- 2 days ago
I Stopped Loving Him Eight Years Ago - HOT
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Eight years ago, I followed Damien Ashfield from the Louisiana Bayou to his Boston mansion,
00:05blinded by love. He repaid me with betrayal, humiliation, and a mistress in our bed. His
00:11mother framed my brother. He watched him die. That night, I lost my brother, my baby, my will to
00:18live. Grandmare's ancient mirror gave me one impossible chance. I warned my past self. I
00:24rewrote our story. Now he alone remembers a marriage that never happened, and it is driving
00:28him insane. On New Year's Eve, I used Grandmare's mirror to reach myself eight years ago. The mirror
00:36clouded with mist. Her eyes lit up. Damien told me he loves me today. He's building me a garden by
00:43the
00:43Bayou. Every New Year's Eve with me, spoiling me forever. She chattered on. I listened, faintly
00:50smiling. Where Damien was pinning a strange woman to the floor-to-ceiling window, devouring her mouth.
00:55Pinned by his weight, the woman leaned forward, pressing a wet mom print onto the fogged glass.
01:00Damien let out a low groan, his hand moving roughly against her body. I didn't move. I didn't
01:05stop them. The woman tilted her head back, uncomfortably, finally catching my reflection
01:10in the glass. She visibly froze, then bonelessly clung to Damien, rubbing against him.
01:16Damien? Why is someone else in your house? Unbothered, Damien used her tilted head to deepen
01:21the kiss. Mid-kiss, he opened his eyes to look at me, his gaze cold and jockeying.
01:26She won't mind. Will you, Addie?
01:30I got sick of answering that question years ago, from hysterics to numb acceptance to losing the
01:35will to speak. But my past self went deathly pale. With shaking hands, she severed the link.
01:42The performance by the window only escalated.
01:46I looked down and texted my brother Luke, though he'd long been gone for distraction.
01:50The woman giggled excitedly, her hands roaming even more boldly over Damien.
01:54Where did you find this wife of yours? She's so generous.
01:59I didn't give her the reaction she wanted. Entangled, they stumbled upstairs,
02:04shedding clothes all the way. Just a routine, erotic show in this cold Beacon Hill townhouse.
02:10I couldn't even be bothered to look up anymore. The noisy TV New Year's countdown made me
02:15drownsy. I was almost asleep on the sofa when my phone screen lit up. A text from Damien.
02:23Just three words. Go buy it. Attached was a photo of lube.
02:31And still, I said nothing. On New Year's Eve, Boston's back bay was deserted, with few adult
02:38stores open. Back from a freezing half-hour walk, I overheard two maids whispering.
02:45Poor Addie. Eight years here, and she's treated worse than the help.
02:48Well, she played dirty to get that ring. Mr. Ashburn keeping her around is pure charity.
02:53Memories yanked me back to the past. During his college spring break in Louisiana,
02:56we met and fell in love. It was pure and fierce as the gulf wind before a storm. Warm,
03:01reckless, impossible to hold. I left everything behind and followed him to Boston.
03:06But his mother, Eleanor, violently objected, calling me swamp trash.
03:11Damien held my hand tightly back then. Don't worry. I'll handle my mother.
03:16Later, my brother Luke in New Orleans, who always avoided risks, was suddenly pulled into a massive
03:21financial scam. Cornered, he blindly signed papers from a shadowy middleman. Those papers made him the
03:26perfect fall guy for a federal money laundering indictment. Eleanor offered a deal, marry Damien,
03:30and the federal charges would be dropped. I already loved Damien, so why would I even need
03:34terms? Naturally, I agreed. I thought we were just moving the date up. I didn't know Eleanor had fed
03:40him forged texts and bank records involving me and Luke. She made him think I only wanted his money.
03:45Even on our rushed wedding night, I was still burning with passion, thinking I'd finally found my
03:50happy ending. But once he was done, his tender look turned to pure, icy disgust. He threw a check
03:57at me. You own me. Never forget that. Our marriage became a scam he believed I'd plotted with my brother.
04:04It wasn't that I never asked for a divorce. But whenever I spoke, he'd smirk coldly.
04:09You want out? Fine. Pay back that five million, with interest. Or my lawyers reopen your brother's
04:16case, and he never sees daylight again. Luke was out of reach. This debt was permanently
04:23chained to me. Damien yanked the door open, his chest covered in glaring red marks.
04:29Took you long enough. He snatched the bag, its stick edge scraping my cheek with a slight sting.
04:34She's too tight. Couldn't wait. In my peripheral vision, a stark naked figure on the bed. My stomach
04:40lurched violently. Vial rose in my throat. I turned to flee. Want to stay and join?
04:45But from behind, his tone was amused. Unable to hold it, I rushed to the bathroom,
04:50vomiting until my vision darkened. Back before the mirror, reconnecting with myself eight years ago,
04:55I asked, Do you think he still loves you? She cried, still in disbelief.
05:01He said it was only me. He promised. Without living this eight-year hell, words were useless.
05:09Like me, she'd blindly defend him, calling it a temporary misunderstanding.
05:16I didn't blame her, only inviting her to watch a little longer.
05:20When I woke up on New Year's Day, the woman from last night was already gone,
05:25but a pair of lace panties was left on the sofa. Damien followed my gaze,
05:29suddenly wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close.
05:32What? Jealous?
05:34He lowered his head to kiss me, but I intentively turned my face away.
05:38The rare glint of tenrous in his eyes indently morphed into a sneer.
05:42There it is again. That dead-eyed look. The only time you ever came alive
05:46was when you crawl into my bed to save your brother's ass.
05:51His words pierced me, shame flooding my veins. He shoved me away coldly.
05:58Enough. We have to go to Cape Cod today for my mother's New Year's brunch.
06:02His mother, the last person I wanted to face.
06:07For all these years, she had always looked at me like I was absolute filth.
06:13Yet this time, she didn't even glance my way. She was on the sofa, bonding with Damien's woman
06:18from last night. She was Victoria Hartwheel, Toadie, the perfect old money match Eleanor had
06:24chosen for Damien years ago. Eleanor patted Tori's hand, her eyes gleaming with undisguised
06:29satisfaction. Sweetheart, if it weren't for that girl, you'd have been an Ashton years ago.
06:35Damien walked over with a knowing smirk. I'm already married, mother. But if you like her
06:41company, she's welcome anytime. Tori smiled, looking playful and utterly harmless. But that
06:47word, babe, was exactly what had tortured me all night while they were at it. Right now,
06:53they smiled at each other, looking like the real family. While I stood at the edge of the foyer,
07:00not knowing where to put my hands or where I belonged. Simply because Tori said, I'm craving
07:06pork, Eleanor had the kitchen prepare an entire table of pork dishes. But my family's spiritual
07:11vow were bend-eating pork. Before I was born, Grand Mare made the blood packed with the spirits.
07:16I couldn't touch it. Absolutely not. Seeing me hesitate to pick up my silverware, Eleanor finally
07:21turned her gaze to me, dripping with disgust.
07:23Adeline, eat. Stop being so dramatic. You married into this family. We don't cater to
07:29superstition here.
07:30Helpless, I looked at Damien, pinning my last shred of hope on him. At least, he used to
07:35understand me. He put a pastry-wrapped item onto my plate. The thoughtfulness in his tone
07:41gave me a fleeting glimpse of the man he used to be.
07:43It's not pork. It's mushroom. Try it.
07:47I didn't doubt him. I took a bite. But the moment, my teeth sank.
07:50Tori's vicious laughter shattered the silence. Killed on Krinz's The Great.
07:58Oh my god, she actually ate it. I told you, there's no real spiritual vow. It's all an act.
08:06She just likes playing the victim. Damien lied to me. I stumbled to the bathroom, shoving my fingers
08:14deep down my throat. I wanted to purge that meat along with years of swallowed betrayals.
08:23Grandmare, I'm sorry. Involuntary tears blurred my vision. Back before the mirror, I connected with
08:30my past self. This time, she remained silent for a very, very long time. Only then did she begin to
08:38recall a misty morning by the Louisiana Byron. Back then, Damien looked at me, his eyes shining like
08:45stars. I did my research. Your family doesn't eat pork, right?
08:54When we're together, I won't either. Not ever.
08:57But now? The me across the mirror was even more despairing than I am now.
09:03This isn't, this isn't what I wanted. She cried herself horsky, repeating over and over.
09:10It hurts. God, it hurts.
09:14Did it hurt? I was long past feeling it.
09:22Damien vanished again for days. Damien vanished again for days. While I spent my days staring blankly
09:30at the mirror, I unexpectedly got a message from Luke, asking to meet. For a moment,
09:35I thought he'd come to pull me out.
09:43Addy, I'm so sorry. I think I've been set up again. They want three million, or they'll trigger
09:49a federal indictment. Hope shattered instantly. In its place was a bottomless helplessness.
09:56The previous five million had already nailed me to a pillar of shame, selling myself for money.
10:02A slow death, day and night. How could I even open my mouth to Damien now?
10:10Lost and helpless, fate's sick, absurd joke arrived in the form of two lines on a stick.
10:18I finally waited for Damien to come home. Three million. For the baby. Do we have a deal?
10:26My voice was so flat, it sounded foreign to me.
10:31His pupils contricted. The next second, he clamped his hand around my neck and slammed me against the
10:36wall. Suffocation hit me instantly. His eyes boiled with rage and unmasked hatred.
10:43When did you become this calculating? You'd sell your own child? Do you even have of a fucking heart?
10:51Was there ever a single shred of love between us, or was it always about the money?
10:57Love? Every bit of heart I had was ground into powder by his own hands during these eight years
11:01of humiliation. One gust of wind, and nothing remained. I ignored his explosion, staring fastly
11:06into his eyes. Love? Finally infuriated by my attitude, he hurled me onto the bed, tearing at my
11:15clothes regardless of my condition. It's yours! Damien! I'm pregnant! You can't...
11:21Struggling hard, I felt him hurl a signed check at my face.
11:24Fine. I'm buying the kid's life.
11:29He leaned in, his hot breath against my ear, every word piercing.
11:32Lose it or not, it's mine. Everything in this house is mine, including you.
11:43That night was a descent into hell.
11:47I woke up covered in bite marks and bruises. The pain between my legs made it almost impossible
11:53to stand. I dragged my shattered body to the hospital for an exam. The baby, it was still
12:00there, touching my still flat stomach. I felt a flicker of a bond for the first time.
12:08A few days later, Damien returned. I told him calmly,
12:11The baby's fine. I'll carry it to term. Your three million is accounted for.
12:17He froze, staring at my slightly bulging belly, lost in thought.
12:22Then, he violently smashed his whiskey glass onto the floor. The shattering crystal exploded
12:27with a deafening crack, shards flying everywhere.
12:29You cold bitch.
12:31He didn't even look at my feet as the glass punctured my skin. He simply turned and slammed
12:38the door.
12:41That night, I went to the mirror again, connecting with my past self. In the reflection, she shook
12:48her head, her voice broken. I don't want to spend the rest of my days like this. I don't
12:55want my baby born into this. Not into this. Listening to her repeated whispers, I suddenly
13:02felt that maybe everything could still change. Days after the three million was transferred,
13:08Luke asked to meet again. This time, he was sobbing, pounding his own head with his fists.
13:15Addy, I'm a piece of shit. Another million. I swear this is the last time-
13:21I stared at him blankly, unable to think of a single reason left to beg Damien.
13:26I waited for him to return, then stood before him.
13:30One more million. Name your terms.
13:33Damien shoved me aside and suddenly laughed.
13:36Tell me, what part of you is worth that much?
13:39Watching his back as the door slammed again, I knew he was done with me.
13:47But then Luke sent another video. Several men pinning him to the floor. A legal notice
13:53shoved against his face. A voice whispered in the footage.
13:58Sign it, or the indictment drops tomorrow.
14:04I had no choice but to call Damien over and over, pleading.
14:11Please. Name your price. I'll do anything.
14:16Then, I spent the whole night listening to the sounds of him and Tori. Not a single word of response.
14:25At dawn, I rushed to Luke's.
14:29He had collapsed on the apartment floor, his face ash-gray, his breathing shallow.
14:39He used the last of his strength to grab my hand.
14:42Hattie, I should have told you to run when I had the chance.
14:48I just found out. The investment.
14:52It was all them.
14:56Eleanor.
14:57Every time. All of it.
14:59Even the documents that forced you into that marriage.
15:02I understood every word, yet combined they were a massacre.
15:06The Ashford's. All of it.
15:09Then what was the point of everything I endured for eight years?
15:19Let's go, let's go, let's go.
15:20I didn't even have time to process this crushing truth.
15:23The doctor informed me.
15:24Luke was in cardiac arrest due to prolonged high stress.
15:27Multi-organ failure.
15:29He was dying.
15:30Beneath the despair was a new layer of hopelessness.
15:33Damien appeared, arm around Tori, who had accidentally strained her waist in bed last morning.
15:40Eight years of suppressed hatred finally exploded.
15:44Something in me snapped.
15:46I lunged at him like a maniac, grabbing his collar, my entire body trembling violently.
15:50It was you.
15:52Your family set him up.
15:54All of it.
15:55What the hell are you talking about?
15:57I wouldn't stoop that low.
16:00Pointed at Luke, hanging by a thread in the ER.
16:03Stop pretending, Damien.
16:04Is there anything you wouldn't do?
16:07You played us both.
16:09Are you happy now?
16:10Damien's face darkened completely, his gaze ice cold.
16:13Remember, Addy, you brought this on yourself.
16:16He jerked his chin at the nearby doctors.
16:17Get Dr. Williams and his best team to the VIP suite.
16:20Ms. Hartwell's back needs immediate attention.
16:22As for the rest, they aren't worth this hospital's resources.
16:26One by one, the staff withdrew from Luke's bedside, ignoring my screams and pleas.
16:31The surgical team was reassigned.
16:34The vitals monitor shrieked with a rapid, frantic alarm.
16:38Soon, Luke's body gave one final commotion before falling into a dead silence.
16:50I collapsed to the floor in a heap, watching Damien's walk away with his arm around Tori.
16:56Damien's ash-frailed.
16:59If I could start over, I would never choose this path again.
17:05Warm, thick liquid gushed out.
17:09Before losing consciousness, I struggled to crawl toward the mirror.
17:16The glass fogged.
17:17The connection was forged.
17:22I told my eight-year-old self,
17:25Leave him.
17:29I spoke with the hollow despair of the dying.
17:32We get to live again.
17:35She bit her lip until it bled, finally nodding.
17:39Okay.
17:44Maybe from a shred of conscience, or remembering I lost my brother and baby,
17:48he returned home unusually early.
17:50As he opened the door, a strange emptiness hit him.
17:53He hadn't processed what was missing yet, when Mrs. Patson brought him a cup of coffee.
17:57He took a sip and spit it out immediately, his brow frontaled.
18:01This is wrong.
18:03Tell Addie to make it.
18:04Mrs. Patterson looked blank.
18:07Addie?
18:08Sir, who is Addie?
18:10Damien's chest tightened for light of Halwu Leo,
18:13to a gentia de Ranta Boucher.
18:15He snapped impatiently.
18:16My wife, Addie.
18:20Mrs. Packerson looked even more confused.
18:23Sir, when were you married?
18:25We have no record of a Mrs. Ashford.
18:31Damien found it utterly absurd and summoned the entire household staff.
18:35The answers were chillingly identical.
18:37Everyone shook their heads and bewildered me.
18:40Sir, we truly don't know anyone by that name.
18:46Damien's stomach dropped.
18:48He turned back to the bedroom.
18:51Above the headboard used to hang a portrait I begged to paint after our wedding.
18:56At the time, he claimed he had no interest in doing it.
19:00But he never moved.
19:01But in reality, he had sat perfectly still for hours as my model.
19:06Now, the wall was completely bare.
19:08Why did the entire house feel so hollow, just like his chest?
19:11There must be a logical explanation.
19:13Instantly, a thought hijacked his mind.
19:16Addie had just run away to throw a tantrum.
19:23He grabbed his phone to confront me, only to find my contacts had vanished.
19:33As if I had never existed.
19:36Uncontrollable panic suffocated him.
19:38Something was terribly wrong.
19:44Mother, where is Addie?
19:46What did you do to her?
19:49Recognition finally hit Eleanor, followed instantly by her elitid disgust.
19:56You broke up eight years ago.
19:58Why drag her up now?
20:01Broke up?
20:02Like something from a fever dream, Damien's pupils constricted violently.
20:06What are you talking about?
20:07We've been married for eight years!
20:10Eleanor frowned, dismissing his outburst as a childish tantric.
20:15Married, I would never have let you marry that swamp girl.
20:19If she hadn't left on her own, I had other ways.
20:23I always do.
20:25Damien stiffened, lashing onto that one detail, and demanded with blind fury.
20:31What did you just say?
20:33The investment fraud.
20:35That was you?
20:35Eleanor was startled by his near-manic state, realizing she had let it slip.
20:40Yes, so what?
20:42You've been broken up for eight years.
20:44What does it matter now?
20:46The belated truth drained him.
20:48He staggered back.
20:49I was telling the truth.
20:52It was the Asherds.
20:53His mother had really set my brother up.
20:55She made him play the victim.
20:59Torturing me for eight years.
21:00But before all of that, we had loved each other so purely.
21:05He was consumed by hate, wasn't I?
21:10He was consumed by hate, wasn't I?
21:13You played us both.
21:15Are you happy now?
21:17My hoarse cries.
21:18My despairing eyes.
21:20The blinding blood beneath.
21:21Like a returning blade.
21:23They pierced his chest.
21:24His head nearly exploded.
21:26Unfamiliar metafragments flooded in.
21:30We're done, Damien.
21:32Why?
21:34Tell me what I did wrong.
21:35I'll fix it.
21:36His head nearly exploded.
21:38Unfamiliar memories fragments.
21:40How can you be this cruel?
21:44Don't you love me anymore?
21:46It was eight agonizing years.
21:49Without me.
21:52Addy.
21:53No.
21:54It wasn't like this.
21:56Addy.
21:57Addy!
21:59The chaotic memories tore Damien apart.
22:03Clutching his head in agony, he collapsed.
22:08I opened my eyes again, and vivid memories flooded in.
22:12The raised porch.
22:14The moss-draped oaks.
22:17Seeing this familiar yet foreign buy-in, I knew my past self succeeded.
22:24She had truly rewritten our fate, one entirely without Damien Ashfield.
22:32As I was lost in thought, Ethan leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
22:38Addy.
22:39Time to get up for breakfast.
22:40This sudden intimacy startled me, but the surging memories instantly eased the awkwardness.
22:46The memories told me that eight years ago, I successfully prevented Luke from falling into
22:51Eleanor's financial trap again.
22:53Afterward, even though I chose to break up with Damien, I suffered through a long period
22:57of brutal withdrawal, pain, confusion, and a hollow ache in my chest in the dead of night.
23:04And Damien's relentless pursuit.
23:07Addy, what did I do wrong?
23:09I can change.
23:11Please don't do this.
23:13But I knew if I turned back, all that awaited us was repeating the same mistakes, the endless
23:17humiliation and despair of that future.
23:20I erased all his contacts.
23:22Did it hurt?
23:23Yes.
23:24I would still remember his bright eyes by the bayou, and his earnest profile when he promised
23:29to spend every New Year's Eve with me.
23:32But looking at my brother alive and well today, I knew my choice was right.
23:38I survived those agonizing days and nights, alone.
23:45Until I met Ethan Callowin.
23:48Ethan was a documentary photographer shooting in the bayou.
23:53He hired me as his local guide, and then became a regular.
23:57He never asked questions.
24:02Mist always lifts.
24:04So does the past.
24:09He was patient in a way I'd never known.
24:11When he later started pursuing me, I pulled away, terrified of repeating the past.
24:17He just smiled and said,
24:19That's okay.
24:21You don't have to change a thing for me.
24:24He relocated his city studio to a small town near the bayou.
24:31Knowing my love for this land, he even helped me open
24:34in Fontenot Heritage Tours and Gallery.
24:39With steady patience and sincerity,
24:42he waited for me to step out of the shadows on my own.
24:47Recalling these fresh memories, my tears spilled.
24:53Babe, why are you crying?
24:56Startled, Ethan's face filled with concern.
24:59Was it my cooking?
25:01Be honest.
25:03Seeing his nervous,
25:04poupy look,
25:05I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
25:07No.
25:10I just had a nightmare.
25:11A really, really long one.
25:15He exhaled in relief and pulled me into his embrace.
25:19I'll handle the client meeting.
25:21Stay home today.
25:25I was no longer the dependent Mrs. Ashvind
25:28waiting around at home for an allowance.
25:31I went to the office anyway.
25:33After all,
25:34I had woken up from the nightmare.
25:39But I never expected fate to have such a sick sense of humor.
25:49That so-called big client
25:51was none other than Damien Ashford.
25:55Honestly,
25:56I could barely tell if it had only been a few days
25:58since I last saw him,
26:00or if it had truly been eight years.
26:05The moment he saw me,
26:06he lunged forward,
26:08crushing me into his arms.
26:10His grip was suffocating.
26:13Addie,
26:14I finally found you.
26:16I...
26:17His relieved voice rang above my head.
26:20I froze in place.
26:24Before I'd react,
26:25Ethan stepped in and ripped him away.
26:27Take your hands off my wife.
26:30Now.
26:32Damien acted like he hadn't heard,
26:34or simply didn't care.
26:36He just stared fixically at me.
26:38She's my wife!
26:40Mine!
26:43He frantically tried to grab my hand again.
26:46Come home with me, Eddie.
26:49Please.
26:50Come home.
26:53Come home.
26:57I knew Damien remembered everything from those eight years,
27:00just like I did.
27:03But since everything had started over,
27:05with a new life right in front of me,
27:07why dig up that unbearable past?
27:11I took a deep breath,
27:13meeting Damien's chaotic,
27:15manic gaze.
27:16My voice was dead calm.
27:18We ended eight years ago.
27:20You don't remember?
27:22The ecstasy,
27:23pleading,
27:24and agony on his face
27:25all turned to stone,
27:26leaving nothing but a hollow,
27:28blank stare.
27:29Addie, what are you talking about?
27:30He forced a smile that was more of a sob,
27:33his voice trembling.
27:34Are you misremembering?
27:35We didn't break up.
27:36We've been married for eight years.
27:38I'm sorry.
27:39I know I was a monster.
27:41I know I hurt you.
27:42He rambled incoherently,
27:44desperate to awaken something.
27:46Do you remember?
27:46Our first year of marriage,
27:47you secretly learning to make crawfish etouffee in the kitchen?
27:50And when my stomach acted up,
27:52you brewing me the herbal tea Granmira taught you.
27:55He buried the unbearable memories,
27:57as if silence could erase the pain,
27:59completely ignoring Tidding that everything he listed
28:01was nothing but my one-in devotion to him,
28:03until his voice choked up.
28:05Heavy with immense agony and remorse.
28:08That day your brother died.
28:09In the hospital.
28:11I...
28:12Right then, Luke walked in through the door.
28:15Seeing Luke alive,
28:16terror and a reality-shattering chaos
28:18flooded Damien's eyes.
28:20He haunted me,
28:21not like a ghost,
28:22but like something that refused to die.
28:25No longer manic,
28:26he became stubbornly befiscated.
28:28He cornered me,
28:29his voice Hosky.
28:30I can't tell what's real anymore.
28:32What's a dream and what actually happened.
28:34Images of you.
28:36Eight years ago,
28:37today.
28:38It's all bleeding together.
28:40Genuine agony on his face on his prized me.
28:42The Damien I knew only depised me.
28:44How could he look so broken?
28:47Finally,
28:48he spotted a painting in my gallery
28:50mirroring the portrait I once painted of him.
28:52He seized my wrist,
28:54his emotions flaring.
28:55You remember.
28:56You remember everything, don't you?
28:57I calmly pushed him away,
28:59putting space between us.
29:00Mr. Ashford,
29:01if this past you keep obsessing with is real,
29:04then tell me.
29:05What exactly did you do to me?
29:07And why would I leave?
29:09The question seemed to choke him.
29:11He couldn't utter a single word.
29:13After all,
29:15he had deliberately ignored and buried that bloody reality.
29:18How could he ever admit it out loud?
29:19After that day,
29:21Damien stopped hounzing me about whether I remembered.
29:23He slipped into the heritage tours I led,
29:26and infiltrated the small town's Mardi Gras celebration.
29:28He'd rush to carry my guest's luggage,
29:31or hand me a bottle of water mid-tour.
29:33When the bayou boardwalk grew slippery,
29:36he'd instinctively reach out to steady me.
29:38How pathetic.
29:40What was the point of this now?
29:41Did he think cheap devotion could erase the past and drag me back?
29:45No, never again.
29:46I believed as long as I stood firm,
29:49our fate was permanently rewritten.
29:50Until that afternoon,
29:52pale as death,
29:53Luke resurrected my nightmare.
29:55Addie,
29:56I messed up.
29:57I,
29:58I think I've been trapped again.
30:01Five million.
30:03Ice flooded my veins.
30:04Fatalistic despair hit me.
30:06Dazed,
30:07I saw my pathetic past self begging again.
30:09I stumbled backward,
30:11only to fall into a warm,
30:12solid chest.
30:14Ethan was back from his trip.
30:16I'm here.
30:17I've got you.
30:18His warmth snapped me back.
30:20I was no longer the Addie who only knew how to cry and suffer in silence.
30:24So,
30:24when Damien cornered me at the gallery again,
30:26holding my old favorite,
30:28Café du Mondo Beno's,
30:30he said,
30:30eager to please.
30:31I've made up my mind.
30:32Whether you remember or not,
30:33I want to start over.
30:35With you.
30:36I didn't just knock the bag away.
30:40I slapped him.
30:43Damien Ashford,
30:44you disgust me.
30:46Instead of flying into a rage,
30:48Damien let his emotions flare.
30:50You hit me.
30:51You do remember.
30:51You remember everything.
30:53Near ecstasy flashed across his face,
30:55as if my slap wasn't disgust.
30:57Yes.
30:57I never forgot.
30:59Not a single thing you did to me.
31:03I wanted to run as far from you as possible.
31:06I took a step closer,
31:08staring into his suddenly constricted pupils.
31:10But I couldn't escape you.
31:12While you were playing the devoted ex,
31:14your family was setting my brother up for five million again.
31:17How despicable can you be,
31:19Damien Ashford?
31:20The blood drained entirely from Damien's face.
31:23It wasn't me.
31:24I swear to God,
31:25it wasn't me.
31:26He shook his head frantically,
31:28rambling his defense.
31:30I just found out.
31:33It was my mother.
31:35It was all her.
31:36Trust me, we loved each other.
31:38I didn't want to become that.
31:41His voice choked,
31:43eyes full of genuine panic and chaos.
31:45But even if it really wasn't him,
31:48so what?
31:49The agony he caused.
31:50My unborn baby.
31:51It was all real.
31:52I looked at him again.
31:53His shoulders were shaking with sobs.
31:55This was probably the second time I had ever seen him cry.
31:58The first was in that vanished timeline.
32:01Leaving Louisiana and moving to Boston with him.
32:04Trust me.
32:05I'll never make you regret this.
32:07Those tears were scalding.
32:09Pure, boyly sincerity.
32:11But his tears now felt like a sick joke.
32:13Your distrust.
32:14Your cruelty.
32:15Did your mother hold a gun to your head for that too?
32:17Stop trying to absolve yourself, Damien.
32:20The regret changes nothing.
32:22It's worthless to me now.
32:23But Damien wasn't even listening.
32:25He just kept repeating.
32:27It was her.
32:29It was her.
32:32After that day,
32:33I thought Damien would finally give up
32:35and vanish for good.
32:37Unexpectedly,
32:38A few days later,
32:39he half-dragged Eleanor right in front of me.
32:41Tell her.
32:42Tell her what you did.
32:44Damien's eyes were crazed,
32:46pressuring her hysterically.
32:48You set up the fraud.
32:49You trapped her brother.
32:51Twice.
32:52Terrified by Damien's near-psychoconic state,
32:55Eleanor's voice trembled.
32:57Yes,
32:57I did it eight years ago
32:59and I did it again last week.
33:01But that's all I did.
33:02I never killed anyone.
33:04Watching them tear each other apart,
33:05I knew that in this timeline,
33:07this was all she did.
33:08But in that vanished timeline,
33:09the hell I endured,
33:11Eleanor's hands were soaked in blood.
33:13I don't care!
33:14Damien glared at Eleanor,
33:16then looked pleadingly at me.
33:18Darting back and forth,
33:19he snapped.
33:20Get on your knees.
33:21Apologize to her.
33:23If you apologize,
33:24she'll forgive me.
33:25We can go back to how it was.
33:28Watching her son's madness,
33:30Eleanor finally broke down in tears.
33:32I was wrong, okay?
33:34Come home with me.
33:35I'll find you a doctor.
33:37Not to me!
33:38To her!
33:39With a violent roar,
33:41Damien yanked Eleanor's arm,
33:43forcing her down at my feet.
33:45Just then,
33:46Ethan stepped in.
33:47He subdued Damien from behind,
33:48pinning him to the ground
33:49with a swift chokehold.
33:51I called 911.
33:52The world instantly fell silent.
33:54In the fading twilight,
33:56only Eleanor's muffled sobs
33:58and approaching sirens.
33:59The next time I heard about Damien
34:01was a year later.
34:02At my prenatal checkup with Ethan,
34:04passing the psych ward,
34:05I overheard nurses whispering.
34:07The Ashford heir,
34:08apparently he attacked his own mother
34:09before they brought him in.
34:10She almost didn't make it.
34:12He keeps repeating some girl's name.
34:14Ethan squeezed my hand
34:16and asked softly,
34:17Do you want to go in?
34:18I shook my head.
34:20There was no need.
34:20Honestly,
34:21I wasn't surprised by Damien
34:23and Eleanor's fate,
34:24much less felt any satisfaction.
34:25Mostly,
34:26it was just a quiet sigh.
34:27This was supposed to be a clean break,
34:30a new start.
34:31Instead,
34:31he locked himself inside his own guilt.
34:34Later,
34:35I got a call.
34:38The hospital needed me to handle
34:40Damien Ashward's final arrangements.
34:42At first,
34:43I wanted to refuse,
34:44but the hospital informed me
34:46I was his only emergency contact.
34:48I gripped my phone,
34:49stunned for a long time.
34:51In the end,
34:52I went,
34:53in the morgue.
34:54He lay there.
34:55His face was peaceful.
34:56Even showing a relieved sort of ease.
34:59I looked at him,
35:00unsure how to feel.
35:02The doctor handed me a USB drive
35:04with his ward surveillance footage,
35:06suggesting I watch it.
35:08In the footage,
35:09Damien sometimes whispered
35:10tenderly to the air.
35:12Addie, look.
35:13I drew this today.
35:15Does it look like that morning by the bio?
35:17Other times,
35:18he abruptly shattered.
35:19Kneeling before the freezing wall,
35:21he sobbed his confession.
35:24Addie, I was wrong.
35:26I'll cut my heart out and show you.
35:29Just look at me.
35:30Please, just look at me.
35:32Mostly,
35:33he curled in the corner,
35:34his nails gouging one name
35:35over and over into the plaster.
35:38Addie,
35:39more frantic,
35:41more twisted,
35:42like his last shreds of sanity
35:44splintering away.
35:45That day,
35:46he was unusually calm.
35:48He slowly stepped under the camera,
35:51staring endlessly
35:52as if piercing the screen to see me.
35:55Finally,
35:55he smiled,
35:56a clean smile,
35:58echoing the boyishness I remembered.
36:00He said,
36:02you've changed.
36:03You're not her anymore,
36:05not the Addie I remember.
36:07I'm going to find her,
36:08the real her.
36:09She's still out there somewhere.
36:10Then,
36:11he returned to his bed
36:12and lay down quietly.
36:16He never got up again.
36:21After watching the footage,
36:23my tears fell,
36:24not for love,
36:25nor for the dead,
36:27but for two souls
36:28across parallel timelines,
36:30truly in love,
36:31yet doomed to ruin,
36:32for this absurd,
36:34brutal point of return.
36:35I cried for a long time,
36:37for everything,
36:39as a final farewell.
36:41Ethan stayed quietly by my side,
36:44saying nothing.
36:46He simply let his steady heartbeat
36:48tell me he was there.
36:50After settling Damien's final affairs,
36:53we walked out of the cemetery
36:54into perfect sunlight.
36:56Ethan's palm rested gently
36:58on my swollen pregnant belly.
37:00Inside,
37:02a little life thrived,
37:03promising a brand new hope.
37:05I turned back one last time,
37:07glancing at Damien Ashford's tombstone.
37:11Then,
37:12gripping the hand of the man beside me,
37:14I walked step by step
37:16into a future that was ours alone.
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