- 19 hours ago
Pay for Your Sin New
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00My fiancé filmed me being raped by five men.
00:02He played it on every billboard in Houston.
00:05The caption said Chief Justice's daughter.
00:07Cheap whore.
00:08My father put on his judge's robe and set himself on fire.
00:11Five years later, I hung upside down from a three-meter pole in an underground club.
00:15Blood dripped from my raw thighs onto the floor.
00:18A man threw $60,000 on broken glass.
00:21Pick it up with your mouth.
00:22He said.
00:23I lowered my face into the shards.
00:26The money was for his daughter's bone marrow transplant.
00:28She was dying in the ICU.
00:30He didn't know she existed.
00:33If you need money that badly, go dance at a club.
00:37Rich men throw their cash there.
00:40Radin Martinez watched me tremble in pain.
00:43A vicious smile twisted his lips.
00:45I snuck out with my ID after graduation.
00:48I lost my virginity to him in a cheap rental.
00:51I thought we were going to get married.
00:54Instead, he spiked my drink.
00:57The next morning, a video of me being gangraped looped across downtown Houston.
01:02The caption read,
01:03Daughter of the Supreme Court Chief Justice reduced to a cheap whore for the whole city.
01:07I ran out into a hurricane to confront him.
01:10He kicked me so hard I coughed up blood.
01:13Your father took a bribe.
01:15Your father!
01:16He sentenced my brother to death.
01:17He drove my mother to suicide.
01:19You deserve this!
01:22Come near me again, and I'll send the video to every news outlet in Houston.
01:28My father was a man of integrity his whole life.
01:31He could not bear the shame.
01:32He put on his judicial robes.
01:34Stood outside the appellate court.
01:36Set himself on fire.
01:38Five years later, I was at the very bottom.
01:40Working as a pole dancer.
01:43Inside an underground club, I hung upside down from a three-meter pole.
01:47I wore nothing but a cheap sequin bikini and 20-centimeter heels.
01:51The friction had worn the skin off my inner thighs.
01:53They were completely raw.
01:55Blood dripped down the cold metal.
01:57A wealthy patron named Colin Quincy held up three thick stacks of cash,
02:01totaling $60,000.
02:04Luciana, do the extreme drop without a safety harness.
02:08The money is yours.
02:10$60,000.
02:12Exactly what my daughter Mia needed for her bone marrow transplant tomorrow.
02:15I gritted my teeth and let go of the pole.
02:17The air rushed past me.
02:19Just before my head slammed into the floor, I snapped my legs back around the pole.
02:23I barely caught myself.
02:24The sudden stop violently wrenched my lower back.
02:27A loud crack echoed through my body.
02:29Sharp, blinding pain shot through my spine.
02:31My vision went dark.
02:32The crowd erupted into crude cheers and whistles.
02:34I slid to the floor, gasping for air.
02:38Mr. Quincy, I did the move.
02:41Can I have the money now?
02:42Just then, the heavy soundproof doors were kicked open.
02:45The club went dead silent.
02:47Raiden stepped inside, flanked by bodyguards.
02:50He was dressed in a custom black suit.
02:52He exuded a suffocating, dangerous presence.
02:56Janessa Patel, a famous young actress, clung to his arm.
03:00Ignoring everyone else in the room, Raiden stared me down.
03:03A cold smile formed on his lips.
03:05Having fun, Mr. Quincy?
03:07Didn't expect you'd tip someone known for her promiscuity.
03:10The crowd gasped, then burst into loud laughter.
03:13Terrified of getting on Raiden's bad side, Colin scrambled backward.
03:16He kicked me hard, sending me skidding across the floor.
03:19Mr. Martinez, what brings you here?
03:22He stammered.
03:24This woman is just desperate for cash.
03:27I was only using her for a bit of entertainment.
03:31Raiden sat down on the center sofa and crossed his legs.
03:36$60,000 for a dance?
03:39That's too easy for her.
03:43Raiden grabbed two unopened bottles of royal salute from the table.
03:46He smashed them directly beneath the pole.
03:49Glass exploded across the floor.
03:51Shards sliced into my calves.
03:53Warm blood started to run down my legs.
03:56Raiden pointed at the mess of liquor and broken glass.
03:59Throw all $60,000 onto it.
04:01Colin tore the paper bands off the bundles.
04:04He hurriedly scattered the bills across the jagged surface.
04:08Raiden's gaze lingered on my pale, drained face.
04:12You need the money, don't you, Luciana?
04:15Then don't use your hands.
04:17Pick up every single bill with your mouth.
04:21A stunned silence hit the room.
04:24Janessa covered her mouth in a fake gasp.
04:27Rye, there's broken glass everywhere, she said.
04:31If she bends down like that, she's gonna slice her face wide open.
04:38But as Janessa spoke, she nudged a few stacks into the sharpest pile of shards.
04:44Raiden didn't even look at her.
04:46Why does someone like her need a pretty face?
04:50I guess her father, the great judge, forgot to teach her something.
04:55When you cause a death, you suffer the full consequences.
04:59I stared at the shattered glass.
05:01I snapped back to my sophomore year of college.
05:04I gave myself a tiny nick peeling an apple.
05:06Raiden was so broke back then.
05:08He only ate once a day.
05:10He sprinted to blocks just to buy me a band-aid.
05:13His eyes welled up as he held my hand.
05:15He blew gently on the tiny cut.
05:19Lucy, I'd rather die than see you bleed again.
05:21But now, he was the one forcing me to bleed.
05:23He was the one risking me getting severely injured.
05:27I looked at him, then.
05:34Then I lowered my face into the dirty puddle of glass and spilled alcohol.
05:37The sharp shards sliced straight into my chin.
05:40They sliced into the corner of my eye.
05:42The liquor burned like fire as it seeped into the open cuts.
05:45I shook uncontrollably from the pain.
05:48I parted my cut lips.
05:50I used my teeth to snatch up the soaked bills.
05:531, 2, 10.
05:55I finally pulled the last bloodstain note free.
05:59Bleeding heavily and completely exhausted,
06:02I slumped against the floor.
06:05I got the money.
06:06I choked out.
06:07I reached out with my trembling right hand.
06:09I tried to pull the cash against my chest.
06:13Raiden brought the heel of his leather shoe down hard on the back of my hand.
06:17The sharp crack of breaking bones echoed through the room.
06:20Ah!
06:20I shrieked.
06:21Agonizing pain shot at my arm.
06:26Did I say you could touch it?
06:29Raiden twisted his hand into my hair.
06:31He hauled me forcefully to my feet.
06:36Wasn't degrading yourself enough?
06:38Are you really in that much of a rush to go fund some other guy?
06:45Tell me.
06:46Pathetic with paying off.
06:48Is it the old man from that video?
06:51I glared at him.
06:53I gathered the blood and saliva in my mouth.
06:55I spat right in his face.
06:57Go to hell!
06:58Raiden lost it.
07:00Still protecting him, are you?
07:02He demanded.
07:03His eyes were bloodshot with rage.
07:05Fine.
07:06Give me a lighter.
07:11We're burning all 60 grand right now.
07:15Janessa looked absolutely thrilled.
07:17She snatched a lighter off the table.
07:23Lit one of the liquor-soaked bills.
07:25Tossed it straight into the pile of cash.
07:28Blue flames flared up instantly.
07:30The alcohol caught fire.
07:32No!
07:33Raiden, you can't!
07:34I screamed.
07:35I need that money to save a life!
07:37I completely lost it.
07:39I fought off the bodyguards.
07:41Didn't even care if I got hurt.
07:42I finally broke free.
07:43I shoved my bare hands straight into the flames.
07:46Threw my whole body over the fire to smother it.
07:49Grabbed the blackened,
07:50half-burned bills.
07:52Shoved them into my shirt.
07:56Right then,
07:57my old phone started ringing from the corner of the room.
08:01It was the hospital.
08:05I answered it.
08:07My burnt hand shook uncontrollably.
08:09The head nurse was sobbing.
08:11Luciana, you need to get here now!
08:14We're losing her!
08:16Her heart rate plummeted.
08:18We've had to open her chest for surgery.
08:21The doctors say the internal bleeding is severe.
08:25She has 20 minutes.
08:27Tops!
08:28Because of your unpaid balance,
08:29the blood bank is refusing to release the plasm.
08:32If she doesn't get a transfusion today,
08:34she's gonna die on the table.
08:3820 minutes.
08:40That was all I had.
08:42For the last five years,
08:44Mia and I had been living in a run-down tin shack.
08:46She was born with leukemia.
08:48She was constantly in and out of the ICU.
08:50The medical bills kept piling up.
08:52I spun around and bolted for the front doors,
08:55but a massive hand clamped tight around my ankle.
08:57Raiden dragged me backward.
09:01You think you can just walk out of here?
09:03He sneered.
09:04Having some other guy's kid?
09:06Do you have any shame at all?
09:08Tell me who the father is,
09:10and I'll let you go.
09:12Say no,
09:13and I'm calling the hospital right now
09:15to halt her treatment.
09:16I opened my bloody mouth.
09:18I bit down hard on his arm,
09:19deep enough to draw blood.
09:21Raiden yelled out in pain and let go.
09:23I scrambled up.
09:25I sprinted out the front doors of the club.
09:29The hurricane had just made landfall.
09:31The driving rain and gale force winds
09:33whipped violently against my skin.
09:34I clutched the money tight to my chest.
09:37I prayed silently.
09:38I begged for my daughter to survive.
09:40I ran until my lungs were burning.
09:41I ran until I was gasping for air.
09:43I finally burst through the doors
09:45into the hospital's lobby.
09:50I rushed straight to the billing window.
09:54Twelfth floor ICU.
09:56Maya Granville.
09:57I need to pay the balance
09:59so you can release the plasma.
10:01Please, hurry.
10:02I slid the cash across the counter.
10:04It was stained with my own blood.
10:06It was flecked with tiny shards of glass.
10:08Then I pulled out the debit card
10:09I had kept hidden for five years.
10:12There's $2,000 on this card
10:14from selling my blood.
10:15I told the cashier.
10:17Charge all of it.
10:19Transaction declined.
10:20The machine announced.
10:22The cashier swiped the card a second time.
10:28The account is locked
10:29due to high-risk activity.
10:31She said.
10:32Payment cannot be processed.
10:34I stood there completely paralyzed.
10:36There is money in that account!
10:39I insisted.
10:39It has to go through!
10:42It had to be Raiden.
10:44He had actually used his connections in Houston
10:46to freeze my bank account.
10:48A sudden, crushing wave of weakness
10:50washed over me.
10:51My legs threatened to give out.
10:54Luciana!
10:54The head nurse rushed out of the elevator.
10:57Her eyes were red and puffy.
10:59Mia's heart stopped completely
11:01for 40 seconds.
11:04The doctors are taking turns doing CPR.
11:08It fractured her ribs!
11:13If we don't get that plasm right now,
11:15you're going to have to sign her death certificate.
11:17Just as I realized all hope was entirely gone,
11:20for Black Maybach screeched to a halt outside.
11:23Raiden strolled into the lobby.
11:25His face was an unreadable mask.
11:36Raiden glanced down at the rejected debit card.
11:39Then he smiled maliciously.
11:41Is this the kid you threw away your pride and safety to protect?
11:46He asked.
11:47I told you,
11:48without my permission,
11:49you won't be able to spend a single cent in Houston.
11:52Not even to buy an urn.
11:54My whole body went rigid as I stared at him.
11:56I grabbed the fabric of his pants.
11:59I dropped to my knees with a heavy thud.
12:03Again and again,
12:04I knocked my head against the marble floor.
12:06The dull thuds echoed endlessly through the hall.
12:09Raiden, please.
12:10I begged him.
12:11Just lend me the money and unfreeze my account.
12:22If you want me dead,
12:24I'll jump off the roof of this building right now.
12:27But please.
12:29I am begging you to save her.
12:32Raiden's eyes went dead.
12:35He grabbed my jaw and wrenched me upward.
12:37He dragged me right out of the pool of my own blood.
12:41You're not even afraid to die.
12:42He demanded.
12:43But you still won't tell me who knocked you up?
12:46I'm asking you one last time.
12:49Who's the father?
12:52Why are you throwing your life away for him?
12:56Before he could finish,
12:57a steady, piercing alarm shrieked from the ICU.
13:00The heart monitor had a philetlanid.
13:02My daughter, Mia, was gone.
13:09Dead because her own biological father
13:11had deliberately delayed her treatment.
13:13I stared dead into Raiden's eyes.
13:16I let out a bleak, broken laugh.
13:19I scraped together whatever strength I had left.
13:21I screamed right into his arrogant face.
13:24You want to know who fathered her?
13:29The little girl in that room is yours!
13:33She's your daughter!
13:35And she's dead because you wouldn't let them save her!
13:39Raiden froze.
13:41My daughter?
13:43He scoffed, like it was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard.
13:47Jesus, Luciana.
13:48You have zero shame.
13:51Are you really spinning a lie this sick just to squeeze money out of me?
13:56He leaned in, his grip on my chin turning vicious.
14:01Just looking at you back then made me sick.
14:03He said.
14:07I forced those drugs down your throat myself.
14:14I went down to the slums and handpicked those old men for you.
14:20That kid could belong to any one of them.
14:25You really think you can pin this on me?
14:27Every word gutted me.
14:28My stomach twisted, my chest tightened with pain.
14:30I stared at him, entirely numb.
14:33I could barely pull in air.
14:35Shut down the machines in there!
14:38Raiden barked at the room.
14:40If anyone gives her a single drop of blood,
14:43I will ruin you and your entire families.
14:46A heavy thud cut him off.
14:48Someone pushed the thick IQ doors open from the inside.
14:51The lobby dropped into a dead silence.
14:53A few nurses walked out at a slow, agonizing crawl.
14:55They were pushing a gurney.
14:57A stark white sheet was pulled over the body,
14:59head to toe.
15:06The attending doctor stepped out.
15:08He looked absolutely gutted.
15:10I am so sorry, Miss Granville.
15:13He said.
15:14We tried everything we could.
15:17Anyway, the Fugans were frozen and the blood bank pass mode was locked.
15:21We missed the crucial five-minute window.
15:23We couldn't resisaritate her.
15:24Your daughter has passed away.
15:26All I felt was hollow.
15:28I moved like a machine.
15:30Strictly on autopilot, I took slow, stiff steps toward the gurney.
15:34No, you're lying.
15:36My baby isn't dead!
15:39I pulled back the sheet.
15:40Mia's face was pale, shadowed with a sickening purple.
15:43She wasn't breathing.
15:44I stared down at her lifeless little body.
15:47The sheer, crushing shock hit my stomach.
15:49I threw up.
15:58Mia, you promised me you'd hold on.
16:01I sobbed.
16:04Open your eyes!
16:06Look at me!
16:07Please don't leave me alone.
16:10A wail ripped out of my throat.
16:12It echoed down the sterile hallway.
16:14The nurses turned away.
16:16They buried their faces in their hands to cry.
16:19From just a short distance away, Raiden finally caught a glimpse of Mia's face.
16:24All the color drained from his own.
16:26Her features.
16:27Her bone structure.
16:28She was the spitting image of him.
16:30But more than that, right below Mia's left earlobe sat a dark red mole.
16:34A genetic birthmark passed down.
16:36Impossible!
16:38Raiden muttered.
16:39For the first time, his voice was shaking heavily.
16:52Raiden kicked a bodyguard out of his path.
16:54He stumbled toward the gurney.
16:56His hand trembled as he reached out to touch Mia's cheek.
17:02Don't touch her!
17:04I screamed.
17:04I fought through the exhaustion dragging me down.
17:07I snatched a pair of surgical scissors off the metal tray.
17:11I leveled the sharp tip straight at Raiden's chest.
17:15You bastard!
17:17I spat.
17:18You don't get to touch her!
17:20Stay the hell away from her!
17:21He didn't even flinch at the blades pressing into his shirt.
17:24He just stared at the little red mole on Mia's earlobe.
17:27Completely fixated.
17:29That's impossible.
17:30He muttered.
17:32It can't be.
17:38Raiden spun around.
17:39He grabbed the hospital director by the collar.
17:43She's not dead!
17:45He roared.
17:46Save her!
17:48Call in every top cardiologist in Houston!
17:52Use every machine you have!
17:54Resuscitate her right now!
17:56The director shook violently in his grip.
17:59Mr. Martinez, please!
18:01He said.
18:02Her heart has been stopped for too long.
18:06We can't bring her back.
18:09In one fluid motion, Raiden snatched the handgun from his bodyguard's holster.
18:13He shoved the barrel hard against the director's temple.
18:17I said save her!
18:20He roared.
18:21Do you understand me?
18:25If you don't, I'll kill everyone in this hospital tonight.
18:30Draw my blood!
18:32I'm her biological father!
18:35Run a DNA test!
18:37Right now!
18:41Pure panic ripped through the room.
18:43Raiden's gun went off with a deafening crack.
18:45It shattered a chandelier overhead.
18:48Nurses scrambled.
18:49They rushed Mia back into the ICU.
18:51The defibrillators wind back to life.
18:55A nurse drew 800 milliliters of blood from Raiden.
18:59Spurred by the sheer weight of the Martinez group's influence,
19:02they rushed the DNA results.
19:0630 minutes flat, the head of the lab handed Raiden a single sheet of paper.
19:10Probability of paternity, 99 point, he said.
19:15Biological father-daughter relationship confirmed.
19:18Raiden stared blankly at the printout.
19:20She's mine.
19:21He whispered.
19:22She's really my daughter.
19:31All the color drained from Raiden's face.
19:33A cold, paralyzing shock set in.
19:36The proof had arrived five years too late.
19:39It brought a crushing, suffocating weight.
19:43He was the one who had deliberately crushed her mother's hand under his boot.
19:46He was the one who had personally blocked the funds for her life-saving surgery.
19:50And just 20 minutes ago, he had called her a bastard.
19:53He had ordered the doctors to pull the plug.
19:55Raiden himself was the reason his own child was dead.
19:58The sheer physical horror of it hit him so hard.
20:01He doubled over and vomited blood onto the floor.
20:05He jerked his head up to look at me, still slumped in the corner.
20:10Lucy.
20:11He choked out.
20:12I'm sorry.
20:13I didn't know.
20:14I swear I didn't know.
20:20I sat in a puddle of my own blood on the freezing floor.
20:23I watched him completely break down.
20:24And then, I burst out laughing.
20:27I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face.
20:29My chest ached with every breath.
20:31Do you feel it now, Rayanne?
20:33I asked.
20:35Is this what absolute agony feels like?
20:38Raiden froze.
20:38He gasped, staring at me in disbelief.
20:41Then a frantic, desperate rage took over.
20:44You forced my hand!
20:45He screamed.
20:47If your father hadn't broken the law,
20:50he took a billion dollars in bribes!
20:53He destroyed the evidence, proving my brother's innocence!
20:57My brother would never have gotten the death penalty.
21:01And my mother wouldn't have drank pesticide!
21:04The Granville family owed me two lives first!
21:09Your father deserved to die!
21:15I was just getting revenge.
21:17Raiden screamed.
21:18I didn't do anything wrong!
21:20He screamed the words, maybe trying to convince me,
21:23but mostly trying to convince himself.
21:26My father deserved to die.
21:28I repeated.
21:29My voice was dead calm.
21:31Raiden, you are such a fool.
21:33Did you honestly think the evidence you stole back
21:36could have saved your brother?
21:38The only thing you ever got right was that he was a scapegoat.
21:42But you never knew who he was actually taking the fall for.
21:45I wiped a streak of blood from the corner of my mouth,
21:48ready to completely shatter his delusions.
21:50Back then, did you honestly think your part-time jobs paid for your college tuition?
21:56Did you think the 40 grand for your mother's surgery just fell out of the sky?
22:04He embezzled two million dollars from an international drug cartel.
22:08I said,
22:09He did it just to pay for your education and her medical bills.
22:12Raiden stared at me.
22:13His face was a mask of pure shock.
22:15You're lying!
22:16He rasped.
22:17He ran a clean operation.
22:19It was all legitimate.
22:21Legitimate?
22:22I spat the word back at him.
22:24My voice cracked under the weight of my grief.
22:26If it was so clean, Raiden,
22:29then why the hell was he using encrypted, offshore accounts?
22:34That evidence you found?
22:37It was the paper trail for every cent of the drug money he stole.
22:42If the cops had found that money,
22:44they would have buried you under the prison as an accomplice.
22:47You'd have spent the rest of your life in a cage.
22:56Raiden began to shake, a violent, uncontrollable tremor.
22:59It sucked the color right out of his lips.
23:01Every pillar of truth he'd leaned on for the last five years was crumbling.
23:05Here's the reality.
23:07I continued.
23:08Your brother knelt on the floor of that detention center.
23:11He slammed it against the concrete until he bled.
23:14Right in front of my father.
23:16He begged him to hand down a death sentence.
23:22He begged him to torch the evidence.
23:24He knew the cartel would only stop hunting you if he was dead.
23:28Raiden's face went white.
23:30His lips parted, but no words came out.
23:34And that six million dollar bribe you're so obsessed with?
23:43I let out a hollow, jagged laugh.
23:45My father sold every single piece of property the Granville family owned.
23:53He set his entire reputation on fire.
24:01To pay off the bounty the cartel put on your head.
24:04He did it all to keep you out of prison.
24:09My father was the most honest man I knew.
24:14But he broke the law just once.
24:18To protect the man his disappointing daughter loved.
24:22I looked at him.
24:23I felt nothing.
24:24Just a vast, cold sense of hopelessness.
24:27And look what you did with that gift.
24:29You launched a harassment campaign.
24:32You stripped your benefactor's daughter naked.
24:35And dumped her on a pedestrian bridge.
24:38You backed my father into a corner he couldn't walk out of.
24:44To keep the secret.
24:46To stop the anti-corruption commission from digging.
24:49And to give me a future.
24:57He doused himself in gasoline.
25:00He set himself on fire in front of the courthouse.
25:05He burned to death for you.
25:08The gun slipped from Raiden's hand.
25:10It clattered loudly against the floor.
25:12He clutched his chest.
25:14He gasped as if the air itself had turned to lead.
25:16He had spent five years feeding on hate.
25:19Five years dreaming of a revenge.
25:20That turned out to be a suicide mission.
25:22In his crusade.
25:23He had killed his protector.
25:25He had shattered the woman he loved.
25:27And ultimately he had caused the death of his own daughter.
25:32A raw, guttural yell ripped from Raiden's throat.
25:35He began throwing himself against the marble wall.
25:38His forehead struck the stone again and again.
25:40Until the skin split.
25:42Blood smeared the white surface.
25:43I deserve to die, Luciana.
25:46He yelled.
25:46I deserve it.
25:48I'm a monster.
25:50He wept.
25:50I shouldn't be breathing.
25:52He collapsed.
25:53His face pressed into the red pool on the floor.
25:55He wept and pleaded with me.
25:57Kill me.
25:58He begged.
25:59Just kill me.
26:01Take my life to make it right for me.
26:04I didn't know.
26:07I swear to God, I didn't know.
26:13I watched him fall apart.
26:14I felt nothing.
26:15No pity.
26:16No anger.
26:17Just a heavy dead silence.
26:19I'm not going to kill you, Rayanne.
26:21My voice was flat.
26:22Death is the easy way off.
26:24You're going to live.
26:26You're going to spend every second rest of your life choking on your own guilt.
26:30The sharp, rhythmic click-clack of high heels echoed from the hallway.
26:34Janessa swept through the doors, completely blind to the carnage in the room.
26:38She reached down and grabbed Raiden's arm.
26:41Rye?
26:42Honey?
26:44What's wrong?
26:45She asked.
26:46Why are you so worked up?
26:48She said.
26:48So that bitch's bastard died?
26:51It's just bad luck.
26:52It happened.
26:57Raiden didn't even look at Janessa.
26:59He swung his leg in a vicious kick.
27:01It caught her square in the chest.
27:03Janessa screamed as she hit the floor.
27:05The sickening snap of two ribs echoed in the lobby.
27:08Get her out of here!
27:09Raiden snarled at his bodyguards.
27:11His voice sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a grave.
27:14Take her to the slum.
27:16He said.
27:16Throw her in the filthiest brothel you can find.
27:22Just get her out of my sight.
27:24The guards moved instantly.
27:25They grabbed her by the arms.
27:27They dragged her out while she shrieked.
27:30A moment later, the ICU doors hissed open.
27:32The lead surgeon stepped out.
27:34His face was drawn.
27:35Mia's stabilized for now.
27:37He announced.
27:38The ECMO is doing the work, but she's strictly on life support.
27:48We have a window.
27:49The surgeon said.
27:51We have to finish the bone marrow transplant and repair the heart by 8 o'clock tomorrow morning.
27:55Or we lose her.
27:58At those words, the absolute despair crushing my chest evaporated.
28:01A sudden, dizzying rush of hope replaced it.
28:05My daughter.
28:07My daughter isn't dead.
28:08I breathed.
28:09She's alive!
28:11Raiden scrambled off the floor in a panic.
28:13Take mine!
28:14He yelled.
28:15Take my bone marrow right now!
28:18Take as much as you need.
28:20No.
28:20A medical voice replied.
28:22A transplant from a direct relative will trigger severe rejection.
28:26A new voice pierced the tense silence.
28:28It broke the standoff.
28:32Take mine.
28:33The voice said.
28:33I'm RH negative.
28:35And my bone marrow markers are a perfect match for Maya's in the global registry.
28:39It was Andreas Radcliffe.
28:41Heir to the Radcliffe Group.
28:43The only corporation in Houston with enough money and muscle to rival the Martinez Group.
28:48He strode into the hallway.
28:50A top-tier private medical team trailed right behind him.
28:54They carried specialized stem cells flown in overnight from overseas.
28:58He kicked a blocking bodyguard out of his way.
29:01He walked straight up to me.
29:03He said softly.
29:04Lucy.
29:05I'm sorry.
29:06I'm late.
29:07I didn't know this man at all.
29:09But right then, he was my absolute last chance to save my little girl.
29:15Who the hell are you?
29:17Raiden yelled.
29:18You have no right to be here.
29:20Don't touch my fiancé.
29:23Raiden lunged at him.
29:25His eyes were bloodshot and wild.
29:27Andreas turned to face him.
29:28Pure hostility in his eyes.
29:31Your fiancé?
29:32He said.
29:32He looked down at Raiden.
29:34He adjusted his cuffs with utter contempt.
29:36You made your fiancé survive by pole dancing.
29:40All to provide for your biological child.
29:43Why are you on your knees now?
29:45He asked.
29:45Pretending to be a caring father?
29:48Andreas.
29:49Raiden growled.
29:50This is my family's business.
29:52Leave.
29:59Family business?
30:00Andreas stepped closer.
30:02His gaze locked intensely on Raiden.
30:04Luciana's father did the Radcliffe family a massive favor years ago.
30:08He saved my grandfather's life.
30:11For the last five years, my family was tied up in an internal power struggle.
30:15I was stuck overseas when I finally took control and got back to Houston.
30:19He said.
30:20I found out you'd erased the identity of my benefactor's only daughter.
30:25You forced her to work.
30:27In an underground nightclub.
30:29I scoured the dark web until...
30:32I found a rare blood type match for Mia last night.
30:36He said.
30:37I had the stem cells flown in immediately.
30:39Today, the Radcliffe family will protect the remaining descendant of the Granville family.
30:43Andreas said.
30:44His voice rang out clear and resolute.
30:51Ignoring Raiden's aggression entirely, Andreas ordered his medical team to take control of the ICU.
30:57Knowing he was the only hope I had left, I grabbed his sleeve.
31:01Please.
31:02I choked out.
31:04You have to save her.
31:06Don't worry.
31:07Andreas said.
31:09I have everything handled.
31:11He held my gaze for a long moment, then he turned and walked into the operating room.
31:16It was the most grueling, agonizing night of my life.
31:19The red light above the OR doors burned for 15 straight hours.
31:23Raiden stayed on his knees on the hard hallway floor the entire time.
31:26Facing those doors, he repeatedly slammed his forehead against the floor.
31:31Until the skin tore.
31:33Blood soaked the floor beneath him.
31:36Meanwhile, I just sat in a corner, a nurse bandaged my wounds.
31:39She put a thick cast on me.
31:41I didn't look back at Raiden once.
31:47As the sun set the next day, the light finally flipped to green.
31:51Andreas walked out.
31:52He looked exhausted, but visibly relieved.
31:55Luciana, the surgery was a complete success.
31:58He said.
31:59Mia's heart is repaired.
32:00Her body isn't rejecting the bone marrow.
32:03She made it.
32:03Hearing those words, I felt the crushing stress I had carried for five long years completely vanish.
32:09Unable to keep my battered body upright for another second, I lost consciousness.
32:13I collapsed right into Andreas' arms.
32:16Just before everything went black, I heard Raiden crying loudly from the other end of the hall.
32:20A raw sound of profound relief mixed with deep distress.
32:23But Andreas' bodyguards blocked him completely, keeping him from getting anywhere near me.
32:30Five years drifted past.
32:33I stood in the Radcliffe mansion at the top of the hill, dressed in a haute couture gown.
32:37I was a partner at the Radcliffe group now, the highest-paid, undefeated lead counsel in Houston.
32:43Andreas had relocated me and Mia to Switzerland.
32:47I buried myself in the study of law and strategy.
32:52Mia made a full recovery.
32:53She was 10, then proud, healthy, and confident.
32:58Growing up without a father was not a flaw.
33:00It was a blessing.
33:02Tonight, the Martinez group's final assets were going up for auction.
33:06Raiden had scoured the globe for me over the past five years.
33:08He lost all interest in his business.
33:11The Radcliffe group dismantled his empire in three months.
33:16Inside the Ocean Crest International Hotel ballroom, Houston's elite had gathered.
33:23I walked in on Andreas' arm.
33:25Not a single person recognized me.
33:28No one knew I was the woman once shamed on a pedestrian bridge,
33:31forced to dance in an underground club.
33:33The auction wrapped up.
33:35I stepped forward to sign the contract for the Martinez group headquarters.
33:38Suddenly, the ballroom doors were shoved open with violent force.
33:42The whole room turned to look.
33:43A man stood in the doorway, gaunt and skeletal.
33:46He wore the same black suit from five years ago, now wrinkled and stained.
33:49His skin was a sickly, gray pallor.
33:52This was Raiden Martinez.
33:54Once a powerful CEO, now the local laughingstock.
33:57His eyes cut through the crowd and locked onto me.
34:08Raiden croaked.
34:10His voice was raw and broken.
34:12He stumbled forward.
34:14Andreas' security team pinned him by the shoulders.
34:16Get off me!
34:18He screamed.
34:20That's my fiancée.
34:23Lucy.
34:25I finally found you.
34:27He wept.
34:28It's been five years.
34:29I've punished myself every single night.
34:33I'm bankrupt.
34:34I've got nothing left but you.
34:37Right there in front of Houston's elite, he dropped to his knees.
34:41He started slapping his own face.
34:43I didn't even bother looking up.
34:45I signed my name on the acquisition contract.
34:48Tossed the pen to my assistant.
34:49I reached into my clutch and pulled out a small object.
34:52Threw it hard at his face.
34:54It was a black leather collar.
34:55The same one the club owner had forced onto my neck five years ago.
34:59You want my forgiveness?
35:01I asked.
35:02Fasten this collar around your neck.
35:04Crawl down the stairs from this 48th floor on your hands and knees.
35:09Once you hit the bottom, I'll consider acknowledging you.
35:15A shocked murmur rippled through the crowd.
35:18It was an incredibly humiliating demand.
35:20But Raiden didn't even hesitate.
35:22His hands shook as he picked up the leather strap.
35:24All right.
35:25He choked out.
35:26I'll wear it.
35:28I'll crawl.
35:29As long as it pleases you.
35:32I'll do whatever you want.
35:34The metal clasp clicked shut.
35:36He fastened the degrading collar tightly around his throat.
35:39He pressed his hands into the carpet.
35:40He touched his forehead hard to the floor toward me, begging for pity.
35:44Then he turned around.
35:45He got on all fours.
35:47He made his way toward the long staircase outside the hall doors.
35:49He crawled out.
35:50The crowd instinctively parted to let him through.
35:53From behind, he looked utterly broken and distressed.
35:56Andreas walked up and handed me a glass of warm water.
36:00Are you satisfied?
36:01He asked.
36:06I watched Raiden crawl away until he disappeared out the door.
36:09I shook my head.
36:10A smile of genuine relief touched my lips.
36:13I let go of my anger a long time ago.
36:15I said.
36:17Mia is waiting at home to have cake with us.
36:19Tonight is her 10th birthday.
36:24I finally realized the best revenge was not mutual destruction.
36:28It was to erase him completely and achieve incredible success without him.
36:33From that day on, Raiden's name carried no weight in Houston.
36:36A psychiatric hospital in another city gained a new patient.
36:39One who spent his days cutting his hands with broken glass.
36:42Tying a belt tightly around his neck.
36:44The end.
36:45The end.
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