- 21 hours ago
Relife The Heiress's Revenge - Hot
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Someone had spiked my fiance's drink. When he started tearing open Serena Blackwood's dress at the Blackwood Gala, I did
00:06not rush in to stop him the way I had in my last life.
00:08Back then, I had been terrified he would offend Marcus Blackwood, a man famous for protecting his own at any
00:13cost.
00:13I threw myself between them, drugged out of his mind, dragged me into a guest room, and raped me.
00:20From that night on, the entire pack's old money circle said I had climbed into his bed on purpose.
00:25After I married him, the torment only got worse. In five years, I got pregnant seven times.
00:31Every baby was lost in another convenient accident. They called me a slut, a used-up whore, a woman who
00:36must have been passed around by half the men in town before she ever wore Evan's ring.
00:41My parents poured everything they had into making my life survivable in the Brooks household.
00:45They helped push Evan onto the council, and on the night I went into labor, Evan and Serena held me
00:50down and forced drug-laced water down my throat.
00:52I bled out on the birthing bag.
00:53If you hadn't stuck your nose in that night, Serena and I would have completed our mate hunt years ago.
00:57You ruined my fated mate. This is what you owe us.
01:02Then he smothered the baby I had nearly died delivering, right in front of me.
01:06Blood and tears soaked my face.
01:07When my last breath left me, there was nothing left in me but hatred.
01:11Then I opened my eyes again.
01:13I was back at the Blackwood Gala.
01:14Back on the day someone spiked Evan's drink.
01:17This time, I would let them finish the bond they had spent a lifetime blaming me for.
01:21Evan, please, don't...
01:23Serena Blackwood's breathy, embarrassed moans slipped out of the Lakeview guest suite.
01:27It sounded soft enough to pass for refusal, and loud enough to be meant for everyone in the hall.
01:31I stood outside the door, and my stomach dropped.
01:34Through the crack, Evan Brooks' eyes were bloodshot.
01:37Evan Brooks' eyes were bloodshot.
01:39His bowtie hung crooked at his throat as he pinned Serena against the floor-to-ceiling window and tore open
01:44her custom silver-green gown.
01:45Clara, we have to go in and save her.
01:47Her knuckles white.
01:49Grace Miller grabbed my sleeve.
01:50I looked at the two tangled shadows inside.
01:53Then at Grace, who looked desperate to rush in on my behalf.
01:56I almost laughed.
01:57Save who?
01:58The woman who, in my last life, helped Evan drug me and leave me bleeding out on a birthing bed?
02:02Or the monster who smothered my child with his own hands?
02:05Evan comes from the minor pack branch.
02:10If he really hurts Serena tonight, Marcus Blackweald will never let him walk away.
02:14Clara, what are you waiting for?
02:15Did you forget what Mr. Ashford said?
02:17Evan's father had old ties with the Ashford's.
02:19You were supposed to look out for him.
02:21If Evan is ruined here, your father will blame you.
02:23Grace kept her voice low, but every word came faster than the last.
02:27She had wanted Evan for years.
02:28She could not wait for me to sign a mate contract with him,
02:31just so she could follow us into the Brooks household and become his hidden mistress.
02:34In my last life, when I crawled toward the door covered in blood and tried to call for help,
02:39Grace was the one who pinned my hands and feet down.
02:41She stepped on my bleeding stomach again and again, smiling as she said,
02:50I clenched my fingers and swallowed the urge to strangle her on the spot.
02:54I'll go in and hold him off.
02:56I lowered my eyes.
02:57My voice shook.
03:04The excitement in Grace's eyes almost broke through her act.
03:07She agreed at once and hurried away.
03:09She moved like someone who had just been handed an exclusive scandal.
03:12It had been the same in my last life.
03:14The whole thing could still have been buried by the Blackwoods.
03:16But Grace had dragged over the council spouses,
03:19old money heiresses, and donors from the front hall.
03:21They all saw me half-dressed, pinned under Evan on the bed.
03:25My mother fainted on the spot.
03:26My father spent half a lifetime building his reputation,
03:29and that night, it was dragged through the mud.
03:31Even the Ashford girls became cocktail hour gossip because of me.
03:34Since Grace was so good at gathering an audience, I would let her.
03:38Let every important guest in that front hall come watch the live sex show already waiting for them.
03:42And let my dear husband from my last life have exactly what he deserved.
03:45A ladder straight into the Blackwood family.
03:47I crouched outside the Lakeview guest suite,
03:49and a savage kind of relief ran through my whole body.
03:52Patricia Brooks had not yet forced my face toward the fireplace,
03:55and burned a scar into me that no powder could hide.
03:58I had not yet smelled infected flesh mixed with burned salve.
04:01My knees had not yet been ruined from kneeling on the Brooks household stone floor until the tissue died.
04:05The Brooks household stone floor until the tissue died,
04:08turning me into the crippled whore everyone whispered about.
04:11My belly felt lighter too.
04:12It was not aching every hour from baby after baby being taken from me.
04:16My nails dug into my palm.
04:17The sharp pain told me this was not a dream.
04:20When footsteps sounded down the hall,
04:22I lifted my hand and slapped myself hard across the face, again and again.
04:26This face, still untouched by the ruin of my last life,
04:30swelled red almost at once.
04:31I had been slapped so often in the Brooks household that even now,
04:34when I split my own lip and felt blood drip down my chin,
04:37it barely hurt.
04:38Clara, why are you still here?
04:40Grace came rushing over with a crowd of donor wives and council spouses in evening gowns.
04:44The moment she saw me still guarding the door,
04:47panic flashed across her face.
04:48I pinched the soft inside of my thigh as hard as I could.
04:51My eyes went red at once.
04:53Then I rushed forward with tears all over my face
04:55and threw my arms out in front of the sweet door.
04:57The corridor's crystal light spilled over me.
05:00The handprints on my face and the blood at the corner of my mouth
05:02landed clearly in every pair of eyes.
05:04The handprints on my face and the blood at the corner of my mouth
05:07landed clearly in every pair of eyes.
05:09One woman's champagne glass rose halfway to her lips.
05:12Someone cursed under her breath.
05:14The daughter of the Ashford family was an old-blood heiress.
05:17On any other day,
05:17even a scraped finger would have been enough to send the whole family office into a panic.
05:22Now half my face was swollen and blood was still running from my mouth.
05:25Catherine Blackwood was the first to frown.
05:27Tonight was the Blackwood Gala.
05:29If a guest was injured in her family's private wing,
05:31it was the Blackwoods who lost face.
05:33She had just started toward me when I pressed myself flat against the door.
05:40The warmth Catherine had been wearing for the room went cold at once.
05:44Clara, this is the private wing of the Blackwood estate.
05:47It is not an Ashford doorway for you to go.
05:49She lifted one hand and two house staff members immediately stepped forward to pull me away.
05:53I acted as if the lightest touch might shatter me.
05:56I was trembling hard, but I clung to the doorframe and would not let go.
06:00No, you can't go in.
06:02House staff and security came together to pry my hands loose.
06:04In the chaos, someone's stiletto came down hard on the back of my hand.
06:08Something in the bone shifted.
06:10Something in the bone shifted.
06:12I screamed before I could stop myself.
06:14Helena Ashford had stayed silent because this was the Blackwoods' house.
06:18But now pain and fear broke across her face.
06:20She grabbed my arm.
06:21Clara, what are you doing?
06:23Making a scene at someone else's gala like this.
06:25What do you expect the Ashford family to do?
06:27I looked at my mother standing in front of me, alive and whole.
06:30Her hair not yet turned white overnight because of my scandal.
06:33Mom, don't make me...
06:34Tears flooded my eyes.
06:36I have a reason.
06:37I really can't let them go in.
06:39Helena's voice changed with panic.
06:41What are you even saying?
06:42My knees gave out.
06:44And I dropped directly in front of Catherine.
06:45Catherine, please.
06:46Don't.
06:47The whispers in the crowd finally broke loose.
06:50What is wrong with Clara Ashford?
06:51There isn't really something shameful behind that door.
06:54Is there?
06:54I curled up at the threshold, holding up the hand that was already swelling.
06:58My whole body shaking so hard I could not stop it.
07:01Catherine's face went completely dark.
07:03Very good.
07:04A perfectly decent Blackwood gala and somehow Ashford's daughter is blocking my door.
07:10Since she has made this much of a scene, I will not be the only one deciding what happens next.
07:15Go to the front hall.
07:17Bring Marcus and Richard here.
07:19Go to the front hall.
07:20Bring Marcus and Richard here.
07:22I pressed down the smile tugging at my mouth.
07:24Those slaps had not been wasted.
07:26At last, the scene was big enough.
07:28Tonight was the Blackwood Alliance gala.
07:30Marcus Blackwood and my father, Richard Ashford, were not the only powerful men in the front
07:35hall.
07:35Several Whitmore High Council candidates were here, too.
07:38Evan and I had been husband and wife for an entire lifetime, after all.
07:41This time, of course I had to make sure he and his beloved Serena had a full audience.
07:46Within minutes, Marcus arrived with a crowd of councilmen and donors at his back, security
07:50following close behind.
07:51Richard Ashford moved the fastest.
07:53The moment he saw me covered in mud and blood, guarding the door as if my life depended on
07:58it, his face changed.
07:59The next second, he lifted his hand and slapped me hard across the face.
08:03I've always known how to behave.
08:04Have you lost your mind tonight?
08:06The council spouses around us shook their heads.
08:09In the East Coast pack circle, I had always been the Ashford family's most proper daughter.
08:13Now I was crying and making a scene at the Blackwood Gala, blocking the private wing and
08:17refusing to let anyone through.
08:19Half the obedient reputation I had built over the years was already gone.
08:22Half the obedient reputation I had built over the years was already gone.
08:26Marcus's expression darkened.
08:28He gave me one cold glance.
08:29Then he simply raised his hand.
08:31The security men at his side stepped forward, lifted me away like they were removing an out-of-control
08:36guest, and threw me down near the rain-soaked edge of the lawn.
08:39It had rained two days ago.
08:41The Blackwood Estate's stone path had been scrubbed spotless, but the grass beside it
08:45was still full of mud.
08:46The hem of my pale lavender gown sank into the muck, filthy enough to make me look as
08:50if I had crawled out of a service alley.
08:52Everyone walked around me and headed straight for the sweet door.
08:55Helena's tears fell in a rush.
08:57How are you supposed to stand in packed society after this?
09:00I wiped the muddy water from my face and smiled at her.
09:03The crowd had barely reached the door when every step stopped at once.
09:06A woman's moan, soft and sticky, slid through the crack, tangled with a man's low, restrained
09:12panting.
09:12The sound was so obscene it made heat crawl up people's faces.
09:15Then came the dull thud of a headboard hitting the wall, again and again.
09:19No one needed to go in to know exactly how lively it was inside.
09:22Several donor wives who had brought young daughters with them immediately covered the
09:26girls' ears and ordered house staff to take them away.
09:28Then the woman inside let out another honey-sweet sound, her voice stretched thin and breathless
09:33at the end.
09:34The guests looked from one face to another, each expression uglier than the last.
09:38The Blackwoods had humiliated themselves completely tonight.
09:40In broad daylight, in a guest wing, doing something this lewd, an outspoken council wife clutched
09:46her evening back.
09:47Her voice was low, but every word landed clearly.
09:50The way everyone looked at Marcus and Catherine now carried an unmistakable edge of mockery.
09:54Marcus' face flushed dark purple.
09:56Beneath his beard, his jaw clenched tight.
09:58I pushed in from the edge of the crowd and caught his sleeve with trembling fingers.
10:02We shouldn't go in.
10:04At least think of the reputation of whoever is inside.
10:07Marcus' gaze cut quickly across the guests.
10:10The Whitmore heirs stood behind him in immaculate black formal wear.
10:13He was not afraid of offending some irrelevant guest.
10:15But whoever dared to do this at the Blackwood Alliance Gala had dragged the Blackwood name
10:19through the mud on purpose.
10:20There was no dignity left for him to protect.
10:23Marcus ripped the brass master key from the house steward's heavy key ring.
10:26The metal keys clattered hard against the doorframe.
10:29Move.
10:29His voice came out in a low growl.
10:31He shoved me aside without mercy and jammed.
10:33The brass key into the iron lock.
10:35With a violent crash, the frame of the Lakeview guest suite split open.
10:39Half the door hung crooked, then dropped hard onto the carpet.
10:42The sky outside had not gone fully dark, but the suite blazed with light.
10:45The white wall scouts lit up the mess on the floor.
10:47A kicked-a-side gown, a shirt, and a piece of red lace ongerary.
10:50The whole room reeked of sex and sweat, sharp and fishy like Bradford blossoms in spring,
10:55strong enough to tighten the back of the throat.
10:56Some council spouses covered their mouths, others cried out.
11:00Marcus was already past reason.
11:02He overturned the frosted glass screen with one brutal shove.
11:04On the king bed, Evan Brooks was completely naked, with a woman's bare thighs hooked over
11:09his shoulders.
11:10The red lace lingerie was still clenched in his hand.
11:13The air went dead silent.
11:15Even the sound of high heels sinking into the carpet seemed loud.
11:20He fumbled for the comforter, trying to drag it over the woman beneath him and hide her
11:25from view.
11:26To Marcus, that looked less like shame than provocation.
11:30Evan might have been a rising pack attorney this year.
11:33But in Marcus's eyes, he was still nothing more than a lower pack legal associate with
11:38no real power and no real bloodline.
11:40A scholarship-born climber like him would not even have been allowed near the Blackwood side
11:44door on an ordinary night.
11:46And now he had dared to turn the Blackwood guest wing into this kind of debauchery.
11:49It was uglier than spitting in Marcus Blackwood's face.
11:53Low-born trash!
11:54Marcus's eyes went bloodshot.
11:56He grabbed the iron poker from beside the fireplace and swung it down hard at the bedpost.
12:01Evan clutched the woman against himself and scrambled naked across the bed, trying to dodge.
12:05The sight of him stumbling bare in front of every important guest nearly drove Marcus
12:09and Catherine mad.
12:10One council space after another looked away, stepping back on their heels.
12:13Catherine's chest rose and fell with fury.
12:16She had no polished hostess mask left to wear.
12:19At this point, the Blackwoods had no dignity left to protect.
12:22I want to see which little slit dared go into heat in my house!
12:27Catherine, for my sake, don't.
12:31But Evan Brooks had no sake to speak of in the Blackwood house.
12:34Catherine let out a cold laugh and pulled with both hands.
12:37With one harsh rip, she tore the entire comforter away.
12:40A completely naked woman was exposed in front of everyone.
12:43She covered her face with both hands, her legs pressed tightly together, too afraid to lift her head.
12:48Several bright red hickeys stood out on her pale shoulders.
12:50Her hair was damp and tangled, as if she had just been dragged out of the sheets.
12:55The Blackwood female aides beside Catherine reacted first.
12:57They stepped forward, pinned the woman's wrists and ankles, and yanked her hair back,
13:01forcing her face up for everyone to see.
13:03Little slut, still trying to hide?
13:05And that beautiful, sweat-damp, painfully familiar face was shown to every person in the suite.
13:10A glass knocked against a serving tray with a bright, brittle sound.
13:12The entire room seemed to explode.
13:14Serena Blackwood was there, naked and exposed,
13:17helplessly displayed in front of every council witness.
13:19Catherine Black froze on the spot.
13:20She looked as if someone had struck her straight between the eyes.
13:23One hand flew to her head as she staggered back.
13:25The guests looked from the scandal pair on the bed to me.
13:27My eyes reddened, and tears rolled down my face at exactly the right moment.
13:32I did not need to say anything anymore.
13:34Everyone had already put the story together for themselves.
13:37I was an old-blood Ashvind heiress.
13:39Who would dare put a hand on me so easily?
13:41The answer seemed obvious.
13:43I must have stumbled onto Serena's filthy secret.
13:46Serena must have slapped me, and then she must have forced me to stand outside and guard
13:50the door for the two of them.
13:52He tightened his grip on the fireplace poker and brought it down hard across Evan Brooks'
13:56back.
13:57The iron edge scraped through flesh, and a long, ugly gash split open at once.
14:01I lowered my head and used the back of my mudsteed hand to hide the corner of my mouth.
14:06Evan Brooks, you deserve that one.
14:09A raw scream tore out of Evan's throat.
14:11He touched the torn skin on his back and tried desperately to explain.
14:15Marcus, listen.
14:16I was drugged.
14:17Someone set me up.
14:18Marcus was beyond listening.
14:19He raised the fireplace pinal again and swung it straight for Evan's neck.
14:24Marcus, stand down.
14:25He's still a licensed council attorney.
14:26We investigate first.
14:27I watched coldly, almost regretful.
14:30What a shame.
14:31One cleaner hit, and he might have died right there.
14:33No matter how furious Marcus was, he could not ignore the Whitmerts in front of them.
14:37Investigate!
14:38Tear the Blackwood estate apart if you have to.
14:40Bar logs, cameras, badge swipes, suite access.
14:42I want everything!
14:45Evan let out a breath of relief, then swept one cold glance over me.
14:48That single look told me everything.
14:51He had come back too.
14:52Those were not the eyes of a newly admitted PAC attorney.
14:55They were Evan Brooks' eyes after years soaked in council politics in our last life.
14:59Still on his knees, he planted both hands against his thighs and slowly straightened his spine.
15:04However I was set up tonight, Serena's public standing is already ruined.
15:07I'm willing to sign a responsibility statement, acknowledge this mate bond scandal, and enter an alliance engagement with Serena.
15:12He thought that sounded noble.
15:14He thought Marcus and Catherine would be grateful that he was offering to clean up Blackwood's mess.
15:18You think you're what exactly?
15:21A no-pittage low-pack cur thinks he can crawl into the Blackwood bloodline?
15:24Evan squeezed his eyes shut, his entire face flushed red.
15:27In all his years, no one had ever humiliated him like this in public.
15:31After all, in my last life, whenever he dealt with Marcus, Marcus had always clapped him on the shoulder and
15:37called him promising.
15:38Marcus had even said he admired a man who climbed by talent.
15:41What a joke.
15:43In that life, Evan Brooks had been my husband.
15:45My father, Richard Ashford, was the PAC Council's chief legal strategist.
15:49The respect Marcus gave him had never belonged to Evan.
15:51It had belonged to the Ashford family.
15:53I would snap my own daughter's neck and dump her in the Hudson before I let trash like you touch
15:58my bloodline!
15:59In a fresh burst of age, he kicked Evan hard enough to send him crashing into the low table.
16:05Evan coughed up a mouthful of blood on the spot.
16:08You touched a Blackwood daughter, and now you dare use her as your ladder?
16:13Security!
16:14Drag him out!
16:15Beat him until he can't open his mouth again!
16:17Evan had not even managed to get up before Blackwood security prissed his arms and legs.
16:21They dragged him toward the door like a bag of rotting trash.
16:24No!
16:25No!
16:26This isn't how it was supposed to happen!
16:27Marcus!
16:28Serena Rina!
16:28Save me!
16:29Marcus grabbed a whiskey tumbler and smashed it against Evan's head.
16:32Glass splattered, Evan's scalp slid open at once.
16:34Blood ran down his brow and dripped all over the floor.
16:36Gag him.
16:38A cur like him doesn't deserve to say Serena's name.
16:42Serena Blackwood was completely stunned.
16:44She kept her head down and did not dare say a single word for Evan Brooks.
16:48Marcus!
16:49You can't be this heartless!
16:51She is our daughter!
16:52She was harmed!
16:53How can you tell her to die?
16:55Of course Marcus had spoken in rage.
16:57Serena was still his own blood.
16:59He could not truly bring himself to kill her.
17:02But after saying so much in front of everyone, he could not simply let it go either.
17:05So he slammed one hand down on the coffee table.
17:08Are my investigators dead?
17:10Who dared touch the drinks at a Blackwood gala?
17:12Do I pay security to be useless?
17:13If you can't give me an answer, I will tear apart the entire staff chain.
17:17A security supervisor came in with his shoulders hunched, his voice shaking.
17:20Marcus, the badge log shows that Maya Ellis, Serena's personal aide, handled Evan's glass.
17:24The room broke into low, crackling murmurs.
17:26Every pair of eyes turned to Serena.
17:27A personal aide usually acted on her employer's instructions.
17:30No, it wasn't me.
17:32It was Maya!
17:33Maya wanted to hurt me!
17:35Maya Ellis looked less like a living person than a ghost.
17:38Trembling all over, she collapsed onto the floor.
17:41No, I didn't.
17:45She had just started to defend herself when she looked up and met Serena's eyes.
17:49The rest of the words died in her throat.
17:51If Maya told the truth, the Black Hills had a hundred ways to strip her of her job and every
17:55clean reference she had left.
17:57Serena threw herself at Maya, sobbing as she beat her.
18:00Was I not good to you?
18:01Why would you stab me in the back?
18:03It was me.
18:05I thought Serena favored Tessero and treated me unfairly.
18:08I lost my...
18:08The guests looked at one another.
18:10The same faint mockery appeared on every face.
18:13That excuse was too weak to stand.
18:15But what else could they do?
18:16Serena was Marcus and Catherine's daughter.
18:18If they did not let Maya take the fall, were they supposed to admit Serena herself had
18:22gone into heat and dragged a man into bed?
18:24Marcus, who had been ready to beat someone to death a moment ago, suddenly looked as if
18:28a dirty rag had been shoved into his mouth.
18:30Serena was still hitting Maya and crying.
18:32Then, from the jacket draped over Serena's shoulders, a sealed clinic pouch slipped out.
18:36Maya had already been beaten weak.
18:38Her body tilted and she landed directly on top of the pouch.
18:41A small blood vial shattered under her weight.
18:43Fresh red spread instantly across the pale carpet.
18:45What is that?
18:46A private pack clinic label was stuck to the clear bag.
18:49Half a sheet of paper, already soaked at the edge with blood, showed through.
18:52An ordinary gala guest might not have a clue.
18:54But among the council wives, healer donors and old money maidens here, who hasn't had
18:58to deal with a fertility scandal for the family?
19:00CG blood test results from a private clinic, a forged healer intake form and a fake bond
19:04status file.
19:05All that stuff is enough to rip the mask off Serena as the innocent, wronged Luna candidate.
19:09Most of the gogglers don't know the ins and outs, so they're craning their necks asking
19:12everyone around.
19:13Every time someone asks, Serena's face goes even peeler.
19:15Evan Brooks, beaten bloody and dragged back into the suite, saw the evidence explode at exactly
19:20the wrong moment.
19:21He was still a licensed council attorney.
19:23No matter how furious Marcus was, Blackwood security did not dare beat him to death.
19:28If this had been Evan before the last life, he would have been nothing more than a newly
19:31risen PAC lawyer.
19:32A shattered blood vial and half a sheet of HCG paperwork might not have meant much to
19:36him.
19:37But he had lived an entire life already.
19:39In his last life, he had climbed high in council circles.
19:42Paternity fraud, forged healer files, backroom scandal cleanup.
19:46What had he not seen?
19:47One look at the blood on the carpet, the soaked clinic date, and he understood.
19:51Evan was barely holding together from the beating, yet somehow he found strength.
19:55He forced himself up and lunged toward the king bed.
19:58With one hand, he ripped back the comforter.
20:00The white fitted sheet was clean.
20:01There was nothing there that could shove the pup in Serena's belly onto tonight.
20:05The truly glaring proof was the blood-soaked paper.
20:08Sample collected, four weeks before gala.
20:10Gestational estimate, five weeks.
20:13Sire pending.
20:13Everyone had just seen Evan naked and pressed over Serena, but the evidence told them Serena
20:18had already been pregnant before tonight.
20:20She had even prepared a forged healer intake in advance, ready to frame herself as a Luna
20:25candidate ruined by this one night.
20:26Please.
20:27What a perfect little paternity trap.
20:29Too bad it had not closed neatly around Evan's throat.
20:32Even I had not expected the scene to turn this ugly this fast.
20:35In my last life, after I married Evan, I went to a private PAC clinic during my first pregnancy.
20:39There, I happened to see a woman in a hood quietly asking for abortion medication.
20:44The clinic healer warned her that she was already close to 16 weeks.
20:48If she forced a termination at that stage, her body might not withstand it.
20:52The woman had wrapped herself up carefully.
20:53But when she passed near me, I still caught a faint trace of custom scent suppressor.
20:58Across the entire East Coast PAC circle, only Serena Blackwood loved that scent.
21:02At that point, three months had passed since the night at the Lakeview guest suite.
21:06Which meant that when Evan was drugged tonight, Serena already had a pup more than a month
21:10along.
21:10Who dared bring that filthy drug into the Blackwood Gala?
21:13The answer was suddenly obvious.
21:15Serena had wanted to find a public sire for somebody else's pup.
21:18And Evan Brooks was supposed to be the fall guy.
21:20Once I pieced it together, I could only think how ugly this world really was.
21:25In my last life, Evan and I had already been bound by the scandal.
21:28Trying to reopen the Blackwood incident from three months earlier would have been a joke.
21:32So I buried the truth and locked it away.
21:33This time, my plan had been simple.
21:35Let Serena and Evan both get what they wanted.
21:38One would find a father for the pup in her belly.
21:40The other would climb the Blackwood old blood ladder at last.
21:43I had not expected Serena's own clinic evidence to tear open first.
21:47Evan's face looked as if someone had slapped him in front of the entire room.
21:50He threw himself at Serena and seized her shoulders.
21:53Serena Blackwood!
21:54Shaking her hard.
21:55You set me up!
21:56You told me you had no registered bond.
21:58You said you wanted me and no one else.
22:00You told me you couldn't hold back your scent.
22:02That you would break council protocol just to give yourself to me.
22:05You used me as a public seer for another man's pup!
22:07You pregnant little whore!
22:09Serena shook in his grip like a soaked silk scarf, as if she might fall apart at any second.
22:14Her mouth opened and closed, but not a single word came out.
22:17Marcus heard every word, and his brows drew tight again.
22:21But this time, he had no ground to stand on.
22:24Even if he hated that a low-pack liability like Evan had overstepped,
22:27he had no reason left to keep beating him.
22:29Evan Brooks had been beaten too badly, and the truth had struck him too hard.
22:33Blood surged up his throat and sprayed across Serena Blackwood's face.
22:37Then he fell backward and passed out cold.
22:38The room erupted into chaos again.
22:41No matter how unwilling Marcus was, no matter how badly he still wanted to kill someone,
22:45he had to call in the estate medic and the pack healer.
22:47Several council wives looked at me with pity and tenderness.
22:50How did she get dragged into something like this?
22:52Clara has suffered too much tonight.
22:54One after another, they sighed for me.
22:57They believed I was a young heiress with no registered mate bond.
23:00Dragged for no reason into a sex scandal this filthy.
23:03Even if I was innocent, it was still a stain.
23:06My pack reputation and alliance prospects would take a hit.
23:09After tonight, the mate alliances open to me would probably drop by an entire tier.
23:13The Whitmore heirs, especially, would never consider me now.
23:16They had no idea.
23:17Compared with my last life, when I married Evan and was slowly ground down inside the Brooks household,
23:22this was already an escape from death.
23:24Later, I heard that when Evan was carried back, he looked as if he had been dragged out of a
23:28pool of blood.
23:29Blackwood security knew Marcus was still furious, so they had put their backs into it.
23:33From the ER surgeon to the pack healer to the spinal specialist, every doctor who saw him only shook their
23:38head.
23:50Some said Evan was pitiful.
23:51A scholarship-born legal climber, ruined like this by the Blackwoods.
23:55Others said Evan deserved it.
23:57If he had not wanted to climb the Blackwood Old Blood Ladder himself, he would never have suffered like this.
24:02The person who reacted most violently inside Ashford House was Ray Snow.
24:06Clara, if you had gone in and stopped it, Evan would never have ended up like this.
24:11He was perfectly fine and now he's lying in a bed, heartbroken.
24:15How can you still eat?
24:17I held a bowl of chilled almond porridge and took my time swallowing a spoonful.
24:22What reaction should I have?
24:24Should I go mourn at Evan's bedside like he's already dead?
24:27Grace's face flushed with anger.
24:29He is still alive, isn't he?
24:31How can you be so heartless?
24:34She realized she had crossed the line, her voice going soft at once.
24:38I only think Evan is pitiful.
24:40I didn't mean it that way.
24:41I looked coldly at Grace, the girl who had grown up beside me.
24:44If you pity Evan so much, then go take care of him.
24:47You don't need to enter my suite again.
24:50Grace snapped her head up as if she could not believe what she had heard.
24:53Marion, pull Grace's staff file, NDA, access badge, and housing agreement.
24:57Suspend her Ashford access immediately.
25:01The Brooks household needs a live-in aid, doesn't it?
25:04Send over her caregiving contract.
25:06If she refuses to leave, have security escort her off the property.
25:10Tell them the Ashfords and the Brooks go back years.
25:13We arrange someone specially to help care for Evan.
25:15After that, she does not come back.
25:19Only then did Grace seem to wake up.
25:21Clara, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said that.
25:23She crawled toward me, sobbing and begging.
25:25For the sake of all the years we grew up together, please forgive me this once.
25:28I almost wanted to forgive her.
25:30But when had Grace ever spared me for the sake of all the years we grew up together?
25:34It was not until the day I died in my last life, after hearing her words, that I finally understood.
25:40Why?
25:40After I became pregnant, after I had been careful and then more careful, I still lost one baby after another.
25:46With Grace at my side, altering my medication and my care records for Evan again and again.
25:50How could any child in my belly have survived?
25:52Of course she did not want to go to the Brooks household now.
25:55Of course.
25:56Evan and his mother, Patricia Brooks, lived in a worn-down duplex outside town.
26:00They were so poor that all they had left was one aging age.
26:03Now that Evan Brooks' leg was damaged, his council career was as good as over.
26:07On paper, no one could throw him out simply because he might need a cane.
26:11But after the sweet scandal at Blackwood Ridge, with a license review, an ethics complaint,
26:16and a DA inquiry pressing down layer after layer, who would dare put him anywhere near the public eye?
26:20Unless someone with real votes chose to protect him.
26:23And now, who would protect Evan Brooks?
26:25Ashford would not.
26:26Blackwood certainly would not.
26:27He had no family strong enough to lift him.
26:30He did have a handsome face, and at first, a few old-money families had considered him as a potential
26:35son-in-law.
26:36Now, those heiresses probably thought he carried bad luck.
26:39Because the scandal touched the High Council's reputation, Eleanor Whitmore took a personal interest.
26:43The High Council and the DA liaison turned Blackwood Ridge inside out.
26:47As for the pup in Serena Blackwood's belly, no one could say for certain who had fathered it.
26:51The personal aides around Serena had tried to protect her at first.
26:54But once the perjury warnings and immunity deals came down, one after another, they cracked.
26:59A stable hand.
27:00Gate security.
27:01A procurement runner.
27:03A jewelry store sales guy.
27:04Serena had never been picky.
27:06As long as a man had a decent face, she dared drag him into her bed.
27:10After a while, the number of men she had slept with was not just 10 or 12.
27:14It was more.
27:14If the pup in her belly had actually been born, only a DNA panel could have sorted out the father.
27:19After a disgrace like that, how can Marcus allow her to give birth to another man's pup?
27:24I heard he found some dirty private clinic and forced Serena through a termination.
27:27At first, Marcus even wanted them to prepare an overdose of sedatives.
27:31Only after Catherine cried, begged, and nearly threw herself over a balcony was Serena's life spared.
27:37Her life was spared.
27:38The rest of her did not.
27:40After that forced termination, Serena's bleeding would not stop.
27:43Her periods never settled.
27:45She grew thin very quickly.
27:47Her face pale.
27:48Her legs too weak to hold her steady.
27:50Marcus lost the old lift of his chin in council rooms.
27:53He had been proud his whole life.
27:54And now one daughter had dragged the Blackwood name through filth.
27:57People said he spent his days drinking himself senseless.
28:00When he finished drinking, he would go to Serena's room.
28:03Smash whatever he could reach.
28:04And curse her until security came over.
28:06Every day, Blackwood Ridge was full of screaming, breaking glass, and the sound of guards' footsteps.
28:12Less than three months later, Serena, driven past the edge, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her own father to
28:18death.
28:18A room full of aids and guards watched it happen.
28:20She could not run from that.
28:22Once the murder charge landed, it was enough to seal her fate.
28:25That same day, the High Council stripped her of every inheritance rate.
28:29When the criminal court sentenced her, she was sent to a women's prison for life without parole.
28:34On the day Serena was sentenced, I was having tea at the newly opened Laurel Room in the city.
28:38Mrs. Ashfield, this is from a gentleman downstairs.
28:41He said he would like to see you and say a few words.
28:44A server brought over a hibiscus chestnut tea cake I had not ordered.
28:47I looked at the small pastry and suddenly found it funny.
28:50During my marriage to Evan, he had bought the same thing for me a few times.
28:53After I lost our first child, after Patricia Brooks forced me to kneel every few steps in the name of
28:58pack discipline until I passed out, until my knees split open and festered.
29:02Evan probably always believed that as long as he handed me this one sweet little cake, I should calm down.
29:08I should forgive him.
29:09I should make peace with him.
29:10But to me, it had never recorded comfort.
29:13It recorded every injury Evan and the Brooks household had dealt me again and again.
29:17Please return it to the gentleman downstairs.
29:20Tell him I don't dare eat it.
29:21I'm afraid there might be something in it.
29:23The server quickly carried the tea cake back, but Evan did not leave.
29:27When I stepped out of the Laurel Room, he was waiting at the entrance.
29:30Clara.
29:31His voice broke, and he reached for the edge of my coat.
29:34Mr. Brooks, step back. Don't touch her.
29:37Harper Lane, the new aide at my side, immediately stepped between Evan and me.
29:41Evan's face twisted with misery.
29:42Clara, I treated you terribly before.
29:46I let people lie to me. I misunderstood you.
29:49I thought that scandal was something you set up so you could marry me. I never meant to hurt you.
29:54Evan, were you lied to, or did you choose to lie to yourself?
29:57I am an old blood Ashford heiress.
30:00You? If I had wanted it, even the Whitmore line would have been within reach.
30:04Why would I need to scheme my way into marrying you?
30:06The color drained from Evan's already ruined face.
30:09He had once been handsome in a clean, refined way.
30:12After all these days of pain, he had wasted down until he was almost nothing but bone.
30:16Whatever dignity he once had was gone.
30:19He was lucky, really.
30:20At least both legs had not been ruined.
30:22Only his right leg would never be steady again.
30:25From now on, he could not walk without a cane.
30:27My gaze swept once over his right leg.
30:30Evan immediately pulled it back.
30:31Maybe he remembered my last life, when he and Patricia Brooks had ruined my leg.
30:35Maybe he remembered how many times he had sneered at me, and called me a crippled little liability.
30:40One of the Ashford House staff hurried toward me.
30:42Mrs. Ashford, we've been looking everywhere for you.
30:45Please return at once.
30:46The High Council just sent word.
30:48Sebastian Whitmore has been confirmed as High Alpha Elect.
30:51The Whitmore line has also filed a Maid Alliance statement.
30:54Once you personally confirm it, the Council will publicly recognize you as Luna Elect.
30:58Evan's mouth fell open.
30:59He looked as if he could not believe what he had just heard.
31:02In my last life, Sebastian had become High Alpha too.
31:05Only then, he had never publicly recognized a Luna.
31:08Even after he took full power, he never brought anyone to stand beside him.
31:12So that was why.
31:15Sebastian likes her, doesn't he?
31:17Evan muttered the questions to Grace Miller beside him.
31:19They were together already, weren't they?
31:21Bracing him like a cane, and Patricia had worn her down until she barely looked human.
31:25No secret dates.
31:27No private gifts.
31:29Nothing improper.
31:30Only...
31:31Only what?
31:34Only that every time Sebastian saw her, he smiled.
31:37For the decades that followed, Sebastian proved Grace right.
31:41He was a good husband.
31:42A very good one.
31:43As for Evan, I never saw him again for the rest of my life.
31:47The last time I heard news of him was before I moved into the Whitmore Council residence.
31:50I heard there was no path left for him back to the council.
31:53He could not stay in the East Coast Pack Circle either.
31:56So he took Grace and Patricia back to that low pack hometown of his.
31:59Maybe Blackwood Ridge had damaged more than his leg.
32:02Later, Patricia arranged engagements for him and pushed a few dependent girlfriends into his life.
32:07But in this life, no one ever carried his pup.
32:09You heard the last thing he did in the city Мы going to the interview doing,
32:09There is a little bit above the dance guy called cool.
32:09Cool, yeah.
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