- 2 hours ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:11Neil, kill me or I'll make you wish you had it.
00:28Sent to you.
00:40Master! We're here!
00:43I've just finished dinner with my childhood friend, Silas Vance.
00:47But when I'm about to leave...
00:50Hey, you're gonna pay for that, right?
00:52I refuse. I don't know him, after all.
00:56Fuck you, punk! You should be grateful I even let you pay!
00:59Veilgress, no one snubs Lund Group and walks away.
01:02Know who I am?
01:03Asher Hall.
01:04My wife, Coral Lund, runs Lund Group.
01:07Still feeling brave?
01:09I stare at him for a second, processing the absurdity, then dial Coral.
01:14So...
01:14You have another husband outside?
01:20Calling for help?
01:21You really think you're leaving in one piece?
01:23Ah!
01:26This is Lund Group's manners?
01:28According strangers for money, then laying hands on them?
01:32Manners? In Veilchrist, the name Lund Group is manners!
01:36I was doing you a favor to let you pay, get it?
01:39You wanna talk about rules?
01:40My word is the rule!
01:44Even Lund Group doesn't teach highway robbery, does it?
01:49I'm basically offering you a chance to climb the social ladder higher, idiot.
01:53People beg to buy me drinks.
01:55I just turn most of them down.
01:57Since when does the Gideon family need to grovel to anyone in Veilcrest?
02:01The richest heir of Havenport, capital of the country, never imagined a petty Lund Group could humiliate him.
02:08Let me get one thing straight.
02:10In Veilcrest, I, Asher Hall, am the law.
02:15Pin these fuckers down.
02:28Silas!
02:31Bastard!
02:34Stick your nose in my business!
02:36Today you'll learn Lund Group is untouchable!
02:41Asher Hall, I'm Coral's lawfully wedded husband, Elliot Gideon!
02:49That's Simus Vance, from Havenport!
02:53Let us go now, and I'll let this slide!
02:57Coral's husband? A Vance?
03:01You two must have lost your minds!
03:08Everyone knows Mrs. Lund's husband is Deputy Hale.
03:11Man, the lies people tell when they're desperate.
03:14Exactly!
03:15Vance family? Havenport? Never heard of it. Must have pulled the name out of thin air.
03:20Say you're her husband one more time, and I'll break your arm.
03:23I'll teach you the difference between real and fake.
03:26Only I get to say Coral's name.
03:29Only I get to claim her.
03:32Come on, so this marriage of yours is just for decoration?
03:35The guy's declaring himself her man right in front of you, and you're the cuckold?
03:40the fuck.
03:44The fuck!
03:45The fuck!
03:47The fuck!
03:48The fuck!
03:49The fuck!
03:50The fuck!
03:51The fuck!
03:52The fuck!
03:52You dare hit me?
04:02You hit Deputy Hale!
04:05You're dead!
04:10Damn it! Beat him senseless! I've never swallowed this kind of insult in my life!
04:22Everyone from Lund Group, tear him apart!
04:27Dina, I'll take responsibility! Triple bonuses!
04:36Dina, I'll take responsibility!
04:43Everyone, freeze!
04:54Deputy, going here! What are you doing here? What happened?
04:59Detective!
05:03Detective Finn! These two outsiders are insane! They refused to pay their bill, then jumped us!
05:08Look what they did to me! And my staff! And my staff!
05:17What the hell do you two think you're doing? Brawling in public, assaulting Lund Group personnel?
05:22You've got balls, I'll give you that!
05:25He blocked us from leaving and threw the first punch.
05:28Lies! I was being generous, letting them bask in Lund Group's shine by picking up my tab.
05:35They flipped, then had the guard to claim one of them is my wife's husband, and the other's some big
05:41shot from Havenport!
05:48It doesn't matter who started it, you two did this damage, and you injured Deputy Hale.
05:55That makes it your fault. Let me spell it out. In Valegrist, nobody snubs Lund Group!
06:01Deputy Hale is Ms. Lund's man. Touch him, and you're spitting on the whole city's rules.
06:10Enough chatted. You're coming with us. Oh, and you're covering Deputy Hale's tab,
06:16the restaurant's repairs, medical bills, and emotional damages. Kneel and apologize. And maybe,
06:23just maybe, we'll keep it out of court! What the hell? He started the whole thing,
06:28and you're sentencing us without a trial? On the grounds that you're outsiders.
06:34You play by Valegrig rules here. Deputy Hale letting you pay his bill was a gift. Don't insult the gift.
06:43I'd love to see Valehurst's rules try to outrank federal law. Still got a mouth on you, huh?
06:49Guess you've never learned respect.
06:57Fine. You want the hard way?
07:03You're abusing your badges!
07:08Abuse? I'm enforcing order. In Valegrist, Lund Group's business is ordered. You punks need a real
07:15lesson in respect. Dogs with badges. You'll regret this.
07:23Regret! Save that for when you're inside, getting nightly reminders from the other inmates.
07:32Deputy Hale, how's that? Hard enough? Want me to dial it up? Crank it.
07:40They need to learn who runs this town.
07:45Deputy Hale, if you don't mind me asking, when's Ms. Lund due? Declan and I want to be first in
07:49line
07:50with congratulatory gifts. Absolutely. Please do grant us the honor. Maybe Ms. Lund will remember
07:56us when promotions come around. Four, five months. Doc says it's a boy.
08:04Coral. Pregnant. Two years we've been married. She always said the company was too busy for kids.
08:15I struggle to my feet. Declan sees the movement and drives the baton into the back of my neck.
08:21White lightning blinds me. Asher snatches up a chair. Then, quick and sharp,
08:26the click of high heels cut through the room from the doorway. Coral's gaze sweeps across the wreckage
08:31without so much as a twitch of her brow until it lands on Asher. What happened? Who hurt you?
08:38Asher instantly dons a wounded puppy expression. Thank god you're here. These two lunaturks claimed
08:45one of them is your husband, then started swinging. They even hit the officers. Detective Finn scurries
08:50forward. Mrs. Lund, perfect timing. These out-of-tumpers picked a fight and insulted you
08:57and Deputy Hale. We're handling it by the book. Coral's eyes finally reach me as though I'm something
09:02stuck to the sole of her shoe. Elliot Gideon, I underestimated you. Six months on a business
09:09trip and you come back brawling like a thug? And the company you keep. Trashy friends who think
09:15Valcrest is their personal playground. Did you imagine Lund Group would just sit back
09:20and watch? I wiped blood from my lip. Coral, let me ask you. Asher here claims he's your husband.
09:27He blocked my exit but demanded I pay his staff's tab. What exactly is that supposed to mean?
09:32Coral studies my face for two heartbeats, then turns away. Detective Finn,
09:38please walk me through this in detail. Mrs. Lund, you'll be furious when you hear it.
09:45This guy marches in, spots Deputy Hale and insists on picking up his table's bill. Says he wants to
09:53build a connection. Deputy Hale politely refuses but this one take no. He starts bragging,
10:01cragging powdows about his money, claiming that it's an insult if the deputy doesn't let him pay.
10:08Exactly! We've got statements from the waitstaff. When Deputy Hale keeps refusing, this guy flips. He
10:15blamed the deputy for not honoring him, screaming that the deputy doesn't deserve you and Lund Group.
10:19Deputy Hale tries to reason and bam! Fists fly! Pure fiction! He blocked us from silence! Speak here!
10:27If you hadn't fanned the flames, claiming Deputy Hale wasn't worthy of your money, none of this would have happened.
10:38Coral, maybe he just wanted to get on my good side, but this is too much. I simply wouldn't let
10:44him pay and he lost it. Said he'd smash Lund Group and make you regret it. Coral's expression freezes over.
10:52Elliot Gideon, I didn't think you could sink this low. Want a curry favor? Fine. But throwing
10:56punches when you're turned down? Six months away and this is what you learned? Someone refuses your
11:02money so you beat him up? Have you no shame? I didn't. You didn't? The police have statements.
11:08Still planning to lie? You're beyond saving. So used to leeching off me that you try to buy influence,
11:15then throw tantrums when it fails. Why did I ever marry you? Coral, don't stress yourself. He probably just
11:24lost his head for a second. A second? This is who he is.
11:32Detective Finn, proceed by the book. Full restitution, every cent. Let's see how he plans to pay.
11:38So cold, my throat tightens. In her mind, I'm already the parasite who forces himself on strangers
11:44to climb the ladder, then lashes out when rejected. Fine.
11:52You want compensation? Name the price.
11:56Five million. Can you scrape that together? It's more like you'd have to borrow even just 10,000.
12:06Five million, huh? Hold tight. Text my father too. My phone's in pieces.
12:14Keep pretending. Five mil? With those rags? Enough stalling. Hands out now. When you can't produce a
12:21dime, you'll wish you'd cooperated. You want it rough? You've got it. Relax. The money's in route.
12:26Route? More like the ferryman's coming for you. Daddy bringing cash? Is he still pushing wheel
12:31harrows at some construction site? Last warning, comply or else.
12:39They're here, here. On the street below, a motorcade of black sedans glides forward in perfect
12:45formation. In the distance, a helicopter emblazoned with the Vance crest slices through the sky.
12:52What the hell is this? The helicopter hovers above the restaurant's forefield. The convoy halts.
13:01Doors swing open in unison. Rows of bodyguards, black suits and white gloves pour out and form two
13:09disciplined lines. Sir, are you all right? Master, I'm sorry for all this.
13:24Peter, did you bring the cash? Ms. Lund wants five million.
13:32Let's count it out for her.
13:49Asher's knees buckle. He nearly collapses. Detective Finn and Officer Declan are sheet white.
13:57Ms. Lund, the five million you demanded. Prepared and duplicate by the Gideon family and the Vance
14:02family. However, the watch smashed from my master's wrist, handmade in Italy, is worth seven million.
14:09Mr. Vince's suit, bespoke from Savin Road, eight million in damages. Medical fees and emotional
14:15distress and the total comes to 20 million. We trust Lund Group. Wire the funds promptly.
14:23As for these two officers, abuse of authority, assault on citizens, conspiracy to frame, those charges go
14:30straight to internal affairs. Oh, and you, inciting violence, intentional injury, stack the counts and
14:38you'll measure the years and decades.
14:41Ellen, what is all this? When did you become someone who commands this kind of wealth?
14:51Back then, she stands outside the library in a faded cotton padded jacket, shoulders hunched against
14:57the cold, reciting textbook passages while clutching two cold sandwiches for lunch. I walk up and offer
15:04her a steaming cup of coffee, but she blushes and pushes it away. Only later do I learn she works
15:10several
15:10part-time jobs, tuition for herself and medicine for her sick mother. One night, her business plan draft
15:16is torn apart by the professor. She sits on the bleachers and cries. Let me ask my family for seed
15:22money. Let's get your company started first. Elliot Gideon, who do you take me for? I'd rather starve than
15:28take charity. Especially from you rich kids. I'll stand on my own feet. I don't need anyone's pity.
15:34We fight bitterly that evening. She flings the bank card I offer to the ground, snarling that
15:41she hates silver spoon babies who will never understand pride. From that day on, I never
15:48mention my family again. When her startup hemorrhages cash, I anonymously wire 30 million.
16:00When rival firms squeeze her, I have my father's friends quietly clear the path. She chalks every
16:08break to luck, never knowing each lucky break is me, holding my breath, lifting her from the shadows.
16:16But once Coral has money, she begins to forget who she was.
16:21She grows colder and bars me from every boardroom, terrified I might be after her fortune.
16:28I tell myself that once the company steadies, she'll see the truth, until she installs her own side piece.
16:40You never asked. You said you hated rich kids charity. Said you'd stand on your own.
16:47So I never told you.
16:53So, everything Lund Group is because of you?
16:56Doesn't matter now.
16:58You said you despised disloyalty, yet you kept a lover. You said you hated the strong bullying the
17:04weak, yet you let your people throw their weight around. You said you loathe the abuse of power,
17:09yet you watched these officers twist the truth without a word. Inform Gideon Group, pull every
17:14cent of investment from Lund Group immediately. Have legal draft the breach of contract notices.
17:25No! No!
17:27Elliot, you can't! Lund Group is my life's work! Without your funding, it'll collapse!
17:34Life's work? How much of that life's work is actually yours?
17:41Prepare the divorce papers. Follow the pre-nap to the letter. I leave with nothing.
17:45Wait, actually, correction.
17:48Trace every anonymous shareholding ingested into Lund Group.
17:51Lund Group. Those assets belong to Gideon Group. Reclaim them!
17:55Understood, Mr. Gideon.
17:57Elliot, I was wrong! Give me one more chance, please! I'll cut Ash off today! I'll terminate the
18:03pregnancy! I'll-
18:05Don't bother! Your child, your company, your life, none of it concerns me any longer.
18:11Silas, silent till now, suddenly drives his heel into a nearby table. Solid oak legs snap like twigs.
18:18He rubs the burn mark the stun baton left on his arm.
18:22Now that your little soap opera's over, it's time to talk about the damage done to me.
18:28Seal this dump! Not even a fly leaves! Everyone who threw a punch laughed or cheered, no one walks out!
18:35And who kicked me in the gut? Who zapped me with a stun baton? Who said my old man pushes
18:40bricks? Find them! Now!
18:42Damn it! Every last one of you! If a single bastard leaves this restaurant on two legs,
18:48I'll eat my fucking hat! And these scum? Didn't they love swinging fists? Break their arms and legs?
18:55Then dump them in the Havenport fish ponds! No! Mrs. Lund, save me! Coral, help!
19:06You want a taste too?
19:10She freezes, blood draining from her face. She may not know Havenport's hierarchy,
19:15but she knows men who arrive by helicopter are not to be trifled. Silas's men move like wolves. Within
19:22minutes, every guard who struts, every heckler, and the two officers are face down on the ground. The
19:29stun batons are confiscated, then rammed into Officer Declan's ribs. He screams, curling like a salted slug,
19:35begging for mercy. And you? Wanted us beaten nightly in lockup? Well, now is your turn.
19:43Beat them until the bones sing! Leave them breathing.
19:47Screams. Pleased. Crash of chairs. Chaos. Coral crouches. Hands over her face. Sobbing,
19:54yet no one looks over. I see the red rims of Silas's eyes. He's incandescent with rage. The
20:00favored air of Havenport, zapped by small-town cops. That's uncomfortable. Enough. Don't stain your hands.
20:10Silas glances at the riving pile. Today's their lucky day. Hand them to the proper authorities.
20:16Jail time. Restitution. Miss a single cent. And their families can kneel at my gate in Havenport.
20:22He drags me toward the exit. Let's go. This place reeks.
20:27As for what follows, I mostly hear second-hand. Asher's fall is the most wretched. His
20:33Deputy General Manager of Lund Group title turns radioactive under joint pressure from the Vance
20:39and Gideon families. Lund Group issues a same-day dismissal, then sues him for embezzlement and
20:45reputational damage. The sycophants who once orbited him now trip over themselves to offer
20:50evidence of his abuses. Twelve years. Cumulative sentence. The officers fare no better. Files on
20:56their abuse and cover-ups land on the disciplinary committee's desk. They're suspended before sunset.
21:02Their precinct captain, desperate to save himself, leaks their rap sheets overnight. Dismissal, then criminal
21:08conviction for assault. Lund Group collapses faster than predicted. Partners flee like rats from a
21:14burning ship. The cash chain snaps. Rivals Coral, once crushed, swarm in, poaching teams, stealing
21:21projects. She begs old contacts for help, but they screen her calls. No one will risk the Vance family
21:28and the deep-rooted Gideon family for a sinking ship. Three months later, Lund Group files for
21:33bankruptcy. Coral plummets from cloud to gutter, saddled with debt. Word is someone saw her under
21:40the Veilcrest overpass. Gaunt, a ghost of her former glory. The hecklers and thugs? Silas keeps them from
21:47the fishponds, but not from ruin. The attackers' arms are broken. They're shipped home, never to set foot in
21:53Veilcrest again. The jeering staff lose their jobs and land on an industry blacklist. No decent
21:59employer will touch them. They'll die remembering the carpet of cash and the thunder of rotors.
22:06Silas and I board the helicopter straight from that cesspool. Silas rubs his scorched arm, cursing
22:12Veilcrest's rumors. I stay silent, watching the city shrink beneath the clouds, feeling the last thread
22:18to coral snap clean. Back in Havenport, the Vance family uses a business summit to publicly slap
22:25every Veilcrest circle that backed Lund Group's tyranny. Silas is nothing if not vindictive.
22:31Insult him, and the interest is always paid in blood. For me, Gideon Group's focus was never Veilcrest.
22:38Pulling out was a flick of the wrist. My father, hearing I'd been hurt, summons me home.
22:44Useless guy. While glaring at the bruise on my neck. Then he orders legal to slam the papers in
22:50front of Coral. They say she was signing bankruptcy forms when the envelope arrived. She cried until
22:56the ink ran. Tears won't help though. What belongs to the Gideon family will be reclaimed, down to the
23:03last cent. Six months later, I meet Silas at a multinational signing site. He's in bespoke charcoal,
23:10trading jokes with foreign CEOs. The scar on his arm is almost gone. He bumps my shoulder as I enter.
23:17I hear Coral opened a corner grocery store in the suburbs. Still pregnant. Rough life.
23:22I initial contracts without looking up. Not our concern. He raises an eyebrow. After the toast,
23:28we walk out side by side. His Maybach and my Bentley are lined up outside. Night wind carries the scent
23:34of
23:34Jasmine. Honestly getting tased in veil breast. Most humiliating moment of my life. Likewise. But
23:41lesson learned. Not everyone deserves our restraint. He pats my back. Come on. Would you like some drinks?
23:47My dad flew in a few cases of Lafotte. Consider that a belated freedom party. As the car pulls away,
23:53I glance in the mirror at the receding lights. I once thought marriage was two people marching in step.
23:58Now I know some only walk with you a short mile. Silas and I have longer roads. Brighter days ahead.
24:04After all, the man who can make us bow hasn't been born.
Comments