- 10 minutes ago
Come Down and Hit Me New Ep,20 engsub fullepisode🌸
Category
🎥
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
00:40unconscious? I look around, lost, everything is cold white, expensive sleek furniture, floors so grey they gleam, and these strangers,
00:48all staring at their phones, nobody looks at me, I swallow, and get ready to slip out, the door opens
00:54without a 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 radiate, 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.
01:20This 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.
01:38Ethan?
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?
02:02I'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?
02:42My head spins.
02:43I wander the building for what feels like forever and can't even find the elevator.
02:48The 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.
03:01It's...
03:01It's 2026?
03:03She gives me a puzzled look.
03:05Yeah?
03:0626?
03:07Why?
03:07What year did you think it was?
03:09Like getting hit by a truck.
03:11I wasn't so close.
03:12Son of a bitch.
03:13I time travel.
03:15The round-faced girl's name is Brie Keller.
03:18I 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.
03:26Brie 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.
03:40Cold sweat beads across my forehead.
03:43Honestly, I've wanted to do that for months.
03:46My vision goes dark around the edges.
03:51Ethan Mercer!
03:52Is the CEO?
03:53When he was with me, the guy was dead broke.
03:55Drowning in his father's gambling debt.
03:57Raising 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.
04:10You know who I am?
04:11Brie 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.
04:24You slapped your direct boss.
04:26At least there's one piece of good news.
04:28Seven years later, I still live in the most expensive part of Manhattan.
04:31Upper East Side.
04:32Penthouse.
04:33The moment I walk in, Mrs. Delaney takes my coat and hands me a glass of water.
04:37Different housekeeper from seven years ago.
04:39But 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.
04:45But the overall vibe is still mine.
04:46If this apartment's still here, the family hasn't gone bankrupt.
04:50I pissed off Ethan today.
04:51Worst case, I quit tomorrow.
04:53I drift off on the couch.
04:54In my dream, Ethan's body's still warm around me.
04:57He's rubbing ointment into my hand.
04:59The one that went red from hitting him.
05:00Something knots in my chest.
05:02Aftercare wasn't part of our deal.
05:04But at some point, he started doing it anyway.
05:06Every time, checking my palms for swelling.
05:08For 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.
05:14Debt collectors circling.
05:16My eyes dropped to the riding crop marks across his chest.
05:18I frown.
05:19I hit too hard this time.
05:21The 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.
05:28Light, barely there.
05:29It tickles.
05:30His eyes open, cold and steady.
05:34Ethan, we had a deal.
05:36You get my body for this.
05:38You don't get all of me.
05:40Oh, 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.
05:53He grabs my chin, fingers white-knuckled.
05:55Eden, I will never be with you.
05:59Get 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.
06:06A 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.
06:17Half 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.
06:24Effortlessly handsome.
06:25Her in a wedding gown that pools on the floor, smiling like the sun.
06:29It'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.
06:37Fragments 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?
06:49No.
06:49Ethan's voice, heavy with fatigue.
06:51I'll go check on her.
06:52I turn my head, slowly, stiffly, one degree at a time.
06:56His eyes meet mine.
06:59Neither of us speaks.
07:00Ethan's cheek still seems to carry a red mark.
07:04I tuck my hand behind me.
07:05Something uncomfortable twists in my chest.
07:08Come here.
07:09Do I need to say it again?
07:10Every nerve in my body fires at once, voice like ice water.
07:14I flinch back.
07:16I hit him without permission.
07:17That was on me.
07:18In front of all those people.
07:20That kind of humiliation?
07:21It'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.
07:34He turns my hand over, examining my palm with care.
07:37Good.
07:38No swelling.
07:40His voice sounds blunt as a plate.
07:43Relieved.
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.
07:58I 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.
08:05Always cold.
08:06Only 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.
08:14And underneath it, an emotion I could never name.
08:17There were moments I almost believed he liked it when I hit him.
08:21The doorbell rings.
08:22Mrs. Delaney answers it.
08:23The therapist Ethan hired for me has arrived.
08:26And 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.
08:37Ethan found me during your first year of marriage.
08:39Before that, your family went through a crisis.
08:43Your father's fund collapsed.
08:45The SEC got involved.
08:47Our sessions were suspended for a long time.
08:50I almost laugh.
08:51My father's fund collapsed?
08:54That can't be right.
08:56If that were true, how am I still living here?
08:58Dr. Vaughn studies me for a few seconds.
09:01A trace of pity crosses his face.
09:02I pushed down the acid burning in my chest.
09:05After your father's case, this apartment Woody Mistelized auctioned out in the bankruptcy proceedings.
09:11Ethan bought it back.
09:12So, seven years later, this apartment doesn't belong to me anymore.
09:16It belongs to Ethan Mercer.
09:18I'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.
09:32Dr. Vaughn.
09:33My voice cracks.
09:34Can you tell me how my father is doing?
09:36Hesitates for a few seconds and opens his mouth to answer.
09:39Ethan pushes through the door.
09:41Your father, time's up.
09:42That's enough for today.
09:43I watch Dr. Vaughn leave.
09:45Helpless.
09:45No discussion.
09:46Then comes the wave I can't hold back.
09:49I jerk my head up.
09:49My heart slams once.
09:51I lunge forward to stop him.
09:52But Ethan pins me to the chair with one hand.
09:55Raw, choking frustration.
09:57Let go!
09:58What gives you the right to stop me?
09:59What gives you the right to keep me from asking?
10:02Because I'm the one paying for your treatment.
10:04Ethan pauses.
10:04Without me, your father's debt would have buried you.
10:08You 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.
10:18Peeling back everything ugly I've tried to hide.
10:21And my hand flies up almost on its own.
10:23Ethan catches my wrist.
10:24You can't stop hitting people, can you?
10:26What right do you have to hit me now?
10:28A faint edge of mockery in his voice.
10:30Rage floods my chest like a dam breaking.
10:33The sting is sharp.
10:34The 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.
10:44Copper floods my tongue.
10:46His grip is steel.
10:47His hand spasms.
10:48He doesn't pull away.
10:49His jaw tightens and he grips my wrist harder.
10:52I pant through clenched teeth.
10:53For the first time in my life, I beg.
10:57Is my father dead?
10:58I'm not sad.
10:59I forgot what sad feels like a long time ago.
11:02His eye twitches at the sting.
11:04Ethan looks down at me.
11:05His silence is the answer.
11:07Your father couldn't handle the debt.
11:09He took his own life.
11:11I crumple to the floor.
11:12Without Ethan, I would have been the second one.
11:14He's right.
11:15What right do I have to hit him now?
11:17In my peripheral vision, I can barely hold my voice together.
11:21Ethan, I want a divorce.
11:22What did you just say?
11:25My voice goes quiet with them.
11:27A divorce.
11:29What'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.
11:38I've done you wrong.
11:40I know that.
11:41But it's been years.
11:43Let it go.
11:44Let me go.
11:45Let yourself go.
11:46Memories surface.
11:48The truth is, I liked Ethan.
11:50But 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.
12:06He says nothing for a long time.
12:08Then he walks out and slams the door.
12:11That night, Ethan doesn't come home.
12:13The enormous apartment holds only me and Mrs. Delaney.
12:16Mrs. Delaney, shouldn'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.
12:27If he's away, I stay with you.
12:29He just Venvo'd me overtime pay and told me to keep an eye on you.
12:33Mrs. 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.
12:44Only then are we even.
12:46The next day, I go to work like normal.
12:48The moment I step into the conference room, every pair of eyes lands on me.
12:51Complicated expressions all around.
12:54Here'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 his sharp, cold eyes.
13:03I stand at his side, obedient.
13:06The meeting runs until noon.
13:07Department heads file out one by one.
13:09Mr. Mercer, what would you like for lunch?
13:11Ethan ignores me.
13:12It used to be the other way around.
13:14He'd bring me food.
13:15After every session, I'd even make him feed me, claiming my hand hurt too much.
13:18Mind you 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.
13:29Those are all my favorites.
13:30Yes. You eat first. He eats what you leave.
13:34I don't know what I'm feeling when I open DoorDash and order everything she listed.
13:39At checkout, Apple Pay pulls from Ethan's Amex Black.
13:42Six-figure balance.
13:43My phone is the newest iPhone Pro Max.
13:45My bag is an unreleased Celine.
13:47This is the lifestyle I had before my family went under.
13:50I set the food on Ethan's desk.
13:52Gently. He doesn't bother looking up.
13:55Not hungry.
13:56It's all fresh. Not leftovers.
14:00Even less interesting now.
14:01Seriously? I stare at him. What is his problem?
14:05Ethan does not believe in separating work from personal grudges.
14:08He's got anger stored up and he's freezing me out at the office.
14:11At this rate, I'll be fired.
14:12I find an empty corner and call for advice.
14:15Mrs. Delaney, Ethan won't even eat.
14:17How do I fix this?
14:19He's ignoring you?
14:20Honey, that's nothing.
14:21Ignore him for a few days.
14:22He'll come crawling back.
14:24Always does.
14:25What kind of marriage is this?
14:26But I'm the one who messed up.
14:28Shouldn't I be the one doing the groveling?
14:30Well, if you don't want to wait it out, I do have one trick.
14:33One trick?
14:34Tell me. Tell me now.
14:36Smack him again, dear.
14:38That always resets me.
14:39I'm speechless.
14:40One Christmas Eve, Mr. Mercer cooked an entire dinner himself.
14:43You didn't touch a bite.
14:45You swept it all off the table.
14:46He was devastated.
14:48When I came to clean up, he was sitting on the floor.
14:51Crying. Silently.
14:52Next time I came in, you two were back to normal.
14:57Just like that?
14:59The whip, dear.
15:00The whip fixes everything in this house.
15:02When the fight was at its worst, you went at him with the riding cup.
15:06I felt sorry for him.
15:07But then he grabbed your hand and kissed your palm.
15:10The hand you hit him with.
15:12I'm crouched in the corridor.
15:13I glance left.
15:14Glance right.
15:15Look ahead.
15:16Look behind.
15:17When my head turns 45 degrees back, I see two long, straight legs.
15:22I tilt my head up.
15:24Ethan's eyes meet mine.
15:27On the phone, Mrs. Delaney is still going full throttle.
15:30The harder you hit him, the harder he kissed you.
15:33Lord, I had to leave the room.
15:35I'm too old for that kind of show.
15:36You've lost your memory.
15:38But I haven't.
15:39You got angry again.
15:40Hit him with the other hand.
15:42He grabbed both your wrists and pinned you on the bed.
15:44I silently hang up.
15:46A suffocating pause.
15:47Ethan cold and clipped.
15:49Go to internal Alidus.
15:50Get the planning report from the director.
15:52Okay.
15:54And tell the director of strategic planning to see me.
15:56This proposal has issues.
15:59Okay.
16:02Next time you bite me, use the left hand.
16:06Okay.
16:07Wait.
16:08What?
16:10Ethan stands with his hands in his pockets.
16:12Perfectly straight, perfectly untouchable.
16:15That same glacial composure.
16:17Whatever he's thinking, he won't say.
16:19Ethan seems determined to ignore me.
16:21Looks exactly like seven years ago.
16:23Cold to the bone.
16:25Eden, I'll give you a ride on my motorcycle.
16:28Bree has something come up.
16:29Can't leave with me tonight.
16:31Genuine.
16:32Hard to say no to.
16:34Downstairs, Ryan's already straddling the bike in full riding gear.
16:37I reach for it, and a low horn sounds behind me.
16:40A black Bentley glides past like water.
16:43Roads are bad tonight.
16:44I'll take you home.
16:45Mr. Mercer, how'd you know I've always wanted to ride in a Bentley?
16:49Call yourself another one.
16:50Expense it.
16:51Ethan cuts him off, voice cool as marble.
16:54You, get in.
16:56The door shuts with a clean thud.
16:57Heat seals out the noise.
17:00I wasn't messing around.
17:02Ryan was just being nice.
17:03Don't flatter yourself.
17:05You want a divorce, right?
17:07Might as well audition replacements.
17:09I'm not petty enough to care.
17:11Ethan's tone barely registers emotion.
17:13Me?
17:13Petty?
17:14Please.
17:15His voice is level, but something sharp presses just beneath the surface.
17:18I don't know how to answer.
17:19I close my mouth.
17:20Silence all the way home.
17:21The car stops.
17:23Ethan's voice out of nowhere.
17:27One affair wasn't enough.
17:29Now you're starting a collection?
17:31I have an affair.
17:32The kind of affair that means cheating.
17:34Eden, what did I do wrong?
17:35What do I have to do to make you stop?
17:38Since we got married, I've let you hit me.
17:40I've given you everything you wanted.
17:43Why do you keep trying to leave?
17:44And on top of that...
17:45He seems to remember the amnesia.
17:47Takes a deep breath.
17:48His voice drains of energy.
17:49You've been seeing someone behind my back.
17:51You even brought him here.
17:53For six months.
17:54That's impossible!
17:55A bitter scoff.
17:57Your words, not mine.
18:00He's your first love.
18:01Better looking than me.
18:03Younger than me.
18:04I go still.
18:06After my father's fund collapsed, I married Ethan almost immediately.
18:10Before that, I was with him the whole time.
18:12I almost laughed.
18:13Since when do I have a first love?
18:15Ethan holds up his phone.
18:16Face tight.
18:17On the screen.
18:18A selfie.
18:18Me and some boy I've never seen, tangled up on a couch.
18:21Arms around each other.
18:23Way too close.
18:26You've tried to divorce me over him more times than I can count.
18:29That expression on his face, like a husband who just caught his wife cheating.
18:34So what if he's younger?
18:35Eden, have your fun, but let's be real.
18:37Can you take a hit like I can?
18:38I hold it in for a few seconds.
18:40Then I burst out laughing.
18:41Bear?
18:42That's my nephew.
18:43He's in high school.
18:44What is wrong with you?
18:45Your nephew?
18:45Ethan's dark pupils flash like a meteor streaking through them.
18:49He zooms in on the photo, comparing two similar faces.
18:52You lied to me.
18:54You didn't cheat.
18:55Something heavy settles in my chest.
18:57The laughter fades from my face without a sound.
18:59Yeah.
19:00Why did the future version of me lie to him?
19:03A week later, I meet Dr. Vaughn in secret.
19:05There are things I need to know, starting with my father's death.
19:07Dr. Vaughn lets out a quiet sigh.
19:09Eden, I don't think you need to fixate on your father's death.
19:12Your memory stopped seven years ago.
19:14Everything before that you should still have.
19:16Of course I do.
19:17Seven years ago was the moment I hated my father most.
19:20That was when I learned the truth about how my mother died.
19:23My mother loved my father.
19:24From the days when he had nothing to the days when he was worth hundreds of millions.
19:28She loved him the same.
19:30Even knowing he had hereditary bipolar, she married him.
19:33Had his child.
19:34A child who would almost certainly inherit it.
19:36She whispered in my ear that she was very sick.
19:38A very, very serious illness.
19:41She said, no cure.
19:42She told me I had to take care of myself.
19:44For years I believed her.
19:46Until I met Ethan.
19:47After one of our sessions, I was still buzzing.
19:49Why do you react like that every time I hit you?
19:51Don't tell me you're falling for me.
19:52Would you marry me if I asked?
19:54I will never forget what he said.
19:5520-year-old Ethan, eyes full of cold contempt.
19:58Marry you.
19:59So I can watch you destroy me the way your father destroyed your mother?
20:02My mother's face floated up with that hollow, ruined smile.
20:06Her hand on my cheek, gentle.
20:08Her voice breaking.
20:09Eden, honey.
20:10Mommy can't save your father.
20:11And she can't save herself.
20:14I hate my father.
20:15Hate him for knowing he was sick and refusing to get help.
20:18Hate him for knowing he'd hurt my mother and never letting her leave.
20:22Until he finally destroyed her.
20:24Hate him for bringing me into the world.
20:26Another broken thing.
20:27Just like him, I push the chaos down.
20:30Dr. Vaughn, after my mother died, my father sent me to boarding school.
20:34We were never close.
20:35I suspect that's precisely why he sent you away.
20:39He was afraid of hurting you too.
20:41What father doesn't love his daughter?
20:43He was still my father.
20:44I have a right to know how he really died.
20:47My father's fund was massive.
20:49Ashford Capital didn't go down quietly.
20:51So why did he?
20:53Every article I found is about the financial scandal.
20:55Not a single one mentions how Richard Ashford actually died.
20:58Just one vague obituary.
21:00The color drains from Dr. Vaughn's face.
21:02Ethan lied to me.
21:04My father's death wasn't just a suicide.
21:08Dr. Vaughn picks up the stack and shakes his head.
21:10Eden, you really are something.
21:12Almost laughing.
21:13What?
21:14Ethan called me last night.
21:16He was happy.
21:17Said you were doing better.
21:19Said you still seemed to like him even without your memories.
21:21I press my lips together.
21:23If he knew what you've been up to, he'd be heartbroken.
21:25Say nothing.
21:26Since making up with Ethan, I've been acting like everything's fine.
21:29Eden, why do you think Ethan lied to you?
21:31Dr. Vaughn looks me dead in the eye.
21:32Something shifts in him like he's made a decision.
21:35I drop my gaze.
21:36He sighs.
21:36He speaks slowly.
21:38You don't think he was trying to hurt you, do you?
21:41He was protecting you.
21:43You'll recover your memories eventually.
21:45I don't want to keep lying to you.
21:47You and your father both have mental illness.
21:50Under extreme emotional stress, people like you are capable of crossing lines.
21:56You killed your father, Eden.
21:58A red fog floods my vision out of nowhere.
22:00Dr. Vaughn stares at me, face blank, and repeats.
22:03You killed your father.
22:05Your father destroyed your mother, and you killed him.
22:09People like you and your father, maybe the world was never built for you.
22:13I grip the edge of the table.
22:15Something buried deep in my skull is clawing its way out.
22:18Lines and fragments writhe and twist, fighting to surface.
22:22What the hell did you say to her?
22:24Have you lost your goddamn mind?
22:26Doing my job.
22:28Mr. Mercer, why do you think NYU Langone let me go?
22:31My methods are too aggressive.
22:33The mainstream doesn't approve.
22:35I feel like I've been asleep for a very long time.
22:38Seven years in a single dream.
22:40I didn't travel through time at all.
22:41I got sick.
22:42Lost seven years of memory by accident.
22:45Dr. Vaughn's brutal words ripped a crack in my brain.
22:48And through that crack, memories tore back.
22:51Some of them.
22:51First, I didn't kill my father.
22:53After the fund collapsed, it was one wave after another.
22:57SEC investigations.
22:58Investor lawsuits.
22:59Debt collectors.
23:00The last time I saw him was in the old brownstone in Brooklyn Heights.
23:04My mother's room.
23:05The three of us lived there once.
23:06My father's voice was wrong.
23:10After my mother died,
23:11he'd never looked this worn, this old.
23:12I didn't give you a sound mind or a whole family.
23:14And now I can't even give you money.
23:17He wasn't a father I was close to.
23:20But I won't drag you down.
23:21I didn't blame you.
23:23All those years of privilege were enough.
23:25I had a job.
23:26Two hands, two feet.
23:27We could share the burden.
23:30Later, he replayed that moment over and over.
23:33It was that coldness from the person closest to him that sent him over the edge.
23:37Triggered another episode.
23:39Took the last of his reason.
23:40Late that night, he went back to Ashford Capital's corner office.
23:43Every financial record the company had was stored there.
23:46He destroyed what he could.
23:47Shredder, hard drives wiped clean.
23:49Then, in that same office, he overdosed.
23:51Swallowed an entire bottle of prescription pills.
23:54And set a fire.
23:55The fire department put out the blaze.
23:57Most of the documents were already Ash.
23:59Some things could never be traced again.
24:01The corporate legal team and the insurance company controlled the narrative.
24:04The official statement read.
24:06Richard Ashford passed away from cardiac arrest during the course of the investigation.
24:10Cause of death?
24:10Sealed.
24:11The media kept its spotlight on the financial scandal.
24:14Nobody cared how a fallen fund manager actually died.
24:17I didn't kill my father.
24:18But I was the thing that pushed him faster toward the edge.
24:21I ended the three-year arrangement with Ethan.
24:23His debts were long paid off.
24:25Aside from a small ache of not wanting to let go, it cost me nothing.
24:29I had nothing left.
24:30Even with most of the financial records destroyed,
24:32the remaining liabilities and personal guarantees were enough to suffocate me.
24:36Without Ethan, my emotions had no outlet.
24:39I realized I couldn't keep going.
24:41I was so tired.
24:43I wanted to die.
24:45The rooftop of the Ashford Capital building.
24:47Ethan on his knees, begging me, controlled and falling apart at the same time.
24:51He never gave me a kind look.
24:54Not once.
24:55Every glance said he despised me.
24:57But the moment he saw me about to jump, something in him snapped.
25:00That shock.
25:01The sheer strangeness of his desperation is what stopped me from stepping off the edge.
25:05I stared as he took my hand in his, gentle and terrified.
25:10Eden, I'm here.
25:11You want to hit me?
25:12You can hit me.
25:12I won't charge you.
25:13Not now.
25:14Not ever.
25:14Just come down, please.
25:15Come down and hit me.
25:16Just...
25:16I have nothing left to give you.
25:18I don't need.
25:19Marry me.
25:20I'll take care of you.
25:21I'll pay off the debt.
25:22Please.
25:22If you die, I won't survive either.
25:25From somewhere far away, Dr. Vaughn's voice calls me back.
25:30Eden.
25:31My mind resurfaces.
25:32Dr. Vaughn watches my eyes.
25:34A small smile on his face.
25:35Some of it came back.
25:38Ethan hovers beside me, tense.
25:40How are you feeling?
25:41I look up at him.
25:42I'm fine.
25:43It's over.
25:44When you first married Ethan, you were in a very bad place.
25:47But he didn't give up.
25:48He found me.
25:49Over the years, you've made real progress.
25:51As for why the amnesia happened, that's not my story to tell.
25:54Ask your husband.
Comments