull everything on file
29:48related to Mrs. Walsh
29:49while you're at it.
29:50Sebastian didn't answer her.
29:51I stepped in
29:52right behind him.
29:53All of it.
29:55Everything that unit
29:56has ever recorded
29:57near her.
29:57You think money
29:58gives you the right
29:59to invade my privacy?
30:01Sebastian,
30:01your sister
30:02is humiliating me.
30:03Sebastian's face
30:04was working through
30:05something complicated.
30:06This model
30:07is male presenting
30:08and has never recorded
30:09anyone in a private space.
30:10Grant said,
30:11in the tone of someone
30:12reading off a spec sheet.
30:13Just public areas.
30:14The absolute deadpan delivery
30:15made me bite down
30:17on a laugh.
30:17He pressed my hand quietly.
30:19The fallout from Sienna
30:20spreading what she'd
30:21spread about me
30:22meant I handed in my notice
30:23that same afternoon
30:24when I went up
30:25to Sebastian's office
30:26to leave my resignation.
30:27He watched me
30:28with an expression
30:29I couldn't name.
30:30So,
30:32Grant Walsh
30:32is actually Grant Walsh.
30:34Yes.
30:35So you can relax.
30:36I'm not chasing you,
30:37I'm not fighting you
30:38for the inheritance
30:38and if you want
30:39to marry Sienna
30:40I'm not stopping you.
30:41My voice was polite,
30:42distant.
30:43I'd never talked to him
30:44like that before.
30:45Sebastian,
30:46I hope we both
30:47get to be happy this time.
30:54Grant came to the house
30:55for dinner on the same day
30:56Jake delivered
30:57the footage results.
30:58I didn't ask
30:59what was on it
31:00but my walking away
31:01had cut off
31:01whatever Sienna
31:02had been building toward
31:03and that felt like enough.
31:04Mom and Dad
31:05took to Grant immediately,
31:06Dad especially.
31:07They spent most of dinner
31:08talking about business
31:09and by the time
31:10dessert came out
31:11they were finishing
31:11each other's sentences.
31:13After Grant left,
31:14Mom pulled me
31:14into her room.
31:15Since Sebastian
31:16and Sienna got together,
31:17I've been worried
31:18about you.
31:18My chest tightened.
31:20Did Mom remember too?
31:21She saw my face
31:22and smoothed my hair back.
31:24You think I don't know
31:25why your father
31:25and I pushed back
31:26so hard on the wedding?
31:28We had our own reasons
31:29but you handled it so well.
31:31And now look at you.
31:33I exhaled slowly.
31:34She didn't know.
31:35Neither of them knew.
31:37That was good.
31:38Sebastian wouldn't make
31:38the same mistakes twice
31:39and our family
31:40would be okay.
31:42The night before Grant's
31:43and my engagement party,
31:45Sebastian came home late.
31:46I thought it was Mom
31:47when he knocked.
31:48I didn't lock the door.
31:49He came in
31:50and pulled me against him
31:51and the smell of whiskey
31:52hit me immediately.
31:53Ellie,
31:54I was wrong.
31:56Don't get engaged
31:57to someone else.
31:58Be with me.
31:58I pushed against him
31:59as hard as I could
32:00and kept my voice low.
32:01You've lost your mind.
32:03Marry me.
32:04We stay a family.
32:05All four of us.
32:07Isn't that what
32:07you always wanted?
32:12You don't love me.
32:13So what is this?
32:15I couldn't get free.
32:16I do.
32:17I just didn't know it
32:18until it was too late.
32:19He stepped back
32:20and held my shoulders,
32:21looking at me directly.
32:23I don't love you anymore.
32:25The red in the corners
32:26of his eyes
32:26was visible now.
32:27I don't buy that.
32:28Years don't just disappear.
32:29Sebastian,
32:30I told you.
32:32Whatever I felt for you
32:33was incinerated
32:34in that fire,
32:35in our last life.
32:36Both his hands
32:37were trembling.
32:38His eyes were wet.
32:39I was wrong.
32:40I'll say it to anyone.
32:41I'll get on my knees
32:43in front of mom and dad.
32:44I'll spend the rest
32:44of my life making it right.
32:46Just come back.
32:46Standing there
32:47watching him,
32:48I felt something
32:49almost like grief.
32:50Not for him,
32:51but for the version of me
32:52who would have fallen apart
32:53at the sight of this.
32:54I'll sign everything
32:55over to you.
32:56Every asset,
32:57every share.
32:58I'll spend what's left
32:59of my life
32:59earning it back from zero.
33:00I couldn't tell
33:01if he was drunk
33:02or broken or both.
33:03I put everything I had
33:04into shoving him back.
33:06Sebastian,
33:07mom and dad
33:08don't know anything
33:09about our last life.
33:10Don't blow that up.
33:11I'm asking you
33:12to let this go.
33:13He moved toward me again.
33:14I said it,
33:15steady and quiet.
33:16Do you want to lose
33:17the last thing we have?
33:19Because that's
33:19what this does.
33:20He stopped.
33:21The pain on his face
33:22was real.
33:23I didn't look away from it.
33:25Sebastian,
33:26I love Grant
33:27the way I used to love you.
33:28And he loves me back.
33:30Be happy for me.
33:31I'll be happy for you too
33:33when you find someone
33:34who's actually right for you.
33:35I said each word slowly.
33:36Sebastian's face
33:37went white by degrees.
33:38Then he left.
33:40Sebastian was one
33:41of the proudest people
33:41I'd ever known.
33:43That retreat,
33:44that night,
33:44he would never put himself
33:46through it again.
33:46I was sure of that.
33:48What was done was done.
33:49Last time's pain
33:50was last time's.
33:52Holding onto it
33:52meant letting it
33:53keep costing me things.
33:55I chose to let the light in.
33:56And I believed,
33:57standing there in the quiet
33:58after he left,
33:59that we would both
34:00find our way
34:00to something good.
34:05I was going to lose
34:06Ellie completely,
34:07even if she still
34:08called me her brother.
34:09Coming back the second time,
34:10I fought to hold on
34:10to what I'd thrown away.
34:11In the end,
34:12I was just a joke.
34:13The footage Jake pulled
34:14told me everything
34:15about why my parents
34:16could never warm to Sienna.
34:17She'd been using
34:18the office landline
34:19to call her mother,
34:20talking about my dad
34:20being old,
34:21talking about my mom
34:22watching too closely,
34:23talking about me
34:24like I was a lock
34:25she'd already figured out
34:26how to open.
34:27She was disgusting.
34:28She'd gone after
34:29my father first,
34:30then pivoted to me,
34:31and I fell for
34:32every bit of it.
34:33How did I ever
34:33convince myself
34:34Ellie had drugged me?
34:35Ellie was the most
34:36straightforward person
34:37I'd ever known.
34:38The drug came from Sienna,
34:39she'd slipped it to me
34:40over dinner.
34:41Then she'd fixed herself up
34:42and fed me a story
34:43about saving herself
34:44for our wedding night.
34:45And I believed her
34:46because I needed
34:47to believe something.
34:48She needed into
34:49the whole family fast,
34:50so she took a shortcut.
34:51Last time,
34:52when Ellie stood in my doorway
34:53looking uncertain,
34:54and reached for her own buttons.
34:55I still had some part
34:57of my brain left.
34:58I knew what I was doing,
34:59but she was so disarming
35:00and I was so weak,
35:01and I did something
35:02I've never forgiven myself for.
35:04Then I buried the guilt
35:05under outrage
35:06and called it her fault,
35:07and blamed it on her.
35:09On my parents.
35:10On everyone except the person
35:11who'd actually set
35:12the whole thing in motion.
35:14I came back thinking
35:15I'd corrected it.
35:16I'd made it worse.
35:17I watched Ellie pull away
35:19from me inch by inch.
35:20No more dropping by
35:22to share something funny.
35:23No more mug of something hot
35:24appearing on my desk.
35:25No more of any of it.
35:29I heard her on the phone
35:31with Grant once,
35:31telling him that
35:32after they were married,
35:33she was going to watch him
35:34eat every meal
35:34to make sure he finished it.
35:36The jealousy that hit me
35:37was so irrational,
35:38I scared myself.
35:39I spent every day with Sienna.
35:41I thought about Ellie constantly.
35:42When Sienna went after Ellie
35:44in that break room,
35:45I'd already decided.
35:46Whatever the footage showed,
35:47I was done with Sienna,
35:48and I was going to Ellie's side.
35:50I was going to protect her.
35:51Then Grant walked in
35:53and stood next to her,
35:54and I understood
35:55that I had already lost
35:56the only thing
35:56I'd ever actually wanted.
35:58Ellie didn't ask me
35:59what the footage contained.
36:00She already knew,
36:01more or less.
36:02She'd always protected me
36:04from my own embarrassments.
36:05Even now,
36:06knowing everything I'd done,
36:08she left the company
36:09and cut off the last route
36:10Sienna had to get
36:11wah.
36:12Tea she wanted.
36:13Ellie thought the sacrifice
36:14was worth it.
36:15She was always worth
36:16more than I deserved.
36:17The night before her engagement,
36:19with the whiskey
36:19making me brave enough
36:20to be an idiot
36:21one last time.
36:22I held her
36:23and asked her to stay.
36:24She pushed me out the door.
36:26I went back to my apartment
36:27and put into motion
36:28the thing I'd been building
36:29for weeks.
36:30Sienna and her mother
36:31had been getting greedy.
36:32I'd laid the groundwork carefully.
36:34By morning,
36:35both of them were in a position
36:36they weren't getting out of easily.
36:37I hated them,
36:38but I was the one
36:39who'd let them in.
36:40That was on me.
36:42Ellie didn't blame me.
36:43My parents didn't blame me.
36:44That almost made it harder.
36:46Without her,
36:46this second life
36:47was going to be
36:48darker than the first.
36:49That was the cost
36:50I was paying.
36:51It was fair.
36:52I wasn't going to get married.
36:54I was going to build
36:55what my parents had built,
36:56make it bigger,
36:57and look at me
36:58who was one.
36:59That was my penance.
37:01I'd chosen it,
37:02and I meant it.
37:03I've beentiess and my parents
37:05I've been planting
37:05That schifled
37:06and I was going to make
37:06are calling me.
37:06that he would
37:06I did
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