- 11 hours ago
Come Down and Hit Me New Ep,20 SM
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The worst years of my bipolar, I bought myself, a broke scholarship kid, 15 grand a month, I'd take a
00:06riding crop to that ridiculous body of his, slap that face, the one too pretty for its own good, I
00:12liked BDSM, loved playing with him most of all, finals week, stress through the roof, so I called him over
00:18to my place, the moment he walked in, he took the riding crop from my hand himself, dragged the leather
00:23tip across his own abs.
00:30Later, I wore myself out hitting him, and fell asleep.
00:35How did I wake up here? Did Ethan decide I went too hard, and sell me off while I was
00:39unconscious?
00:40I look around, lost, everything is cold white, expensive sleek furniture, floors so grey they gleam, and these strangers, all
00:48staring at their phones, nobody looks at me, I swallow, and get ready to slip out, the door opens without
00:54a sound, the man holding it bows with an apologetic smile, and Ethan walks in behind him.
00:59Awake?
01:00He moves to the seat directly across from me, I stare as he lifts his wrist without thinking, a Patek
01:06Philippe sits on that lean, strong forearm, everything about him radiates, something that doesn't belong to him, something effortless and
01:13expensive, this is not the Ethan Mercer I remember, he doesn't look at me, opens his mouth, unhurried.
01:19This contract.
01:21Contract? Right, right, okay, he did sell me, my voice cuts through the room.
01:26What we had was consensual, you wanted out, you could have just said so, selling me off is a whole
01:32other level of low.
01:34Everyone freezes, the round faced girl next to me taps my arm gently.
01:38Eat him?
01:38Ethan cuts her off, his gaze locks onto me, cold and flat.
01:42Are you having an episode?
01:43He dares talk to me like that?
01:45The old Ethan Mercer, no matter how hard I hit him, would only press his hand to his face, look
01:50up at me with those damp, hazy eyes, and grit out two words.
01:54More money.
01:55Now he has the nerve to call me crazy, I shoot to my feet and swing, the slap cracks across
02:00his face.
02:01You wanna get hit?
02:01I'll ask one more time, where is this?
02:08Ethan lifts his hand and wipes the corner of his mouth, watches me.
02:12That look, it's too complicated.
02:14For a second, I'm sure he's about to hit me back, but a few seconds pass.
02:18He presses his lips tight, leans into my ear.
02:21Wanna keep going?
02:22Get it out of your system?
02:24Then we work.
02:25I can't bring myself to swing again.
02:27Too many people.
02:28Kills the momentum.
02:29I drop back into my seat.
02:30I'm leaving.
02:31Now.
02:32Ethan lowers his head and goes back to the contract.
02:35Suit yourself.
02:36Then, to the room.
02:37The rest of you go.
02:38It's past six.
02:39Past six?
02:40What is even happening?
02:41My head spins.
02:43I wander the building for what feels like forever and can't even find the elevator.
02:47The round-faced girl catches up.
02:49Careful.
02:50Gentle.
02:51Eden, wanna head out together?
02:52We're the same direction.
02:54As she talks, she pulls out her phone.
02:56The date glows across the screen.
02:582026.
03:00It's...
03:01It's 2026.
03:03She gives me a puzzled look.
03:04Yeah?
03:0526?
03:06Why?
03:07What year did you think it was?
03:09Like getting hit by a truck.
03:10I wasn't so close.
03:12Son of a bitch.
03:13I time traveled.
03:15The round-faced girl's name is Brie Keller.
03:17I fish for information carefully.
03:19Each answer sinks my heart a little deeper into ice water.
03:22In the conference room, that was the entire strategic planning division.
03:25Brie breaks the silence.
03:27Eden, I seriously admire you.
03:30And I hit someone in front of all of them.
03:32For what?
03:33You slapped the CEO in front of the entire team.
03:36I've never been so terrified and so thrilled at the same time.
03:39Cold sweat beads across my forehead.
03:43Honestly, I've wanted to do that for months.
03:46My vision goes dark around the edges.
03:50Ethan Mercer!
03:52Is the CEO?
03:53When he was with me, the guy was dead broke.
03:55Drowning in his father's gambling debt.
03:56Raising an underage sister.
03:58Without me, he couldn't have paid tuition.
04:00And now he's the CEO.
04:02And I just slapped the CEO in front of every department head in the company.
04:06Something clicks.
04:07Back in the meeting, you called me Eden.
04:09You know who I am?
04:10Brie stares at me like I've lost my mind.
04:13You're his EA?
04:14She's looking at me like I'm a special kind of stupid.
04:17Uh, executive assistant.
04:19Ethan Mercer's executive assistant.
04:22That's why I admire you.
04:23You slapped your direct boss.
04:26At least there's one piece of good news.
04:27Seven years later, I still live in the most expensive part of Manhattan.
04:31Upper East Side.
04:32Penthouse.
04:32The moment I walk in, Mrs. Delaney takes my coat and hands me a glass of water.
04:37Different housekeeper from seven years ago, but that's normal enough after all this time.
04:41I sink into the couch.
04:42The living room's changed a bit from what I remember, but the overall vibe is still mine.
04:46If this apartment's still here, the family hasn't gone bankrupt.
04:49I pissed off Ethan today.
04:51Worst case, I quit tomorrow.
04:52I drift off on the couch.
04:54In my dream, Ethan's body's still warm around me.
04:56He's rubbing ointment into my hand, the one that went red from hitting him.
05:00Something knots in my chest.
05:01After care wasn't part of our deal, but at some point, he started doing it anyway.
05:05Every time, checking my palms for swelling, for redness from striking too hard.
05:10I think he was afraid I'd let him go.
05:12Without my money, he and his sister would have been on the street, debt collectors circling.
05:15My eyes drop to the riding crop marks across his chest.
05:18I frown.
05:19I hit too hard this time.
05:20The moment my fingers touch his skin, Ethan's lashes flutter.
05:24He turns toward me, and his lips land on mine, soft as a feather.
05:27Light, barely there.
05:29It tickles.
05:29His eyes open, cold and steady.
05:34Eden, we had a deal.
05:35You get my body for this.
05:38You don't get all of me.
05:39Oh, right.
05:41The kid had his boundaries.
05:42I can't remember which time it was.
05:44I was drunk.
05:45Shoved him against the wall and kissed him.
05:48Ethan's eyes rim red.
05:50Fury locks every muscle in his body tight.
05:52He grabs my chin, fingers white-knuckled.
05:55Eden, I will never be with you.
05:58Get that through your head.
06:00Who wants to be with him?
06:01I pull my hand back, sheepish, then stop.
06:04Wait.
06:04He leaned in first.
06:05A cold draft sweeps through, scattering the warmth from my palm.
06:09The dream dissolves with it.
06:10I open my eyes, half awake, and wander barefoot into the bedroom.
06:14Directly across from the bed hangs a framed photo.
06:16Half my height.
06:17I freeze.
06:18Cold sweat breaks out everywhere.
06:20Sleep vanishes.
06:21A man and a woman in the frame.
06:23Him in a suit, effortlessly handsome.
06:25Her in a wedding gown that pools on the floor, smiling like the sun.
06:28It's my wedding photo.
06:30Mine and Ethan Mercer's.
06:32At the same moment, movement at the front door.
06:34Mrs. Delaney's voice drifts in.
06:36Fragments at first, then clear.
06:39Warm in a way she never sounds with me.
06:41Mr. Mercer, you're back.
06:43Mrs. Mercer's home already.
06:45She's in the bedroom.
06:46Can I fix you something to eat?
06:48No.
06:49Ethan's voice, heavy with fatigue.
06:51I'll go check on her.
06:51I turn my head, slowly, stiffly, one degree at a time.
06:55His eyes meet mine.
06:58Neither of us speaks.
07:00Ethan's cheek still seems to carry a red mark.
07:03I tuck my hand behind me.
07:05Something uncomfortable twists in my chest.
07:07Come here.
07:08Do I need to say it again?
07:10Every nerve in my body fires at once.
07:13Voice like ice water.
07:14I flinch back.
07:15I hit him without permission.
07:17That was on me.
07:17In front of all those people.
07:19That kind of humiliation?
07:20It's like being stripped naked in public.
07:23I shuffle up to his chest.
07:24I'm sorry.
07:25Plant my feet.
07:26Ethan extends his hand toward me in silence.
07:29Don't move.
07:31But he catches my wrist in a sudden grip.
07:33He turns my hand over, examining my palm with care.
07:37Good.
07:38No swelling.
07:39His voice sounds blunt as a blade.
07:42Relieved.
07:43Don't hate me?
07:44Hate you?
07:45I could strangle you.
07:46I glance at my palm, still cradled in his fingers.
07:49He's rubbing it gently.
07:50Then why?
07:51I don't know how to finish the sentence.
07:53Feeling guilty?
07:55Then kiss me.
07:56That'll make us even.
07:57I blink.
07:58The Ethan from seven years ago would never have said that.
08:01What?
08:01He used to look at me the way you look at trash.
08:04Cold.
08:04Always cold.
08:05Only in those first few seconds after the riding crop landed,
08:09that's when something shifted in his eyes.
08:11Something wet.
08:12Something dazed.
08:13And underneath it, an emotion I could never name.
08:16There were moments I almost believed he liked it when I hit him.
08:20The doorbell rings.
08:21Mrs. Delaney answers it.
08:23The therapist Ethan hired for me has arrived.
08:25And as it happens, it's the same one who treated me before.
08:29Dr. Julian Vaughn.
08:31Dr. Julian Vaughn used to be a senior psychiatrist at NYU Langone.
08:36Ethan found me during your first year of marriage.
08:39Before that, your family went through a crisis.
08:42Your father's fund collapsed.
08:44The SEC got involved.
08:46Our sessions were suspended for a long time.
08:49I almost laugh.
08:51My father's fund collapsed?
08:54That can't be right.
08:55If that were true, how am I still living here?
08:58Dr. Vaughn studies me for a few seconds.
09:00A trace of pity crosses his face.
09:02I push down the acid burning in my chest.
09:05After your father's case, this apartment Woody misdialized auctioned out in the bankruptcy proceedings.
09:10Ethan bought it back.
09:11So, seven years later, this apartment doesn't belong to me anymore.
09:16It belongs to Ethan Mercer.
09:17I'm still here because he allows it.
09:20And listen to Dr. Vaughn continue.
09:22When I resumed your treatment, you were already married.
09:25You've been improving steadily.
09:27This sudden amnesia.
09:29I'll need to rework the entire plan.
09:31Dr. Vaughn.
09:32My voice cracks.
09:33Can you tell me how my father is doing?
09:35Hesitates for a few seconds and opens his mouth to answer.
09:39Ethan pushes through the door.
09:40Your father, time's up.
09:41That's enough for today.
09:42I watch Dr. Vaughn leave, helpless.
09:45No discussion.
09:46Then comes the wave I can't hold back.
09:48I jerk my head up.
09:49My heart slams once.
09:50I lunge forward to stop him.
09:52But Ethan pins me to the chair with one hand.
09:54Raw, choking frustration.
09:56Let go!
09:57What gives you the right to stop me?
09:59What gives you the right to keep me from asking?
10:01Because I'm the one paying for your treatment.
10:03Ethan pauses.
10:04Without me, your father's debt would have buried you.
10:07You begged me to marry you.
10:11To protect you.
10:12I start shaking.
10:13Have you forgotten what you looked like back then?
10:16Burns through my whole body.
10:17Peeling back everything ugly I've tried to hide.
10:21And my hand flies up almost on its own.
10:23Ethan catches my wrist.
10:24Can't stop hitting people, can you?
10:25What right do you have to hit me now?
10:27A faint edge of mockery in his voice.
10:30Rage floods my chest like a dam breaking.
10:33The sting is sharp.
10:33The urge to keep going.
10:35Ethan yanks my arm behind my back and locks it there.
10:38Eden.
10:39I can't hear a word.
10:40You need to learn to calm yourself down.
10:42Bite his hand.
10:43Full force.
10:43Copper floods my tongue.
10:45His grip is steel.
10:46His hand spasms.
10:47He doesn't pull away.
10:48His jaw tightens and he grips my wrist harder.
10:51I pant through clenched teeth.
10:53For the first time in my life, I beg.
10:56Is my father dead?
10:57I'm not sad.
10:58I forgot what sad feels like a long time ago.
11:01His eye twitches at the sting.
11:03Ethan looks down at me.
11:05His silence is the answer.
11:07Your father couldn't handle the debt.
11:09He took his own life.
11:10I crumple to the floor.
11:11Without Ethan, I would have been the second one.
11:14He's right.
11:14What right do I have to hit him now?
11:16In my peripheral vision, I can barely hold my voice together.
11:20Ethan, I want a divorce.
11:22What did you just say?
11:24My voice goes quiet with them.
11:26A divorce.
11:28What's the reason this time?
11:30The hand at his side curls into a slow fist.
11:33Whether you married me for revenge or out of pity, it sure as hell wasn't love.
11:37I've done you wrong.
11:39I know that.
11:40But it's been years.
11:42Let it go.
11:43Let me go.
11:44Let yourself go.
11:46Memories surface.
11:47The truth is, I liked Ethan.
11:49But we started so ugly that I never dared hope he could feel anything for me.
11:54I told myself, once he graduates, once he doesn't need the money anymore, I'll let go.
11:59Disappear from his life for good.
12:01Nobody could have predicted that seven years later, everything would look like this.
12:05He says nothing for a long time.
12:07Then he walks out and slams the door.
12:10That night, Ethan doesn't come home.
12:12The enormous apartment holds only me and Mrs. Delaney.
12:15Mrs. Delaney?
12:16Shouldn't you be off by now?
12:19I should be.
12:21But when Mr. Mercer's not home, I stay.
12:24Why?
12:25It's in my employment contract.
12:26If he's away, I stay with you.
12:28He just Venvo'd me overtime pay and told me to keep an eye on you.
12:32Mrs. Delaney started after we got married.
12:34Thanks to her, I find a spreadsheet on Ethan's office computer.
12:37Every debt he's repaid on my behalf.
12:39Every dollar, logged and tracked.
12:41If I want a divorce, I need to pay him back first.
12:43Only then are we even.
12:45The next day, I go to work like normal.
12:47The moment I step into the conference room, every pair of eyes lands on me.
12:51Complicated expressions all around.
12:53Here's what you asked for.
12:55He takes the folder from me without expression, drops it on the table with a flat smack.
12:59He tugs at the collar of his turtleneck, revealing those sharp, cold eyes.
13:03I stand at his side, obedient.
13:05The meeting runs until noon.
13:06Department heads file out one by one.
13:08Mr. Mercer, what would you like for lunch?
13:11Ethan ignores me.
13:12It used to be the other way around.
13:13He'd bring me food.
13:14After every session, I'd even make him feed me, claiming my hand hurt too much.
13:18Mine right now.
13:19I call Mrs. Delaney and ask what Ethan likes to eat.
13:22She rattles them off without thinking.
13:24Truffle mac and cheese, lobster bisque, grilled salmon.
13:28Those are all my favorites.
13:30Yes.
13:30You eat first.
13:32He eats what you leave.
13:34I don't know what I'm feeling when I open DoorDash and order everything she listed.
13:38At checkout, Apple Pay pulls from Ethan's Amex Black.
13:41Six-figure balance.
13:43My phone is the newest iPhone Pro Max.
13:45My bag is an unreleased saline.
13:47This is the lifestyle I had before my family went under.
13:50I set the food on Ethan's desk.
13:51Gently.
13:52He doesn't bother looking up.
13:54Not hungry.
13:56It's all fresh.
13:57Not leftovers.
13:59Even less interesting now.
14:01Seriously?
14:02I stare at him.
14:02What is his problem?
14:04That night, Ethan doesn't come home.
14:06The enormous apartment holds only me and Mrs. Delaney.
14:09Mrs. Delaney?
14:10Shouldn't you be off by now?
14:11Well, I should be.
14:14But when Mr. Mercer's not home, I stay.
14:17Why?
14:18It's in my employment contract.
14:20If he's away, I stay with you.
14:22He just Venvo'd me overtime pay and told me to keep an eye on you.
14:26Mrs. Delaney started after we got married.
14:28Thanks to her, I find a spreadsheet on Ethan's office computer.
14:30Every debt he's repaid on my behalf.
14:32Every dollar, logged and tracked.
14:35If I want a divorce, I need to pay him back first.
14:37Only then are we even.
14:39The next day, I go to work like normal.
14:40The moment I step into the conference room, every pair of eyes lands on me.
14:44Complicated expressions all around.
14:47Here's what you asked for.
14:48He takes the folder from me, without expression.
14:51Drops it on the table with a flat smack.
14:53He tugs at the collar of his turtleneck, revealing those sharp, cold eyes.
14:57I stand at his side, obedient.
14:59The meeting runs until noon.
15:00Department heads file out one by one.
15:02Mr. Mercer?
15:03What would you like for lunch?
15:04Ethan ignores me.
15:06It used to be the other way around.
15:07He'd bring me food.
15:08After every session, I'd even make him feed me, claiming my hand hurt too much.
15:12Mind you now.
15:13I call Mrs. Delaney and ask what Ethan likes to eat.
15:15She rattles them off without thinking.
15:17Truffle mac and cheese.
15:19Lobster bisque.
15:20Grilled salmon.
15:22Those are all my favorites.
15:23Yes.
15:24You eat first.
15:26He eats what you leave.
15:28I don't know what I'm feeling when I open DoorDash and order everything she listed.
15:32At checkout, Apple Pay pulls from Ethan's Amex Black.
15:35Six-figure balance.
15:36My phone is the newest iPhone Pro Max.
15:39My bag is an unreleased Celine.
15:41This is the lifestyle I had before my family went under.
15:43I set the food on Ethan's desk.
15:45Gently.
15:46He doesn't bother looking up.
15:48Not hungry.
15:50It's all fresh.
15:51Not leftovers.
15:53Even less interesting now.
15:54Seriously?
15:55I stare at him.
15:56What is his problem?
15:58Ethan does not believe in separating work from personal grudges.
16:01He's got anger stored up and he's freezing me out at the office.
16:04At this rate, I'll be fired.
16:05I find an empty corner and call for advice.
16:08Mrs. Delaney, Ethan won't even eat.
16:10How do I fix this?
16:12He's ignoring you?
16:13Honey, that's nothing.
16:14Ignore him for a few days.
16:16He'll come crawling back.
16:17Always does.
16:18What kind of marriage is this?
16:20But I'm the one who messed up.
16:21Shouldn't I be the one doing the groveling?
16:23Well, if you don't want to wait it out, I do have one trick.
16:26One trick?
16:27Tell me.
16:28Tell me now.
16:29Smack him again, dear.
16:31That always resets me.
16:32I'm speechless.
16:33One Christmas Eve, Mr. Mercer cooked an entire dinner himself.
16:36You didn't touch a bite.
16:38You swept it all off the table.
16:39He was devastated.
16:41When I came to clean up, he was sitting on the floor.
16:44Crying.
16:45Silently.
16:46Next time I came in, you two were back to normal.
16:51Just like that?
16:52The whip, dear.
16:53The whip fixes everything in this house.
16:55Excuse me?
16:55When the fight was at its worst, you went at him with the riding cup.
16:59I felt sorry for him.
17:00But then he grabbed your hand and kissed your palm.
17:03The hand you hit him with.
17:04I'm crouched in the corridor.
17:06I glance left.
17:07Glance right.
17:08Look ahead.
17:09Look behind.
17:10When my head turns 45 degrees back, I see two long, straight legs.
17:15I tilt my head up.
17:17Ethan's eyes meet mine.
17:20On the phone, Mrs. Delaney is still going full throttle.
17:23The harder you hit him, the harder he kissed you.
17:26Lord, I had to leave the room.
17:28I'm too old for that kind of show.
17:30You've lost your memory.
17:31But I haven't.
17:32You got angry again.
17:33Hit him with the other hand.
17:35He grabbed both your wrists and pinned you on the back.
17:37I silently hang up.
17:39A suffocating pause.
17:40Ethan cold and clipped.
17:42Go to internal Alidus.
17:43Get the planning report from the director.
17:45Okay.
17:47And tell the director of strategic planning to see me.
17:49His proposal has issues.
17:52Okay.
17:55Next time you bite me, use the left hand.
17:59Okay.
18:00Wait.
18:01What?
18:03Ethan stands with his hands in his pockets.
18:05Perfectly straight, perfectly untouchable.
18:08That same glacial composure.
18:10Whatever he's thinking, he won't say.
18:12Ethan seems determined to ignore me.
18:14Looks exactly like seven years ago.
18:16Cold to the bone.
18:18Eden, I'll give you a ride on my motorcycle.
18:21Bree has something come up.
18:22Can't leave with me tonight.
18:24Genuine.
18:25Hard to say no to.
18:26Downstairs, Ryan's already straddling the bike in full riding gear.
18:30I reach for it, and a low horn sounds behind me.
18:33A black Bentley glides past like water.
18:36Roads are bad tonight.
18:37I'll take you home.
18:38Mr. Mercer, how'd you know I've always wanted to ride in a Bentley?
18:42Call yourself another one.
18:43Expense it.
18:44Ethan cuts him off, voice cool as marble.
18:47You, get in.
18:49The door shuts with a clean thud.
18:50Heat seals out the noise.
18:53I wasn't messing around.
18:55Ryan was just being nice.
18:56Don't flatter yourself.
18:58You want a divorce, right?
19:00Might as well audition replacements.
19:02I'm not petty enough to care.
19:04Ethan's tone barely registers emotion.
19:06Me?
19:06Petty?
19:07Please.
19:08His voice is level, but something sharp presses just beneath the surface.
19:11I don't know how to answer.
19:12I close my mouth.
19:13Silence all the way home.
19:14The car stops.
19:16Ethan's voice out of nowhere.
19:20One affair wasn't enough.
19:22Now you're starting a collection?
19:24I have an affair.
19:25The kind of affair that means cheating.
19:27Eden, what did I do wrong?
19:28What do I have to do to make you stop?
19:31Since we got married, I've let you hit me.
19:33I've given you everything you wanted.
19:36Why do you keep trying to leave?
19:37And on top of that...
19:38He seems to remember the amnesia.
19:40Takes a deep breath.
19:41His voice drains of energy.
19:42You've been seeing someone behind my back.
19:44You even brought him here.
19:46For six months.
19:47That's impossible!
19:48A bitter scoff.
19:50Your words, not mine.
19:52He's your first love.
19:54Better looking than me.
19:56Younger than me.
19:57I go still.
19:59After my father's fund collapsed, I married Ethan almost immediately.
20:03Before that, I was with him the whole time.
20:05I almost laughed.
20:06Since when do I have a first love?
20:08Ethan holds up his phone.
20:09Face tight.
20:10On the screen.
20:11A selfie.
20:11Me and some boy I've never seen, tangled up on a couch.
20:14Arms around each other.
20:16Way too close.
20:19You've tried to divorce me over him more times than I can count.
20:22That expression on his face, like a husband who just caught his wife cheating.
20:27So what if he's younger?
20:28Eden, have your fun, but let's be real.
20:30Can you take a hit like I can?
20:31I hold it in for a few seconds.
20:33Then I burst out laughing.
20:34Bear?
20:35That's my nephew.
20:36He's in high school.
20:37What is wrong with you?
20:38Ethan's dark pupils flash like a meteor streaking through them.
20:42He zooms in on the photo, comparing two similar faces.
20:45You lied to me.
20:47You didn't cheat.
20:48Something heavy settles in my chest.
20:50The laughter fades from my face without a sound.
20:52Yeah.
20:53Why did the future version of me lie to him?
20:55A week later, I meet Dr. Vaughn in secret.
20:58There are things I need to know, starting with my father's death.
21:00Dr. Vaughn lets out a quiet sigh.
21:02Eden, I don't think you need to fixate on your father's death.
21:05Your memory stopped seven years ago.
21:07Everything before that you should still have.
21:09Of course I do.
21:10Seven years ago was the moment I hated my father most.
21:13That was when I learned the truth about how my mother died.
21:16My mother loved my father.
21:17From the days when he had nothing to the days when he was worth hundreds of millions.
21:21She loved him the same.
21:22Even knowing he had hereditary bipolar, she married him.
21:26Had his child.
21:27A child who would almost certainly inherit it.
21:29She whispered in my ear that she was very sick.
21:31A very, very serious illness.
21:34She said, no cure.
21:35She told me I had to take care of myself.
21:37For years I believed her.
21:38Until I met Ethan.
21:40After one of our sessions, I was still buzzing.
21:42Why do you react like that every time I hit you?
21:44Don't tell me you're falling for me.
21:45Would you marry me if I asked?
21:47I will never forget what he said.
21:4820-year-old Ethan, eyes full of cold contempt.
21:51Marry you.
21:52So I can watch you destroy me the way your father destroyed your mother?
21:55My mother's face floated up.
21:57That hollow, ruined smile.
21:59Her hand on my cheek.
22:00Gentle.
22:01Her voice breaking.
22:02Eden, honey.
22:03Mommy can't save your father.
22:04And she can't save herself.
22:06I hate my father.
22:08Hate him for knowing he was sick and refusing to get help.
22:11Hate him for knowing he'd hurt my mother and never letting her leave.
22:14Until he finally destroyed her.
22:16Hate him for bringing me into the world.
22:19Another broken thing.
22:20Just like him.
22:21I pushed the chaos down.
22:23Dr. Vaughn.
22:23After my mother died, my father sent me to boarding school.
22:27We were never close.
22:28I suspect that's precisely why he sent you away.
22:31He was afraid of hurting you too.
22:34What father doesn't love his daughter?
22:36He was still my father.
22:37I have a right to know how he really died.
22:40My father's fund was massive.
22:42Ashford Capital didn't go down quietly.
22:44So why did he?
22:45Every article I found is about the financial scandal.
22:48Not a single one mentions how Richard Ashford actually died.
22:51Just one vague obituary.
22:53The color drains from Dr. Vaughn's face.
22:55Ethan lied to me.
22:57My father's death wasn't just a suicide.
23:01Dr. Vaughn picks up the stack and shakes his head.
23:03Eden, you really are something.
23:05Almost laughing.
23:06What?
23:07Ethan called me last night.
23:09He was happy.
23:10Said you were doing better.
23:12Said you still seemed to like him even without your memories.
23:14I pressed my lips together.
23:15If he knew what you've been up to, he'd be heartbroken.
23:18Say nothing.
23:19Since making up with Ethan, I've been acting like everything's fine.
23:22Eden, why do you think Ethan lied to you?
23:23Dr. Vaughn looks me dead in the eye.
23:25Something shifts in him like he's made a decision.
23:27I drop my gaze.
23:28He sighs.
23:29He speaks slowly.
23:31You don't think he was trying to hurt you, do you?
23:33He was protecting you.
23:36You'll recover your memories eventually.
23:38I don't want to keep lying to you.
23:40You and your father both have mental illness.
23:43Under extreme emotional stress, people like you are capable of crossing lines.
23:49You killed your father, Eden.
23:51A red fog floods my vision out of nowhere.
23:53Dr. Vaughn stares at me, face blank, and repeats.
23:56You killed your father.
23:57Your father destroyed your mother, and you killed him.
24:02People like you and your father, maybe the world was never built for you.
24:06I grip the edge of the table.
24:08Something buried deep in my skull is clawing its way out.
24:11Lines and fragments writhe and twist, fighting to surface.
24:15What the hell did you say to her?
24:17Have you lost your goddamn mind?
24:19Doing my job.
24:20Mr. Mercer, why do you think NYU Langone let me go?
24:24My methods are too aggressive.
24:26The mainstream doesn't approve.
24:28I feel like I've been asleep for a very long time.
24:31Seven years in a single dream.
24:32I didn't travel through time at all.
24:34I got sick.
24:35Lost seven years of memory by accident.
24:38Dr. Vaughn's brutal words ripped a crack in my brain.
24:41And through that crack, memories tore back.
24:43Some of them.
24:44First, I didn't kill my father.
24:46After the fund collapsed, it was one wave after another.
24:49SEC investigations.
24:51Investor lawsuits.
24:52Debt collectors.
24:53The last time I saw him was in the old brownstone in Brooklyn Heights.
24:56My mother's room.
24:57The three of us lived there once.
24:59My father's voice was wrong.
25:02After my mother died, he'd never looked this worn, this old.
25:05I didn't give you a sound mind or a whole family.
25:07And now I can't even give you money.
25:10He wasn't a father I was close to.
25:12But I won't drag you down.
25:14I didn't blame you.
25:15All those years of privilege were enough.
25:17I had a job.
25:19Two hands, two feet.
25:20We could share the burden.
25:23Later, I replayed that moment over and over.
25:25It was that coldness from the person closest to him that sent him over the edge.
25:30Triggered another episode.
25:31Took the last of his reason.
25:33Late that night, he went back to Ashford Capital's corner office.
25:36Every financial record the company had was stored there.
25:39He destroyed what he could.
25:40Shredder, hard drives wiped clean.
25:42Then, in that same office, he overdosed.
25:44Swallowed an entire bottle of prescription pills and set a fire.
25:48The fire department put out the blaze.
25:50Most of the documents were already ash.
25:51Some things could never be traced again.
25:53The corporate legal team and the insurance company controlled the narrative, the official
25:57statement read.
25:58Richard Ashford passed away from cardiac arrest during the course of the investigation.
26:02Cause of death?
26:03Sealed.
26:04The media kept its spotlight on the financial scandal.
26:06Nobody cared how a fallen fund manager actually died.
26:10I didn't kill my father.
26:11But I was the thing that pushed him faster toward the edge.
26:14I ended the three-year arrangement with Ethan.
26:16His debts were long paid off.
26:18Aside from a small ache of not wanting to let go, it cost me nothing.
26:21I had nothing left.
26:23Even with most of the financial records destroyed, the remaining liabilities and personal guarantees
26:27were enough to suffocate me.
26:29Without Ethan, my emotions had no outlet.
26:31I realized I couldn't keep going.
26:34I was so tired.
26:36I wanted to die.
26:38The rooftop of the Ashford Capitol building.
26:40Ethan on his knees, begging me, controlled and falling apart at the same time.
26:44He never gave me a kind look.
26:46Not once.
26:47Every glance said he despised me.
26:49But the moment he saw me about to jump, something in him snapped.
26:53That shock, the sheer strangeness of his desperation, is what stopped me from stepping off the edge.
26:58I stared as he took my hand in his, gentle and terrified.
27:02Eden, I'm here.
27:04You want to hit me?
27:04You can hit me.
27:05I won't charge you.
27:06Not now.
27:06Not ever.
27:07Just come down, please.
27:08Come down and hit me.
27:08Just-
27:09I have nothing left to give you.
27:11I don't need.
27:12Marry me.
27:12I'll take care of you.
27:13I'll pay off the debt.
27:14Please.
27:15If you die, I won't survive either.
27:18From somewhere far away, Dr. Vaughn's voice calls me back.
27:22Eden.
27:23My mind resurfaces.
27:25Dr. Vaughn watches my eyes.
27:26A small smile on his face.
27:28Some of it came back.
27:31Ethan hovers beside me, tense.
27:33How are you feeling?
27:34I look up at him.
27:35I'm fine.
27:36It's over.
27:37When you first married Ethan, you were in a very bad place.
27:40But he didn't give up.
27:41He found me.
27:42Over the years, you've made real progress.
27:43As for why the amnesia happened, that's not my story to tell.
27:47Ask your husband.
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