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