- 6 minutes ago
Fake Poor Husband Ruined My Mother
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Short filmTranscript
00:00To help my boyfriend pay off his debts, Mom and I worked ourselves to the bone.
00:03Mom got lung cancer because of it.
00:06Vivian, Mom can't hold on anymore.
00:09Take this money and pay off the debt.
00:12Ethan is a good man.
00:13He loves you.
00:14He just made a mistake.
00:16Once the debts paid off, you two live a good life together.
00:23I held Mom's ashes and handed every last cent of the $100,000 saving to Ethan.
00:27When I got back to the office, I walked in on him, talking to the people he'd always called his,
00:31creditors.
00:32Mr. Ashfield, Ms. Calloway has passed every one of your tests.
00:34What would you like to arrange next?
00:36Ethan, sure, she can tough it out with you.
00:38But you still need to see whether she can resist the temptation of money once she knows the truth.
00:42Next, I need to find out if her feelings for me are real.
00:45Once she learns who I actually am, if she doesn't turn into a different person when the money's on the
00:49table, I'll marry her.
00:52I looked down at Mom's ashes.
00:54Ethan, Mom was wrong about you, and so was I.
00:56I don't want to marry you anymore.
00:57I left Ashford Properties.
00:59I cried on the curb, clutching Mom's ashes.
01:01Mom told me to use the free cardboard cremation box just to save that $1,200 on a proper earn
01:06so the money could go toward Ethan's debt.
01:09This just in.
01:10After a three-year absence from the public eye, Ashford Properties Chairman Ethan Ashford is back.
01:15He will present at this evening's annual real estate gala at the Plaza Hotel with his fiancée, Scarlett Mercer.
01:20So every single cent, Mom and I nearly died earning all of it.
01:26I sat there for a long time until evening.
01:29My iPhone buzzed.
01:30It was Ethan.
01:31It's getting late.
01:31Why aren't you home yet?
01:32Where are you?
01:33I'll come pick you up.
01:34Before, when he said things like that, I'd complain a little.
01:36But now, that intimate tone, I just couldn't anymore.
01:39Vivian, where are you right now?
01:41At work.
01:42Ethan froze, as if he'd just remembered that, for years, I'd been working myself to death.
01:45Every night.
01:49I-I-there's something I have to tell you.
01:50I-I'm actually the hair to Ashford Properties.
01:53I-I'm coming to get you right now.
01:56I hung up.
01:57I had no expectations for Ethan Ashford.
01:59When I came back to myself, I realized I'd been crying the whole time.
02:02My iPhone screen kept lighting up Ethan's iMessages, popping up one after another.
02:06I didn't want to read a single one.
02:08Ethan Ashford, I won't marry you.
02:12That night, I didn't go home.
02:14I stayed at a cheap motel in Flushing.
02:17Ethan texted all night long and called more times than I could count.
02:20Early the next morning, I went to the office and sat down in my cubicle.
02:23I started typing my resignation letter.
02:24This company was a small subsidiary under Ashford Properties,
02:27and I was nothing more than an ordinary staff accountant.
02:30Five years ago, I met Ethan for the first time.
02:32After we started dating, I brought him home to meet Mom.
02:35Mom happily gave us her blessing and started planning an engagement party at the local VFW hall.
02:39That's when Ethan told me he was $150,000 in debt and had just been laid off.
02:43To help him pay it off, I took on every job I could, driving Uber after work,
02:47sorting packages at UPS on weekends, picking up freelance bookkeeping gigs on Fiverr.
02:51Mom pitched in too.
02:52Cashier at Walmart during the day, cleaning rooms at a motel at night.
02:55She wasn't young to begin with, and those years aged her more than a decade.
02:59And yet this company had been his all along.
03:05All done?
03:06All done.
03:09Vivian, could you come with me for a moment?
03:11Oh my god, did you guys see the news?
03:13Ethan is the chairman of Ashford Properties.
03:16So Vivian's about to marry the boss?
03:18But did you see the look on her face?
03:20Oh, come on.
03:20What couple doesn't fight?
03:22They'll make up by tonight.
03:23Mr. Ashford.
03:24Last night?
03:25Why didn't you come home?
03:26Are you still mad at me?
03:27I went to see Mom.
03:29I didn't go back because I didn't want Mom to see him ever again.
03:31Tonight, let's go visit Diane together.
03:37There's a million dollars on it.
03:39Buy Diane some new clothes.
03:40Consider it.
03:41I looked at the Chase Black card.
03:42I didn't take it.
03:46I knew this was probably just another one of his tests, but I didn't care anymore.
03:50After that...
03:51Vivian, you're resigning?
03:52Does Mr. Ashfield have other plans for you?
03:54I bit my lip.
03:56What a joke.
03:57Everyone looked at me differently now.
03:59If they knew the truth, I wonder what their faces would look like.
04:01They all envied my luck.
04:02None of them knew it cost me my mother.
04:04Sometimes, I wonder if I'd never walked into that office five years ago.
04:07Would Mom still be alive?
04:11On my way out, I ran into Ethan and Scarlet Mercer.
04:13This is Scarlet.
04:14She's my...
04:15Fiance.
04:15I said nothing.
04:17Excuse me?
04:18I stayed silent, stepped back, and let them pass.
04:21Ethan looked at me as if he wanted to say something.
04:26That evening, I drove to Bridgeport.
04:27At the columbarium inside St. Augustine's Church, I placed Mom's ashes into a niche.
04:32The pastor said a short prayer for her.
04:34Ethan didn't show up.
04:34I didn't care.
04:35Whether he knew about Mom's death, it didn't matter anymore.
04:37I think if Mom were looking down from heaven and knew the truth, she wouldn't want to see him either.
04:41Everything was over.
04:42I got back to the apartment in the early hours of the morning.
04:45Ethan hadn't come home.
04:46I didn't care.
04:47While I was packing, NY1 was on the TV, reporting that Ashford Properties chairman,
04:51Ethan Ashford, had attended the annual real estate gala alongside his fiancée, Scarlet Mercer,
04:55looking like the perfect man.
04:57I barely felt a thing and was about to walk out the door.
04:59The sound of the lot turning when Ethan appeared.
05:01Where were you last night?
05:02Why didn't you pick up my calls?
05:05I was with Mom last night.
05:07Didn't want to disturb her rest, so I turned off my phone.
05:11I'll get Diane the best doctors.
05:12We'll take care of her properly.
05:14This is what I promised to give her.
05:23Ethan had held Mom's hand, looked her dead in the eye, and told her one day he'd give
05:27her a real Tiffany bracelet.
05:28Mom had smiled when he said it.
05:30She didn't care whether the bracelet was real or fake.
05:32As long as it came from Ethan, the Ethan she'd long since accepted as family.
05:36But that was before.
05:37I closed the box and handed it back.
05:38When you get the chance, give it to her yourself.
05:44Diane's health.
05:46Ethan, I want this room.
05:48Someone's already staying in that one.
05:49She's a friend of mine.
05:50She's staying here a few days for work.
05:52Let her have the room.
05:53I'm going back to be with Mom.
05:56Scarlet didn't give me a chance to change my mind.
05:59She rushed straight into the room.
06:00That's when he noticed the bags in my hands.
06:02Ethan, come on.
06:03We're going to be late.
06:06Tomorrow, I'll go see Diane.
06:10I took my bags and drove back to Mom's apartment in Bridgeport.
06:13I was going to pack up all her belongings.
06:15But when I looked at her room, I couldn't stop the tears.
06:17Her room was big.
06:18Big enough to hold so many things.
06:20Her room was also small.
06:21So small, it held nothing but traces of me and Ethan.
06:24On the wall hung a photo of me and Ethan at Coney Island.
06:26In a $2 frame from Dollar Tree.
06:28On the table sat the rubber duck me and Ethan had given her a cheap prize we'd won.
06:32At a game booth on Coney Island.
06:33In the corner, the Ensure Nutrition shakes I'd bought her.
06:36She hadn't touched a single bottle.
06:37She'd saved them all for me and Ethan.
06:39The faux pearl bracelet from Target that Ethan had given her.
06:41She'd kept it carefully in her jewelry box.
06:44The only things that were truly hers were the countless sewing machine parts piled in the corner.
06:49And the tote bags she'd sewn by hand from old fabric scraps stacked into a small mountain.
06:53She sold those handmade bags on Etsy, $8 to $15 each.
06:56And that ancient sewing machine, barely holding together its foot pedal from her constant use.
07:00Every stitch, every bag, every dollar, none of it was for herself.
07:03I tore the photos to shreds.
07:05I smashed the rubber duck to pieces.
07:06But the one photo, the one of me and Ethan holding mom's hands.
07:09I couldn't bring myself to destroy it.
07:11I folded it up.
07:12After I'd packed everything up, I went back to the office to finish my handover.
07:16The moment I arrived, I saw Scarlett sitting in my cubicle.
07:21The co-workers around us watched.
07:23No one said a word.
07:24No one dared.
07:25$10 million for your spot.
07:30Fine.
07:30Let me pack up.
07:31The looks they gave me were full of pity.
07:33I didn't care.
07:34I just quietly packed my things and prepared to leave.
07:36Where are you going?
07:38I took-
07:38I bought her position.
07:41I took the money.
07:43$10 million.
07:44When he heard that, Ethan froze.
07:46Ethan said nothing, as if he'd accepted it.
07:48Not until I'd completely disappeared.
07:49He turned his head and caught Scarlett's smug, self-satisfied expression.
07:55Don't ever humiliate her.
07:56Understand?
07:57After I left the office, I got an eye message from Ethan.
08:00Ethan, the specialist I hired has arrived.
08:02On the way to the hospital, now.
08:03Let's go see Diane together tonight.
08:06Ethan, goodbye.
08:07I took all my bags and headed to the airport.
08:10Just as I was about to board, Ethan's messages started flooding in.
08:13Vivienne, the specialist got to the hospital.
08:15Diane's not in her room.
08:16Vivienne, where the hell is Diane?
08:18Your mother, what happened to her?
08:19My iPhone kept ringing.
08:26I stared at the name.
08:28Ethan Ashford.
08:28I never hit answer.
08:30My screen was full of his eye messages.
08:31One after another.
08:32Frantically asking where mum was, I stared at those messages.
08:35He'd finally remembered that mum and I existed.
08:37But for me, all of it was meaningless.
08:39I watched his name flash on the screen, then pressed the side button and powered it off.
08:43I'd been gone from the company for a while now.
08:45For days, I'd cut off all contact with the outside, locked myself inside that cheap motel
08:49and flushing, curtains drawn tight.
08:51Ever since mum passed, I hadn't gotten a good rest for a long time.
08:54I was so exhausted, I could barely keep my eyes open.
08:56All I wanted to do was sleep.
08:58I tried to sort through my thoughts, to find a path I could restart.
09:01But life doesn't give you room to breathe.
09:03Ethan, that name used to be the best thing in my life.
09:05Now it was my worst nightmare.
09:06I never could have imagined the man I loved for so long.
09:09I gave everything to him.
09:10He had been orchestrating one massive lie from the very beginning.
09:13When I first met Ethan, he looked like he had nothing.
09:16Just got his real estate license, rented a tiny office in Brooklyn, full of drive and
09:20ambition.
09:20At least that's what he told me.
09:21And I was just a broke kid, fresh out of Boston University, head full of dreams about
09:25the future.
09:26I gave him everything I had.
09:27What I never saw coming was that he'd never trusted me.
09:30Not once.
09:30All those years he'd been testing me the entire time.
09:33I was driving Uber after work, sorting packages at UPS on weekends, while mum stood behind a
09:37register at Walmart all day, scrubbed motel floors at night.
09:40In the end, this is where it got us.
09:44I couldn't cry anymore.
09:46Not because I didn't want to.
09:47I just didn't have the strength.
09:48I used to believe we'd keep going like this, side by side, forever.
09:52Now I realized how stupidly wrong I'd been.
09:54Ethan was always busy.
09:55I used to tell myself his long hours were him fighting for our future.
09:58So even when I wouldn't see him for long stretches, I never minded.
10:01Until that day, I overheard his conversation with Scarlet.
10:04This world is a joke, isn't it?
10:06Honestly, compared to being deceived, I'd rather he had actually cheated on me.
10:09At least that would have been clean.
10:11But the truth doesn't change just because you wanted to.
10:13I couldn't accept it.
10:14I just couldn't.
10:15So in the end, I chose to leave.
10:17Leave this city.
10:18Leave this place that broke my heart.
10:20And leave the man who nearly destroyed me.
10:22I submitted my resignation letter.
10:24I didn't tell a soul, including Ethan.
10:26I just wanted to disappear.
10:27What I didn't know was that during the days I was gone, a storm was tearing through Ashford
10:31properties.
10:31One that Ethan himself had started.
10:34Because he couldn't find me, Ethan began asking around the company for any word on where
10:38I'd gone, and the first person he went to was Karen Walsh, the HR director, the one
10:42in charge of all major personnel moves.
10:44When I resigned, I deliberately kept it quiet.
10:46Karen had no idea I'd left without telling Ethan.
10:49Mr. Ashfield, Viviana Calloway has left the company.
10:52Didn't you have other plans for her?
10:55What?
10:55She resigned?
10:57When did it happen?
10:58Why don't I know?
11:03Under Ethan's pressing, Karen Walsh had no choice but to slowly reveal the truth.
11:07Three days ago, Vivian suddenly submitted her resignation letter stating that she wanted
11:11to go back to Connecticut to see her mother.
11:13I thought it was your arrangement.
11:15Everyone at the company thought Ethan and I were a couple.
11:17To them, I was the woman about to marry the boss, so everyone treated me with kid gloves,
11:21and no one would have stopped me from doing anything.
11:23Before Ethan could respond,
11:25Back to Connecticut.
11:27Hmm.
11:28Ran off pretty fast, didn't she?
11:30Uh, what are you doing here?
11:32Ethan frowned, clearly not wanting Scarlett to know too much.
11:34What? Are you afraid I'll disturb you and catch up with your little girlfriend?
11:38Don't talk nonsense.
11:39Are you hurt for something?
11:41Just leave quickly if you're nothing to do.
11:42Don't disturb me.
11:47Scarlett was about to fire back when Chloe's call came through,
11:50bringing news that was even more devastating.
11:51Mr. Ashford,
11:53found information about Miss Calloway's mother.
11:59Where is she now?
12:04She, she has already passed away.
12:07Chloe forced the words out.
12:08I'm just so sorry, sir.
12:10What?
12:12Ethan felt his head go blank.
12:13He couldn't believe his own ears.
12:15What did you say?
12:17Say it again now.
12:18I have verified repeatedly.
12:19Miss Calloway's mother has indeed passed away.
12:21The ashes are placed in the Oscar area of St. Augustine's Church in Bridgeport.
12:26Impossible!
12:26How is this possible?
12:28He couldn't accept it.
12:30He couldn't accept that Diane,
12:32the woman who always greeted him with that warm, gentle smile,
12:35was just gone.
12:37What happened?
12:39She's suicide.
12:40She swallowed all the painkillers prescribed by the doctor, Oxycontin.
12:44Miss Calloway's mother is suffering from lung cancer.
12:46She doesn't want to spend money on treatment or burden her daughter, so...
12:50What?
12:53So she that!
12:56Ethan's composure shattered completely.
13:01He couldn't fathom the pain and despair a mother must have felt to end her own life,
13:04so her daughter wouldn't be dragged down.
13:06And what he couldn't bear even more,
13:08was that Diane's death was tied to him.
13:10He thought of the hundred thousand dollars I'd handed him.
13:12He didn't dare imagine what I must have been feeling
13:14when I placed that money in his hands.
13:16If only there had been no deception.
13:18If only there had been no tests.
13:20Ethan sensed, dimly,
13:22that what we had might be gone forever.
13:24He collapsed to the ground in agony,
13:26unable to summon a shred of strength.
13:29How could she...
13:30How could she be so foolish?
13:32She didn't know what had happened between Ethan and me.
13:36Ethan, what about you?
13:38Crying like this for an old lady who has already died?
13:40Vivian ran away with your money.
13:42Can't you see?
13:43She even dragged down her own mother to death.
13:46What do you really like about this kind of person?
13:48Scarlet!
13:50Shut up!
13:52What do you count?
13:53You have no right to mention her name!
13:58For you?
13:59She couldn't even take care of her own mother because of you!
14:02That's bullshit!
14:03Bullshit?
14:04Ethan, stop lying to yourself!
14:06Vivian was after your money from the start.
14:08All of it.
14:09Now that she's got it, of course she's gone.
14:11I'm telling you, Ethan.
14:13Stop letting her play you.
14:14She doesn't love she never did.
14:16Scarlet's voice grew louder and louder.
14:18Ethan roared and slammed his fist into the desk.
14:21Papers scattered across the floor.
14:23Get out.
14:25Get the hell out.
14:26Scarlet looked into those eyes burning with rage
14:28and felt a wave of fear wash over her.
14:30She could feel it she'd lost Ethan.
14:32Eyes red, she stormed out of the office.
14:35Not long after Scarlet left, then walked out of the company.
14:37He drove to Bridgeport alone.
14:39He came to the columbarium at St. Augustine's Church.
14:42Diane.
14:43I'm sorry.
14:44I'm so sorry.
14:46It's my fault.
14:47All of it.
14:49I failed Vivian.
14:50I failed it.
14:53That was the last time I went to see Mom.
14:55Watching Ethan in his anguish.
14:56All I felt was sadness and resignation.
14:58All I could do was stand there in the distance.
15:00I stayed until dark.
15:01By the time I heard that Ethan had pulled every string he had to find me.
15:04Hired a private investigator.
15:06Scoured Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
15:08Even filed a missing persons report at the NYPD.
15:10I was sitting at an outdoor cafe, having afternoon tea.
15:13The cafe TV was playing France 24's English broadcast.
15:16And his face suddenly flashed across the screen.
15:18It had been a long time since I'd heard that name.
15:20That name used to be my entire world.
15:22We'd been through so much together.
15:23And in the end, it all fell apart.
15:25I thought time had smoothed everything over.
15:27That, I'd never hear his name again.
15:29I never expected he'd still be looking for me.
15:30I stirred my latte, absently, already cold.
15:33I had no appetite anyway, because none of it mattered anymore.
15:38I pulled my thoughts back to the present.
15:40And told myself, I'd already started a new life.
15:42I shouldn't be trapped by the past anymore.
15:44I left behind everything familiar.
15:46Left the United States.
15:47I set off on a long journey.
15:48Visiting all the places.
15:50Mom had dreamed of going her whole life, but never could.
15:52Setting foot on the land.
15:52I felt the ocean breeze on my face.
15:54At Seminyak Beach in Bali.
15:56Sipped espresso.
15:57At tiny sidewalk cafes in Paris.
15:59Witnessed the great migration on the plains of the Serengeti.
16:01And took in every landscape with my whole heart.
16:03Before long, I settled down in a small town in the south of France.
16:06Called Aix-en-Provence.
16:08And opened a little shop.
16:09I sold vintage furniture.
16:10And old books I'd picked up on my travels.
16:12Along with handcrafted pieces from around the world.
16:14I named the shop.
16:15Timeless.
16:16My life became quiet.
16:17And full.
16:18Every morning, I'd be woken by that old brass alarm clock.
16:21And then I'd start my day.
16:22Sometimes, I'd fly to Australia.
16:24And go diving at the Great Barrier Reef.
16:26Other times, I'd trek to Tromso, Norway.
16:27And wait for the northern lights inside the Arctic Circle.
16:30And with each trip, my heart grew a little quieter.
16:32One random afternoon, I saw Ethan's public apology.
16:38CNBC was broadcasting Ashford Properties' annual press conference, live.
16:42He stood in front of the cameras, haggard.
16:44His eyes heavy with exhaustion and regret.
16:46He wore a black Tom Ford suit.
16:48His hair was unkempt, stubble showing, visibly thinner than before.
16:51The polished image was long gone.
16:52He looked like a man these years had slowly hollowed out.
16:55Vivian, I know what I did was wrong.
16:57I hurt you, and I hurt your mother.
17:00Everything I said to you, everything I did, was all my fault.
17:03There was a time when his betrayal made it impossible to breathe.
17:05But I'd already walked out of that, to learn how to let go.
17:07I live with that guilt every single day.
17:09I wish I could turn back time and make it right.
17:11Five years had been more than enough time.
17:13I had a new life now.
17:14Vivian, come home.
17:15Give me one chance.
17:17Let us go back to the way things were.
17:19I swear, I'll spend the rest of my life making up for what I've done.
17:22Ethan's apology didn't move me.
17:23If anything, it struck me as almost laughable.
17:26He thought a single, I'm sorry, could erase everything he'd done.
17:29He really did think too highly of himself.
17:31What right did he have to ask me to come back?
17:33Every minute, every second of my life now, I was doing just fine.
17:36If mom could see me now, she wouldn't worry anymore.
17:38Five years after leaving the United States,
17:40a series of coincidences brought me to a decision.
17:43It was time to go back.
17:47The first thing I did after returning to the States was visit mom.
17:50To let her know I was doing well.
17:52I also wanted to see old friends who were still in New York,
17:54catch up, tie off some loose ends.
17:56After all, I'd left so suddenly,
17:57but a lot of people didn't find out I was gone until much later.
18:00I came back to the city I once knew so well.
18:02New York streets looked the same,
18:04but I was a completely different person.
18:06I rented a car from JFK and drove all the way to Bridgeport,
18:09to the columbarium at St. Augustine's Church.
18:11It looked nothing like I remembered.
18:13The entire columbarium had been renovated wide,
18:15bright hallways, serene and dignified.
18:17The section where mom's niche was located had been completely transformed.
18:21When I saw that area, I stopped in my tracks.
18:23The basic niche I'd barely been able to afford had been replaced by an entire dedicated memorial wall,
18:28exquisitely crafted clearly, the product of enormous thought and expense.
18:31Above the entrance hung a bronze plaque engraved with
18:34The Calloway Memorial.
18:35Who had built this for mom?
18:39I truly didn't know.
18:41I never imagined anyone would go this far for her.
18:43But I'd only took a moment's thought.
18:44There was no one else it could be.
18:45I walked inside.
18:46Mom's niche had been upgraded to an elegant, private alcove,
18:50fronted by an exquisite bronze nameplate,
18:52engraved with Diane Marie Calloway, beloved mother.
18:54Beside it, sat a photograph of her.
18:56In the photo, mom's smile was warm and gentle,
18:59as if life had never touched her with hardship.
19:00In front of the nameplate, fresh white lilies and hydrangeas.
19:04Hydrangeas had always been mom's favorite.
19:06The flowers were fresh.
19:07Someone had clearly been coming regularly,
19:08but didn't care to dwell on whoever was making the self-indulgent gestures.
19:11I walked out to the courtyard steps
19:13and pulled a tin bucket and a Zippo lighter from my backpack.
19:15Then I took out the photos I'd taken over years of traveling
19:18and burned them for mom, one by one.
19:19This one's from Bali, mom.
19:21The beach was gorgeous.
19:23You would have loved it.
19:24This one's Paris, you always had that picture of the Eiffel Tower on your fridge.
19:27I went and saw it for you.
19:28This one's Africa, you always said you wanted to see the Great Migration.
19:30I told her I was doing well, told her not to worry.
19:33Just as I was burning the photos, a familiar voice sounded behind me.
19:36Vivienne.
19:39I turned around and saw Ethan.
19:41His hair had gone gray at the temples and new lines creased his forehead.
19:44These years clearly hadn't been kind to him.
19:47You're here.
19:48I could tell Ethan had been visiting mom often,
19:50but he and I had nothing left to say to each other.
19:52If it weren't for him, mom and I might not be worlds apart today.
19:55I had no warmth left to offer him.
19:57Vivienne, are you doing okay?
19:59All these years, I've been looking for you.
20:03You know that, right?
20:04I'm doing just fine, thanks.
20:06I answered, then placed the last photo into the tin bucket and lit it.
20:09In the photo, it was just me smiling brightly.
20:12Vivienne, can we go back to the way things were?
20:14Give me a chance to make up for what I've done.
20:16It's over, Ethan.
20:17From the moment you lied to me,
20:18from the moment my mother died, it was already over.
20:20A flash of loss crossing his eyes.
20:22Vivienne, I hope you find happiness.
20:24He understood.
20:25No matter what he did, there was no coming back for us.
20:27What's past is past.
20:28The future is all that matters.
20:30I turned back around and walked into the columbarium,
20:32facing mom's nameplate.
20:34Mom, you're watching from up there, aren't you?
20:35Don't worry, I'm doing just fine.
20:37Mom, you're watching from up there, aren't you?
20:38Don't worry, Jikia.
20:38So várias.
20:38Don't worry, Word to me.
20:39Don't be!
20:39That's a photo of me.
20:39Oh, don't worry.
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