- 1 hour ago
When I Stopped Loving Him - HOT
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00My best friend and I gave birth on the same day.
00:03Perhaps one day we should bring the children together.
00:06They're half-siblings, they can't get married.
00:09I froze, I thought I'd heard wrong.
00:11On our wedding night after we finished,
00:14I slipped sleeping pills into your drink.
00:18She used her bra to cover your face.
00:20We were right there beside you, going until dawn.
00:23That was also the night you both conceived.
00:25My mind shattered, I turned,
00:26and stared at the hospital bed beside me at my best friend,
00:30lying there eyes closed to sleep.
00:32I was twenty years old and I took fifteen stab wounds
00:35to save her life.
00:37She told me she would owe me that debt forever Ethan
00:40stepped in front of me calm, as ever blocking life.
00:43Don't worry, Natalie won't compete with you.
00:45We'll all live together from now on.
00:47Mrs. Foster, that's still you.
00:49You very drop of blood in my body
00:51turned to ice the cold voice of the system echoed through my mind.
00:54Host, do you choose to abandon redemption of the villain
00:58and exit this world immediately?
01:01My eyes fell on Natalie's wrist, the silver was wrong.
01:04She was wearing I had knelt on the cathedral floor
01:06for five hours praying with it,
01:08the day Ethan nearly died in a car accident.
01:10He never took it off,
01:11but when Natalie and I were both rushed into delivery,
01:15he didn't hesitate.
01:16He gave it to her.
01:20Ethan quietly tucked Natalie's hand beneath her blanket,
01:23then turned and used his thumb to wipe the tears from my cheek.
01:27You're a mother now.
01:28Why do you still cry this easily?
01:31I slapped his hand away.
01:34Why her?
01:35She had a boyfriend and you chased after her shamelessly!
01:38Have you no dignity?
01:40He glanced at the red mark blooming on the back of his hand.
01:43Even now, you still think the boyfriend she's been hiding is someone else?
01:46He laughed out loud like he remembered something funny several times.
01:50Several times when you called, we were right in the middle of it.
01:53She'd be trembling all over, too scared to make a sound.
01:56Her face in those moments.
01:58I'll never forget it.
02:00He let out a small sigh of regret, Shane.
02:02Shame we won't get to do that anymore.
02:05I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood
02:07the metallic taste spread across my tongue.
02:09My throat felt stuffed with cotton.
02:12No sound came out after a long silence.
02:13Why did you have to lie?
02:16If you told me sooner, I would have stepped aside willingly.
02:21I would have walked away early.
02:24I wouldn't be standing here now shredded from the inside out.
02:27Who told us to feel guilty about you?
02:30That night when you were attacked.
02:32Trying to save Natalie Beaton and violated until you miscarried it.
02:36I was in the car around the corner with her.
02:38She was terrified I was trying to calm her down.
02:42We got carried away.
02:44That's why we forgot to call for help.
02:50That night Natalie and I were walking home from a movie.
02:53We ran into someone in the parking garage.
02:56I threw myself in front of her.
02:58Gave her a fighting chance.
03:01I was certain she would go get help.
03:03I held on grinding through the pain telling myself she was coming.
03:07When I woke up, I was in the hospital.
03:09Ethan was holding me, shaking violently, swearing he would make them pay.
03:13And he did.
03:14He actually followed through.
03:16But staring at him now, so calm, so untouched,
03:19I finally understood even the deepest love can be a performance.
03:22Even tears can be rehearsed.
03:24If a stranger hadn't stepped in that night, I would have died.
03:27I grabbed the soup bowl from the nightstand and hurled it at him.
03:30It crashed to the floor and shattered.
03:32Broth spilled everywhere he had made that soup himself last night.
03:36He'd added peanuts, Natalie's favorite.
03:38He'd forgotten entirely that I'm allergic to peanuts.
03:41All the signs were there.
03:43I never once doubted.
03:44Ethan stood perfectly still.
03:46The broth dripped from his hair, ran down his face, soaked his collar.
03:49He didn't get angry.
03:51He let out a long, slow breath.
03:53Hate me, blame me, that's fine.
03:55I only ask one thing.
03:56Don't take it out on Natalie.
03:57She just gave birth.
03:58She's at risk for postpartum depression.
04:00She cares about you deeply.
04:01Please be understanding.
04:03I dug my fingernails into my palms until the trembling stopped.
04:06He knew I needed rest after delivery.
04:08He knew I needed to keep my emotions steady.
04:10He simply didn't care enough to matter.
04:13Host, do you choose to abandon redemption of the villain and exit this world immediately?
04:17If no choice is made within 24 hours, it will be treated as fair kitchen.
04:22Host will remain in this world permanently.
04:25Countdown begins.
04:27Tears broke free.
04:28Natalie White, how long are you going to keep pretending to sleep?
04:35Tell me, was sleeping with my husband really that good?
04:39Natalie opened her eyes.
04:41Her face was chalk.
04:43White, she couldn't look at me.
04:44She grabbed her pillow and hurled it at Ethan.
04:47How could you tell her?
04:49How dare you hurt her like this?
04:52I told you I never wanted any claim on you.
04:55I was going to leave after having the baby.
04:57Ethan lunged forward and pulled her fiercely into his arms.
05:00Because I can't bear to let you go.
05:04That's why I had to tell the truth.
05:06Don't leave me, Natalie.
05:08It's all my fault.
05:09Don't move.
05:10You'll tear your stitches.
05:11Those same words he had once said them to me too.
05:14He lost his mother, young.
05:16His father was always away for work, growing up.
05:19The only constant in his house was the housekeeper who happened to be a monster.
05:23She waited until no one was watching.
05:25She heard him one day.
05:27She had nearly beaten him to death.
05:30And I burst through his front door and dragged him out.
05:33I pulled him up from the dark.
05:38Later the housekeeper retaliated and she hired people to kidnap me at the last moment.
05:43Ethan refused to let go of my hand.
05:45They beat him bloody.
05:45He didn't release me.
05:47Adults finally arrived and saved us both.
05:50Even in the hospital.
05:51He never let go of my hand.
05:53Don't leave me, Eli.
05:54The way he held me then, like I was something irreplaceable.
05:58It looked exactly like this moment.
06:00Only the person he was holding had changed.
06:04I had thought about it before.
06:06If the seven-year itch ever came for us, what would I do?
06:10I'd thought it through to the end.
06:12At worst.
06:13I'd take Natalie out and we'd drink ourselves senselessly for a few days then.
06:17Dry my eyes and keep loving him.
06:19But why did it have to be Natalie?
06:21Natalie, now who do I call when I need someone to drink with me through the night?
06:26Natalie struggled free of Ethan's arms and collapsed at the edge of my bed, sobbing.
06:32Eli, please don't cry.
06:35I'll leave tomorrow.
06:37You two can go back to the way things were.
06:40Natalie had once been a girl from Wealth, at five years old.
06:44Her whole family died in a car crash, and only she survived.
06:49The estate was carved up by others.
06:52The relatives who called themselves family shipped her off to an orphanage.
06:57She was bullied every day.
07:00When we met, I begged my parents to adopt her.
07:06My parents treated her like their own daughter.
07:09She cried in front of her birthday cake.
07:12Everything I have, I'll share half with you.
07:15Half of the good food, half of the fun, half of mom and day.
07:19I never imagined she would want half of my husband, too.
07:22I clenched my jaw.
07:24My voice came out low-raw.
07:26Get out.
07:27I don't want to look at you.
07:29You're a homewrecker with no shame.
07:34The baby startled at our screaming.
07:36They cried, faces going red.
07:37I lifted mine and held it close, whispering softly.
07:40My tears fell on its cheek, whether I wanted it to or not.
07:43Natalie buried her face in her hands, sobbing.
07:45I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
07:45Saying over and over Ethan's expression, darkened, he picked up the crying child from that.
07:51Allie sighed and turned on me with barely, contained fury.
07:54Natalie has always tried to protect you.
07:56She couldn't bear to hurt you by a single hair.
07:58And Natalie has been my fiancée from the very beginning.
08:01You were the other woman.
08:03You always were.
08:05I went rigid.
08:06Ethan had mentioned a fiancée.
08:07Once but he told me himself she died in a car accident.
08:10And when I first intro, deuced them.
08:13They acted as though they'd never met.
08:15They even bickered constantly more than once.
08:17I begged Ethan to be nicer to Natalie for my sake.
08:20I secretly congratulated myself their relationship only warmed up because I worked so hard in the middle.
08:25Now I saw it I had been the complete fool the whole time.
08:28I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
08:30My eyes blurred with tears.
08:32Even through the laughter I reached out and ripped the rosary off.
08:35No.
08:36Tally's wrist, the beads scattered and rolled across the floor.
08:38These are mine.
08:40You two don't deserve them.
08:41I gathered my child and pushed myself to my feet every step.
08:45Felt like walking on the edge of a blade pane, shuddering through my entire body.
08:51But there wasn't a single moment of hesitation behind me.
08:54Natalie sobbed Ethan rage.
08:56The system's voice came again.
08:58Eighteen hours remaining.
09:00Please make your choice promptly.
09:03I wandered the hospital corridor with my baby in my arms feeling nothing but cold.
09:08I should hate Ethan for his betrayal.
09:10I should hate Natalie for her treachery.
09:13But the thing I hated most was that they made me lose both of them at once.
09:17In a daze I opened my phone and scrolled through my photos images flooded back.
09:22One after another Ethan, and me hiking, two, a mountaintop at four in the morning to watch
09:27the sunrise kissing in a field of lavender, scuba diving in Bali, and in every photo every
09:32single one there was Natalie.
09:33What I thought was a love story between two people had always already been three.
09:37I never noticed I deleted over 10,000 photos looking at the system panel.
09:41I laughed bitterly to myself.
09:44What wrong had Ethan really done?
09:46He simply didn't love me.
09:47That is all.
09:48While I held my baby tighter my vision blurred again.
09:50I am sorry.
09:52Baby mom can only leave you behind in this world.
09:55Just let me have a few more hours with my child.
09:58Ethan's expensive dress shoes appeared in my field of view.
10:01I looked up he was staring at me his eyes full of hurt.
10:04And remorse the next second I was pulled into the warmth of his arms.
10:11The familiar tenderness shattered me instantly against my will.
10:15I thought maybe he still loves me just a little.
10:18I'm sorry Eli.
10:19I said things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn't have.
10:22You have to believe me.
10:23I never wanted to hurt you.
10:25I was just so worried about Natalie.
10:27Afraid she'd actually take the baby and leave.
10:31Don't be difficult, okay?
10:33After you walked out, Natalie wouldn't stop crying.
10:34Natalie, Natalie.
10:35His eyes held only one name now.
10:37The last shred of hope he crushed it himself.
10:39The air felt full of blades.
10:41Each breath left me bleeding after a long silence.
10:44I cut him off.
10:45I'll take care of the baby.
10:47No matter what, with him paused, he relaxed visibly.
10:49As if a weight had.
10:51Lifted, he cupped my face in both hands.
10:53His tone like...
10:53Eli, of course I'll be good to you.
10:56I'll be good to the baby.
10:58You just gave birth.
10:58You have to take care of yourself, too.
11:01His phone rang before he could finish the second.
11:03He answered.
11:05His entire face changed.
11:07Don't panic.
11:08I'm on my way right now.
11:09When he hung up, all the softness was gone.
11:11His expression was stone.
11:13His eyes black and terrifying.
11:15He erupted at...
11:16Natalie's baby was diagnosed with a congenital heart deceased.
11:19There's no compatible donor.
11:21She's already unstable.
11:23Then you went and deleted all the photos.
11:25She's convinced you'll never forgive her.
11:27Now she's on the roof.
11:29Are you satisfied?
11:31Come with me, roof.
11:33Now!
11:34He grabbed my arm and dragged me without a word.
11:37The jostling tore something open.
11:39Below, a hot, wet sensation spread through me.
11:42Dizziness rolled through me in the nose.
11:44I bit through the inside of my cheek to stay upright on the rooftop Natalie.
11:48Stood outside the railing, the wind caught her loose hospital gown and whipped it against her.
11:52She looked like she could vanish in a blink when she saw me.
11:57Her eyes lit just for a second.
11:59Then they went dark again.
12:00Her face was streaked with tears.
12:02Eli, my baby's dying!
12:04And you're never gonna forgive me, are you?
12:08I have nothing left!
12:10I have nothing left!
12:12Natalie, don't.
12:13Before I could speak, Ethan broke into a cold sweat and stepped forward.
12:17Eli knows she was wrong.
12:19That's why she came to ask for your forgiveness.
12:21Turned and stared at him, stunned beyond words.
12:24But Natalie didn't believe it.
12:26Her eyes were distant and focused.
12:29You're never gonna forgive me.
12:31If you knew it was me who arranged for those people to attack you that night, you'd want me dead.
12:36Something split open inside my chest.
12:39Estai lunged forward, a hand seized me and yanked me back hard.
12:42I spun around, Ethan's eyes were cold as stone.
12:46Natalie was young when she did that.
12:49She didn't understand what she was doing.
12:52Afterward, the guilt nearly drove her to suicide more than once.
12:56If I hadn't stayed with her through all of that, you might never have seen her again.
13:00I stopped moving, every part of me went cold.
13:03He knew he had known the truth all along.
13:06I, the victim, had been drowning in that darkness alone.
13:09And he had watched without reaching in while Natalie...
13:13The biggest regret of my life is saving either of you!
13:18Vupine crossed Ethan's face.
13:20Then Natalie let out a sudden piercing shriek and wept it.
13:24It's all gone.
13:27Everything's gone.
13:28The guilt on Ethan's face vanished immediately.
13:30What's the point of dredging all this up now?
13:32It's been years!
13:34Let it go!
13:35You only have yourself to blame for playing hero.
13:38He reached over and took my baby out of my arms, Natalie.
13:41Natalie, see?
13:42She's forgiven you.
13:44Look, she even brought the baby.
13:46She came to donate the heart.
13:47I stared at him in horror and grabbed for my child.
13:50A heart is one!
13:53If she needs one, she waits for a compatible donor!
13:56My daughter is not an option!
13:58My voice broke trembling, and somewhere underneath a plea so raw,
14:01I hadn't even noticed it leave me.
14:03You promised me you would take care of this baby!
14:08His eyes slid away, he exhaled.
14:10The baby was unlucky, that's all.
14:13We'll have other children later.
14:15Natalie worried you'd mind, so she had herself sterilized.
14:19She can't have any more children.
14:21You're a mother too.
14:23Surely you don't want to push her over the edge?
14:25I was shaking so hard I could barely stand.
14:27I reached for my baby again.
14:29Tally leaped over the railing, stumbled toward me,
14:32and grabbed me with both hands holding me in place.
14:34Eli, none of this is your fault!
14:36But the baby is innocent!
14:38His only mistake is having me as his mother.
14:40Please, save him!
14:42She looked up at me every trace of fragility.
14:45Gone her eyes were pure venom silent, she mouthed.
14:47He always chooses me.
14:49You are nothing.
14:50I was stunned by the hatred burning behind those eyes.
14:53She had hated me this deeply all along the next second.
14:56She let herself drop pretending to fall,
14:58and threw herself to her knees, slamming her forehead against the floor again.
15:02Hit me!
15:03Curse me!
15:03Take my life if you want.
15:06Just please save the baby!
15:08Aliyah, that is enough!
15:11He shoved me to the ground.
15:13He swept Natalie up, took the baby, and walked away without looking back.
15:16No.
15:17I lay on the floor sobbing until I had nothing left the wound below.
15:21Tore open wider blood soaked through.
15:23I didn't feel it.
15:25I scrambled after them,
15:26and found out the baby had already been taken into the operating room.
15:30I ran to the door's Ethan, signaled, and someone pinned me to the floor.
15:34I screamed helpless.
15:40Ethan, let her go, please!
15:42I'm begging you!
15:45Ethan didn't even flinch.
15:46His voice was flat impatient.
15:48The baby isn't guaranteed to die.
15:49I authorize the best artificial heart on the market.
15:52I really don't see why you're making such a scene.
15:55I clawed at his pant leg until my fingertips split and bled you.
15:59She's so small.
16:01How can a baby survive an artificial heart?
16:04If it's viable, then why won't you use it for Natalie's son first?
16:08He pressed his lips together, silence.
16:10Please.
16:10The only sound left was my begging a long time later.
16:13The operating room doors swung open.
16:15The surgeon's voice was gentle and regretful.
16:17The girl was too small.
16:20She didn't survive the surgery.
16:21But the boy's operation was a success.
16:24Natalie's face flooded with relief.
16:26She couldn't quite hide the triumph in her eyes.
16:28Ethan exhaled slowly.
16:29He walked over and helped me to my feet, Eli.
16:32Eli, if you want another child, we can try again.
16:35Natalie took my hand, performed her sorrow beautifully.
16:38Eli, my son is your son too.
16:40The system's voice came count.
16:42Down one minute, host, must die promptly or remain in this world permanently.
16:46My mind went blank, nothing but white noise.
16:48I turned, I stepped past the surgeon.
16:50I took the scalpel from the instrument tray.
16:52I didn't hesitate, I drove it into my carotid artery.
16:55Warm blood sprayed across Ethan's face, across Natalie's.
16:58The system's spoke host is exiting this world.
17:04My body crumpled into a pool of blood.
17:06My soul lifted light, and weightless drifting up near the ceiling, Natalie.
17:10Stared at my body, stunned her legs, gave out beneath her.
17:13She hit the floor, grabbed her head, and screamed.
17:15Ali!
17:16Lethan went pale.
17:17He threw himself down beside me, not caring about the blood soaking into his clothes he pressed.
17:22Both.
17:22Hands against the wound at my throat, trying to hold back what was already flowing out.
17:26Doctor!
17:27Someone help her now!
17:29The surgeon snapped back to himself.
17:32Chaos erupted.
17:33I was rushed into surgery, Ethan, and Natalie were left in the hallway.
17:37Natalie turned and grabbed his sleeve.
17:39Her eyes were readily won.
17:41Eli won't die, right?
17:42She's always been scared of pain, scared of dying.
17:45Why would she ever?
17:46For Ethan didn't answer.
17:47His expression was somewhere far away.
17:49Was I really afraid of dying?
17:50Not entirely.
17:51I think if I had truly been such a coward, I never would have stood in front of those
17:55men for Natalie in the first place.
17:59After that night, he couldn't sleep for months.
18:01He knew several times.
18:03He watched me pick up a knife and hold it against my wrist.
18:06Then set it down, watched me climb halfway over the windowsill, then climb back.
18:10Each time he'd broken into a cold sweat, he wanted to stay with me.
18:13But Natalie was struggling, too plagued by guilt by nightmares.
18:16She couldn't sleep unless he was there.
18:18He couldn't leave her, and he couldn't trust me alone.
18:20So he had cameras installed in the house I climbed out of the dark.
18:23On my own, Natalie recovered slowly with his help.
18:26It was during this time that he learned the truth about what Natalie had done one night.
18:30She talked in her sleep and let it slip.
18:32He had been furious, shaking, screaming at her.
18:34And Natalie cried, cried so hard, then said bitterly,
18:37I couldn't stand it.
18:39Why does everything come to her so easily?
18:41And I have to claw and beg for the smallest scrap.
18:45Why does she get the world handed to her?
18:49While I'm down here begging for crumbs.
18:52He felt sorry for her, but he also knew bringing it up again would only pour salt into my wounds.
18:57So he kept his mouth hot.
19:00He thought of my face on the rooftop, that look of total despair something tore from his chest.
19:05He stared at the operating room doors, and found himself asking for the first time,
19:09was the choice I made really right?
19:10A long silence, the doors opened.
19:12Is anyone here for Eliza Stone?
19:14Ethan and Natalie rushed forward.
19:16We are.
19:16Her blood type is rare.
19:18The blood bank doesn't have enough.
19:20We'll need a donor immediately.
19:21Ethan didn't pause for a second.
19:23He grabbed Natalie by the shoulder.
19:24Her, she can do it.
19:25And pushed her toward the surgeon.
19:26They have the same blood type.
19:28Natalie's eyes went wide.
19:29Ethan, I just gave birth.
19:32How can I donate blood?
19:35The surgeon looked uncomfortable.
19:36Ethan cut him off.
19:38So what if she donates?
19:39Last time Natalie was in a car accident,
19:40and Elaiza donated blood for her.
19:42Donating blood won't kill you.
19:44But if there's no blood, Elaiza will die.
19:48I floated near the ceiling watching them.
19:50Argued genuinely confused, I turned to the system.
19:53You already died.
19:56Why are the doctors still trying to save me?
19:59You have died.
20:00But the resuscitation was fast.
20:02Your body is holding on briefly.
20:04That is why your soul is still here, unable to leave.
20:07Ethan shoved Natalie toward the blood drive room without waiting for her answer.
20:12Then he stopped in the corridor.
20:14He called his assistant.
20:18Go to the West Side Bakery.
20:20Get a strawberry cake.
20:22Bring it to the hospital.
20:23Now.
20:24He hung up murmured to himself.
20:26She loves their strawberry cake.
20:29If she wakes up and it's the first thing she sees, she'll be happy.
20:33Listening, it was almost funny.
20:35I did love that bakery strawberry cake he used to buy at every day somewhere.
20:40Along the way, he stopped started buying mango cake from the East Side instead.
20:44Because that was Natalie's favorite.
20:47I had stopped eating strawberry cake.
20:49Long before I realized why he thought I was still the same person.
20:53I'd always been easy to please grateful for a pebble.
20:56As if it were gold.
20:59Both Natalie and I were moved to the ICU side by side.
21:02I curved my lips into something that might have been a smile I watched.
21:05A heart monitor beside my bed.
21:08The line tracing slowly steadily.
21:10Almost like being alive.
21:11No wonder Ethan hadn't given up.
21:16He didn't spare a glance.
21:18For Natalie, he sat by my bed.
21:20And didn't move, he took out a clean handkerchief.
21:23And carefully wiped the blood from my face.
21:26His fingers were trembling.
21:28Betraying how far from calm he actually was.
21:31His hand.
21:32Paused, he raised his thumb.
21:33And pressed it softly against my eyebrow.
21:37The scar there.
21:38The day I pulled him from the housekeeper's hands.
21:41She slashed her knife across my brow.
21:43And left that mark.
21:44Luckily, it missed my eye.
21:46Luckily, the scar stayed small.
21:48He traced it slowly back and forth.
21:50Then a drop of water landed on my face.
21:52Then another Ethan's hand moved frantically to wipe them away.
21:56He was crying.
21:58But there were too many tears he couldn't keep up.
22:00Finally.
22:00He gave up.
22:01He bent forward and buried.
22:03His face in my chest.
22:04And sobbed without sound.
22:06Until there was nothing left when he finally went quiet.
22:09He straightened.
22:10He reached for the strawberry cake.
22:12His assistant had brought and held it out like an offering lip.
22:16I got you your favorite cake.
22:17Because you haven't had it in so long.
22:19But I lay there without moving, without answering.
22:22He set the cake down.
22:23He gripped my hand.
22:24He pressed my palm against his cheek and leaned into.
22:29I chose the best cemetery plot for the baby.
22:35When you wake up, we'll go together.
22:39I floated overhead watching his performance.
22:42I felt nothing but revulsion when he mentioned the baby even as a soul.
22:46The pain drove through me like a needle.
22:48I couldn't pull my hand back.
22:49I couldn't do anything.
22:51I could only drift there and watch as I grew more and more confused by his behavior.
22:57Now I was almost gone.
22:59No one stood between him and Natalie anymore.
23:01Shouldn't they be free now?
23:03But that wasn't what was happening something at F.
23:05He sat at my bedside and never left.
23:08For hours, he didn't give Natalie a single glance.
23:11After a while, Natalie's eyelashes fluttered.
23:14She opened her eyes, barely conscious Ethan water.
23:16Ethan?
23:17Ethan?
23:18Water?
23:19He didn't turn.
23:20Ethan, are you blaming me?
23:22I'm not blaming you.
23:24I'm blaming myself.
23:27I didn't think she'd be that resolved.
23:29If I'd known earlier.
23:30And Natalie closed her eyes and swallowed whatever was behind them.
23:34She'll forgive us.
23:35No, Natalie.
23:36We're finished.
23:37I promised Eli if she wakes up, I'll stay with her.
23:40I'll give you a settlement.
23:41You and the baby.
23:42I'll send you abroad.
23:46Ethan finally looked at her, but his eyes held regret, guilt, even contempt, not one trace
23:51of love.
23:52She stared at him.
23:53She understood everything was over.
23:55She said nothing more made up some excuse about feeling unwell and closed her eyes.
24:01The room went dark as night.
24:05Well, she opened her eyes again.
24:07Ethan wasn't by my bedside.
24:09Her pulse hammered.
24:11She hated him so much.
24:12Her teeth ached.
24:13This wasn't what she wanted if I died.
24:15Everything would go back to how it should be.
24:17She would be Mrs. Foster basking in everyone's envy.
24:20Her son would grow up adored the way she never was.
24:23As a child, she got up.
24:24Without thinking, a wave of dizziness hit.
24:26She nearly went down.
24:27She gripped the bed frames slowly inch by inch.
24:30She moved toward me.
24:31I floated overhead.
24:32Watching my heart was already still.
24:34The system had told me I was almost fully gone.
24:36Her right hand crept toward my oxygen tube.
24:39Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
24:40Blame yourself for being too bright.
24:42This isn't my fault.
24:45You brought it on yourself.
24:46She said it like it was meant for me, or maybe for herself.
24:50Her voice sliced through the room.
24:52What do you think you're doing?
24:56She spun around Ethan, stood in the doorway.
24:59Furious.
25:00No beyond furious.
25:02Natalie.
25:02Stumbled hit the floor.
25:04Her wound split open.
25:06Put away your ugly little thoughts.
25:08If anything happens to Elisa,
25:11I will hold you responsible for every last bit of it.
25:15Ethan Foster, what gives you the right to treat me this way?
25:21That's impossible!
25:25She faked it.
25:26She faked all of it.
25:28Eliza, all of it.
25:32Eliza, wake up!
25:34I didn't do it.
25:36You can't accuse me of this, please.
25:39Please, Ethan lost all reason.
25:41He locked both hands around Natalie's throat.
25:45How dare you?
25:51Natalie, clawed at his hands.
25:53Struck his arms thrashed with everything she had.
25:56She was nearly gone the nurses.
25:57And doctors finally rushed in to pull him off Natalie.
26:01Collapsed on the floor.
26:02Gasping she looked up at him with helpless burning hatred she had been so close.
26:05So close to having everything to being happier than me.
26:08And then, Ethan,
26:09as though he had taken back every feeling he had ever given her,
26:12looked at her now like a stranger.
26:15Why?
26:17I was your fiancée first!
26:19You loved me.
26:20I know you did.
26:23Why?
26:24You think I actually loved you?
26:27Even rats crawl towards the light.
26:29No rat falls in love with another rat.
26:31She heard exactly what he meant she would always lose to me.
26:36The wife of the man who attacked Elisa that night.
26:39She was crying, explaining.
26:41Said someone had paid her husband.
26:44That the target was already pregnant.
26:46That the instructions were to beat her until she miscarries to end the killer.
26:50He told me they were just supposed to rough her up.
26:53But the man went too far on his own.
26:57Remember that?
26:58She couldn't form a single word.
27:03Ethan looked at her and understood everything his eyes burned.
27:07He was shaking with something too vast.
27:09Natalie White!
27:10You lied to me!
27:12I'm sure you told yourself you could handle my rage.
27:15That's why you dared.
27:17Am I right?
27:18You'd better hope so.
27:19Because if not, I will make absolutely certain you understand what hell looks like.
27:24She scrambled toward him.
27:27Panic grabbed his pant leg and begged.
27:29Ethan, you can't do this to me.
27:31I'm the mother of your child.
27:33He needs me.
27:34I lied before about the sterilization.
27:37I didn't do it.
27:38I can still give you children.
27:40I'm still useful to you.
27:41The image flashed through Ethan's mind to me on the floor.
27:44Clawing at his leg, begging a fresh wound.
27:45Opened.
27:46You lied about that too.
27:48Fine.
27:49White, you should have jumped when you had the chance.
27:52As she wailed sob.
27:54Until she couldn't breathe.
27:55And while all of that was unfolding on her side.
27:57I was already gone in the moment of my final death.
28:00A tremendous force seized me and pulled me into darkness.
28:05Mom's warm hand held mine so tightly.
28:07My heart slowly warmed.
28:09After a long time, my eyes finally opened.
28:12And her face appeared above me, blurred.
28:15Behind tears, her hair had gone gray.
28:16She had always cared about her appearance.
28:19But there was no thought left in her for dying it.
28:22She had lost so much weight.
28:23My throat tightened.
28:25My tears came before I could stop them.
28:27I looked at my parents' faces wrapped.
28:28Ed and Radiant at the same time.
28:30Several doctors came in.
28:31And examined me, shaking their heads in disbelief.
28:34A miracle.
28:35An absolute miracle.
28:37I slow after they finished.
28:39I lay there trying to find my voice.
28:42Finally, slowly.
28:44Mom, Dad, I'm back.
28:45Mom wiped her eyes.
28:46My foolish girl.
28:48What did you put yourself through?
28:51It's your father's fault.
28:53He insisted on rushing you home to meet that match.
28:56That's why the accident happened.
28:58The doctor said the best case was a vegetal state.
29:02We got the critical notifest so many times.
29:05Dad's eyes went red through.
29:06The child's awake.
29:07Stop saying these things.
29:08He cut her off.
29:09My girl is perfectly fine.
29:11I tried to move my arm and wince.
29:13What are you doing?
29:14Mom stopped me immediately.
29:15You're still injured.
29:16You need to rest.
29:19I opened my mouth.
29:21My voice came out hoarse.
29:23How long was I out?
29:28Dad said,
29:29Ten days?
29:31Only ten days I was almost afraid to think about it if my parents had been pulled into that other
29:35world.
29:36The way I had lived through decades.
29:38Maybe we would never have had found each other again.
29:40I thought I'd never see you again.
29:44Dad's voice broke.
29:46It's over now.
29:48Everything will be alright.
29:49You just rest.
29:51I'll go make you that soup you love.
29:52The doctor just said no greasy food and you've already forgotten.
29:56Listen to me.
29:56I just kept thinking she'd lost weight.
29:58I wanted to build her back up.
30:02I held onto both of their hands without letting go something settled in my chest.
30:06The people who loved me were always right here waiting.
30:09I just hadn't been looking a year after I left the hospital.
30:12I was lying in a garden chair sunning myself.
30:20When the system appeared again host after your departure.
30:23The villain fully descended into darkness.
30:26The world within the novel is collapsing.
30:28He only asks for one thing to see you once more.
30:31Sure enough before I could answer Ethan Foster appeared.
30:38He saw me, his pupils contracted sharply.
30:40His whole face ignited, he rushed toward me.
30:42Arms open, wanting to pull me in.
30:44I passed right through me.
30:45The joy on his face caved in.
30:48Like a ghost, he stood there.
30:49Eli, you're alive!
30:50I knew it!
30:51I let out a quiet breath.
30:53You've seen me now.
30:55You can go back.
30:56His eyes reddened when he finally spoke.
30:59His voice was stripped of everything but humility.
31:02Ethan's expression faltered.
31:03You still won't forgive me.
31:06I know and I deserve that.
31:09What I did was unconscionable.
31:11I don't have words for it.
31:14I knew from the beginning we were different.
31:16You were always sunshine, open, warm, bright.
31:20And I was something that lived in the gutter,
31:22stealing whatever light it could find and calling that enough.
31:25Having the whole sun, it burns.
31:27Natalie was like me.
31:28I thought I'd found my kind.
31:30Someone I didn't look patatiful next to.
31:32But I forgot.
31:32Without the sun, I'd die.
31:34I looked at him cold, tired of all of it.
31:38Ethan, you are not just despicable.
31:44You are a coward.
31:49You wanted me.
31:51You wanted Natalie.
31:53You failed both of us.
31:57And now standing there with that look on your face, it disgusts me.
32:01He stared at me like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
32:04I had always been soft with him.
32:06I had never once spoken to him like this.
32:09He didn't know that the moment you stop loving someone,
32:12you finally see them clearly only the heart that no longer loves can tell the truth.
32:16Leave.
32:18I never want to see you again.
32:20I turned my back on him and walked away.
32:22He stayed where he was watching my retreating figure without moving.
32:27I never saw when he left the system appeared again.
32:32The villain had been fully redeemed.
32:34He had stopped descending into darkness.
32:38He killed Natalie and the child with his own hands and stepped off the rooftop.
32:50As for what happened to Ethan and Natalie,
32:52I found that I had not one feeling left about it.
32:55The system quickly moved on to the good news.
32:58World Order of the Story.
32:59Mission complete.
33:01Reward $10 million.
33:05I accepted without hesitation.
33:07Outside the sun was brilliant mom.
33:10And dad came laughing through the gate back from the walk.
33:12I smiled and went to meet them.
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