- 5 hours ago
Cutting the Cord Reborn as My Mom's High School Frenemy
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Short filmTranscript
00:00:021996, Texas. I suddenly jerk up from the sink, gasping for air. Water drips from my thick blonde hair. I
00:00:08stare at the mirror in shock. The face staring back at me is vibrant, beautiful, full of life. Vintage, smoky
00:00:13eye makeup framing a chalky teenage face. 18. You young, healthy, cancer-free.
00:00:17I've been thrown back into the dead-end Texas high school years my mom spent her entire life clawing her
00:00:23way out of. Suddenly, the bathroom door swings open. A familiar grapefruit perfume hits me instantly. It's Valerie, my 18
00:00:30-year-old mother. Her hair is pulled into a high-tony tail, high-waisted jeans hugging her hips, a white
00:00:35tamtop straight out of a 90s teen magazine.
00:00:37Come on, the pep lolly's about to start. She yanks me forward hard enough to make me stumble. But instead
00:00:42of following her, I freeze. Stare at the young face in front of me. Untouched by wealth. Untouched by surgery.
00:00:48Untouched by the years that twisted her into a monster.
00:00:50Valerie, we're... friends? Uh, duh, we're best friends. Why are you being so weird today? Come on! She turns and
00:00:57keeps pulling me towards the door. Half a step behind her, I stare at her back. The confusion in my
00:01:02eyes vanishes instantly, replaced by something cold, something vicious.
00:01:05The school's public address system drones on from the loudspeaker's overhead, buzzing with the daily lunch menu.
00:01:11Pizza slices, tater tots, and chocolate milk.
00:01:14Valerie pulls me through the crowded hallway, her hand warm and dry in mine. And then it hits me again.
00:01:20That sharp grapefruit perfume.
00:01:22The scent wraps around me so suddenly my breath catches. It was the smell I knew best as a child.
00:01:28Before I turned five, she used to hold me in her arms, humming old country songs and asking if I
00:01:33loved her.
00:01:33But after she ditched me to chase her high school sweetheart to the big city, that scent only ever showed
00:01:39up in my nightmares.
00:01:41Scarlet, you've been acting weird all day.
00:01:43Scarlet? God, even this body's name sucks.
00:01:46Carefully, I slip my hand out of hers. My eyes swamp across the hallway.
00:01:50The dented locker numbers, the faded football team pictures, the bulletin board plastered with fall semester 1996.
00:01:57Cheerleaders rush past us, ponytails flying, while some varsity asshole has a scrawny kid pinned against a logger, shaking him
00:02:03down for lunch money.
00:02:04This isn't a dream. I'm really back in the 90s.
00:02:08That's when a tall, lanky guy with glasses started walking toward us.
00:02:11Hector, my mother's first love. The man who ruined all our lives.
00:02:15Hey, this is my Scarlet. She just transferred it in.
00:02:17Scarlet, meet Hector. Straight-A student, total teacher's pet, basically tutoring half the school.
00:02:22Hey, I'm Hector. Welcome to East Ridge.
00:02:26The second I hear his name, my stomach turns.
00:02:29I ignore his hand completely and scan the noisy hallway for the one person who should have been here.
00:02:35Where's my dad? Austin should be at this school, too.
00:02:38Wait! Austin's not in your class? Austin? There's no Austin in this entire school.
00:02:45Austin Walker, my dad! He's not- he's not here?
00:02:51Your dad?
00:02:53Just as I'm scrambling for an excuse, a roar erupts from the end of the hallway and saves me.
00:02:58The pep rally's starting.
00:02:59You coming or what?
00:03:01Sunlight spills across her shoulders.
00:03:02For a second, she looks nothing like the woman who would one day watch me die without blinking.
00:03:07The gym is loud, humilded, packed wall-to-wall.
00:03:11Football players in red jerseys charge onto the court while cheerleaders shake palm balls under the flashing lights.
00:03:16The bleachers thunder with stomping feet and screaming students.
00:03:20This Friday, let's show East Ridge who really runs this town!
00:03:24The crowd explodes.
00:03:26She's radiant up there.
00:03:28Beside me, Hector adjusts his glasses, eyes fixed on her.
00:03:31She's gonna get out of this town someday.
00:03:33He says it like he already knows the future.
00:03:36I don't answer.
00:03:37I just stare at Valerie beneath the spotlight.
00:03:39After the rally, students pour out of the gym.
00:03:43The halls fill with slamming lockers and overlapping conversations again.
00:03:48People argue about Friday's game.
00:03:50Girls debate who's gonna win prom queen.
00:03:52Last period is study hall.
00:03:54Valerie sits one row ahead of me by the window.
00:03:57Her notes neat enough to look typed.
00:03:59As she flips a page, something slips out from between her books.
00:04:02A pale green application packet.
00:04:05Harvard University.
00:04:07My breathing catches.
00:04:08She actually got an application.
00:04:10But later in life, she always says Harvard was never an option for someone like her.
00:04:14So that was a lie too.
00:04:15Valerie, your future turns out cheap and pathetic anyway.
00:04:18So why are you out here pretend to be some gifted golden girl right now?
00:04:21It makes me sick.
00:04:22I rise from my seat.
00:04:23Then, with one sharp shove of my elbow, I knock over the black coffee on her desk.
00:04:28The dark liquid spills perfectly across the application packet, soaking through the giant
00:04:32Harvard crest until the ink begins to bleed.
00:04:35I stare at her coldly, waiting for her to snap.
00:04:37Waiting for the mask to fall off.
00:04:39Waiting to finally see the real Valerie underneath all that fake sweetness.
00:04:43But her reaction throws me completely off.
00:04:49Oh god, Scarlet, are you okay?
00:04:51She grabs a stack of napkins and immediately starts swiping coffee off my hand.
00:04:54There's real concern in her eyes.
00:04:56No anger.
00:04:56No blame.
00:04:57Not even irritation.
00:04:58It's wrong.
00:04:59She's too nice.
00:05:01So nice it scares me.
00:05:03Nice enough to make me wonder if the woman I remember was ever the real Valerie at all.
00:05:07Just then, the classroom door swings open.
00:05:10A Latino teacher steps inside and walks over to Valerie's desk.
00:05:13Hey Valerie, something came up with Scarlet's family.
00:05:17Kind of an emergency.
00:05:18Your parents called and asked if you could bring her home with you after school.
00:05:21An emergency?
00:05:22What the hell happened?
00:05:24By the time school lets out, the Texas sunset looks like the whole sky's on fire.
00:05:28Stadium lights flicker on one by one around the football field.
00:05:31The cheer squad is still practicing while snippets of 90s pop songs crack through the loudspears.
00:05:36Valerie walks a few steps ahead of me, her ponytail swaying softly behind her.
00:05:40She suddenly stops and turns to me gently.
00:05:42I heard about your parents.
00:05:43Scarlet, don't be scared, okay?
00:05:45You've still got me.
00:05:46We're best friends.
00:05:46Then she pulls me into a hug.
00:05:48I'm sorry for what happened.
00:05:49If you need a shoulder to cry on, I'll always be here.
00:05:51That faint grapefruit scent wraps around me again.
00:05:53And just like that, I break.
00:05:55In my last life, there were countless nights when I would have given anything for this exact embrace.
00:05:59As I sob into her shoulder, I deliberately smears and snot all over her pretty shirt.
00:06:04Petty revenge.
00:06:05Pathetic, tiny revenge.
00:06:06But her arms are warm exactly the way I remember from childhood.
00:06:10So how the hell did someone like this become the woman who wouldn't even save my life?
00:06:15A bicycle bell rings behind us.
00:06:16Hector catches up, pushing an old bike with a paper box of cupcakes sitting in the basket.
00:06:20He adjusts his glasses awkwardly.
00:06:22Sugar helps.
00:06:23A little, anyway.
00:06:24I watch the two of them walking side by side beneath the football field lights, and something bitter twists in
00:06:29my chest.
00:06:30What, Hector?
00:06:31You gonna pick her up like this every day?
00:06:33Keep her stuck in this town and make her your wife someday?
00:06:35Hector stops walking, but when he looks at me, his expression is completely open and sincere.
00:06:40Valerie's meant for bigger things than this place.
00:06:42She's too talented to spend her life shrinking herself for some guy.
00:06:47That'd be... wrong.
00:06:49I freeze, because I never imagined Hector would say something like that.
00:06:55I'm not getting stuck married with kids at 18.
00:06:58I want to see what's out there first.
00:07:00But you did have me at 18.
00:07:01You ended up trapped in a rotting trailer park full of violence and screaming and broken walls.
00:07:06Valerie, did your dreams betray you?
00:07:08The whole walk there, something about this timeline feels off in a way I can't explain.
00:07:14And then Valerie opens the front door.
00:07:17The smell of home-cooked food hits me instantly.
00:07:21So you're Scarlet, huh?
00:07:24Hi, Mr. Wyatt.
00:07:25Thanks for letting me stay over.
00:07:28He bursts out laughing and pulls me inside before I can even finish.
00:07:32The house is warm, spotless, lived in.
00:07:35There's a brand new pair of slippers waiting for me by the entryway,
00:07:38along with folded pajamas set out they'd been expecting me for days.
00:07:41The living room walls are lined with plaques, commendations, and framed Federal Service Award.
00:07:45On the TV, a local news station is covering a major drug trafficking case near the Texas border.
00:07:49A photo flashes on screen of two fallen narcotics agents.
00:07:52Your parents were good people, kiddo.
00:07:55Best partners I ever had.
00:07:57Real heroes.
00:07:58And from now on, this house is yours, too.
00:08:00You hear me?
00:08:00That's when it finally hits me.
00:08:02The parents belonging to this body are already dead.
00:08:05Dinner is loud and warm and painfully alive.
00:08:08Grandpa keeps piling food onto plates.
00:08:10Grandma laughs at everything.
00:08:11A dog nudges against my legs beneath the table.
00:08:13The kitchen light glows so warmly it almost hurts to look at.
00:08:16And across from me sits Valerie, laughing freely while her parents dole on her like she's the center of their
00:08:20universe.
00:08:20My chest tightens so hard it feels unbearable.
00:08:24This is insane.
00:08:25Like some cruel cosmic joke.
00:08:27She grew up surrounded by this much love.
00:08:29So how the hell did she become someone who could watch me die without a single shred of kindness?
00:08:34Late that night, Valerie and I lay side by side in the dark.
00:08:38There's been this huge cartel case near the border lately.
00:08:42I keep having nightmares something's gonna happen to my parents.
00:08:45At 18, she looks so young.
00:08:47So fragile.
00:08:48Before sunrise, I wake to the sound of movement in the living room.
00:08:52Grandpa is sitting by the door, pulling on his police boots.
00:08:54I run out barefoot and grab onto his sleeve before he can leave.
00:08:57Mr. Wyatt, please be careful out there.
00:09:00He smiles and ruffles my hair.
00:09:01I will, kiddo.
00:09:02Promise I'll come home safe.
00:09:04Then he and Grandma disappear together into the pale border fog of early morning.
00:09:08And the dread in my chest only grows heavier.
00:09:14Valerie stumbles out of bed half asleep the next morning and stands in front of the mirror,
00:09:18completely lost, trying to fix her ponytail.
00:09:21God, she's hopeless.
00:09:22I walk over and quietly redo her hair for her.
00:09:26It's the first time in both my lives that I've ever been this close to her.
00:09:29Scarlett, how are you so good at this?
00:09:31And suddenly I remember how, when I was little, she always hacked my hair off into awful tomboy cuts.
00:09:37Maybe it wasn't coldness after all.
00:09:38Maybe 18-year-old Valerie just barely knew how to take care of herself.
00:09:42A bicycle bell rings outside the yard.
00:09:44Hector, right on schedule.
00:09:45He hands me an ice-cold soda, then stares at my face for a little too long.
00:09:50Scarlett, is it just me or are you starting to look more and more like Valerie?
00:09:54A chill shoots straight through me.
00:09:56Right before I died in my last life, I was barely recognizable.
00:09:59Skin and bones from the cancer.
00:10:00But the last time I looked in a mirror, I realized something horrifying.
00:10:03I hadn't taken over someone else's body.
00:10:05I came back wearing my own 18-year-old face.
00:10:08Pretty girls always kind of look alike, right?
00:10:10Surrounded by all this warmth, I start wavering.
00:10:13It gets harder and harder to connect this version of Valerie to the woman from my last life.
00:10:17This girl is kind, bright, alive.
00:10:20I finally begin to understand why my dad, Austin, spent his whole life loving her even when she never truly
00:10:25loved him back.
00:10:25Part of me even starts thinking that when I finally meet him in this timeline,
00:10:29maybe I should tell him to fall for somebody else.
00:10:31But I never imagined that just as I started letting my guard down, hell was already opening its doors.
00:10:36School lets out early that day.
00:10:38Hector and I stop by a taco truck on the corner.
00:10:41Valerie says she's tired and asks us to grab her a baked potato before heading home ahead of us.
00:10:47We're almost at her house when an old pickup truck with no plates suddenly comes flying backward out of the
00:10:53driveway.
00:10:54Several tattooed men in masks jump into the bed of the truck.
00:10:58Then, a scream tears through the air.
00:11:01It's Valerie.
00:11:05Hector and I sprint toward the house so fast my lungs feel like they're tearing apart.
00:11:10The front door hangs crooked on its hinges, creaking heavily as it swings loosely against the broken frame.
00:11:16The second we step inside, the smell hits me.
00:11:18Blood, sweat, whiskey.
00:11:20The living room looks like a battlefield.
00:11:21Furniture overturned.
00:11:22Glass shattered everywhere.
00:11:23Family photos ripped from the walls.
00:11:25Blood smeared across the wooden floorboards in long streaks like someone had been dragged.
00:11:28Grandpa and Grandma lie motionless on the ground.
00:11:31And in the middle of the room, Valerie, covered in blood, curled up on the floor.
00:11:36A tattooed man stands nearby, calmly fixing his belt like nothing happened.
00:11:42Hector roars and charges at him, only to get kicked hard across the room.
00:11:46The stranger turns toward me slowly.
00:11:48Then he grabs my collar and jerks me forward so violently my feet leave the ground.
00:11:52Hector!
00:11:54The stench of blood and cigarettes floods my nose so hard I nearly gag.
00:11:58Well, damn.
00:12:00If it isn't Officer Miller's kid.
00:12:02Lucky day for you, sweetheart.
00:12:04The boss already told us to pull out.
00:12:06Otherwise, you'd have been a lot of fun, too.
00:12:07He spits onto the floor beside me and turns to leave.
00:12:12Behind him, Valerie curls tighter into herself, desperately clutching the ripped fabric over her chest.
00:12:18A broken sound escapes her throat.
00:12:20Something inside me snaps.
00:12:22I throw myself forward and grab the man's pant leg with both hands.
00:12:25Moonlight spills through the shattered window, sliding across the side of his face.
00:12:29That jawline.
00:12:30That scar near his mouth.
00:12:31That voice.
00:12:32My entire body freezes.
00:12:34The world goes completely silent around me.
00:12:36Because he isn't some random cartel thug.
00:12:39He's Austin.
00:12:40My father.
00:12:46Hector scrambles to the wall and grabs the landline.
00:12:49But the phone cord has already been cut.
00:12:53You brought this on yourself, you little bitch!
00:12:56He lunges at me and starts ripping at my clothes, yanking violently at my collar.
00:13:01Trying to save me, Hector throws himself at Austin again, without a second thought.
00:13:06In the chaos, I catch a flash of murder in Austin's eyes.
00:13:09He suddenly pulls a hunting knife from the back of his waist hand.
00:13:12And in that instant, I completely lose it.
00:13:15Without thinking, I grab the blade with my bare hand.
00:13:18My dad?
00:13:19How could this be my dad?
00:13:21Tears crash into the growing pool of blood beneath me.
00:13:24The man I loved most growing up.
00:13:26The father who raised me in that trailer park with nothing.
00:13:29How could it be you?
00:13:30You're a rapist now.
00:13:32A murderer.
00:13:33I can't take it.
00:13:34I feel like I'm losing my mind.
00:13:35But the sharp pain slicing through my palm and Valier's desperate sobbing remind me this is real.
00:13:41I clamp down on the knife with everything I have and scream hysterically at Hector.
00:13:47Hector, run!
00:13:48Go get help!
00:13:49Go!
00:13:50Now!
00:13:51Blood streams down Hector's face as he staggers toward the door and bolts outside.
00:13:55And the second he's gone, Austin completely snaps.
00:14:00With a vicious twist of his wrist, he jerks the knife free and points the blade straight at my throat.
00:14:08But just then, my grandmother, who had been lying motionless in a pool of blood, somehow forces herself back up
00:14:15with the last bit of strength she has left.
00:14:18Austin turns, ready to stab the next.
00:14:22No!
00:14:24I slam into him with everything I had.
00:14:26The blade plunges straight into my stomach.
00:14:28Warmth explodes through my body.
00:14:30Then comes the pain.
00:14:32Endless, crushing pain.
00:14:34I press both hands against the wound, holding onto the knife with everything I've got so Austin can't pull it
00:14:39back out.
00:14:40You can't kill them.
00:14:42You can't.
00:14:44I'm crying, choking as blood pours from my mouth in heavy bursts.
00:14:49But Austin just twists the knife cruelly inside me.
00:14:53The agony sends me collapsing to my knees in the blood.
00:14:56That's when Grandma suddenly wraps both arms around Austin's neck from behind and drags him to the floor with every
00:15:02ounce of strength she has left.
00:15:03My grandfather, already covered in blood, grabs onto Austin's leg and refuses to let go.
00:15:09Realizing he's about to get caught, Austin curses violently, kicks himself free from them, and climbs out the window, disappearing
00:15:15into the darkness near the border.
00:15:17Scarlet!
00:15:19Scarlet, stay with me!
00:15:20Please, don't close your eyes!
00:15:23Through my fading vision, I feel Valerie pulling me into her arms.
00:15:27My consciousness is already slipping away, sobbing controllably, with tears and blood all over my face.
00:15:33I still try to take off my jacket and cover her with it, but I'm too weak.
00:15:37My arm barely lifts halfway before it drops limply into the blood.
00:15:40In the distance, sirens scream through the night.
00:15:43I hear Hector crying as he rushes back inside with the police.
00:15:46Then everything goes dark.
00:15:48Somewhere far away, voices echo around me as I'm lifted onto a stretcher.
00:15:52She's flatlining!
00:15:54Move!
00:15:54Get the defibrillator, now!
00:15:58When I finally open my eyes again, all I see is the pale white ceiling of a hospital room.
00:16:02Sitting beside my bed is Hector.
00:16:04When he ran for help, Austin's men caught him and beat him half to death.
00:16:06The second he sees me awake, arrogant genius, completely falls apart.
00:16:09He wipes his eyes while gripping to entail so tenderly.
00:16:12You were the last one to wake up!
00:16:13Do you have any idea how close you came to dying?
00:16:16You scared the hell out of us!
00:16:18He's crying so hard, it's a complete mess.
00:16:19Tears, snot, everything.
00:16:20At one point, he even spits on my face while talking.
00:16:22I let out a weak laugh.
00:16:23The anesthesia still hasn't fully worn over.
00:16:25I can't really feel pain yet, just heavy numbness all over my body.
00:16:28I look at him anxiously.
00:16:29Valerie's parents and Valerie, are they okay?
00:16:32Her folks made it to the hospital just in time.
00:16:35If that knife had hit either of them, any worse.
00:16:38I struggle to sit up, desperate to see her, but before I can move, the hospital room door slowly opens.
00:16:43Valerie is standing there.
00:16:44Her eyes look hollow, and when she looks at me, there's something shattered in them I can't even begin to
00:16:49explain.
00:16:50I say her name softly.
00:16:51She nods faintly and walks over.
00:16:53Her cold fingers are mostly on my shoulder.
00:16:54Does it hurt?
00:16:56I shake my head.
00:16:57Looking at her red-rimmed eyes, I force a small smile.
00:17:00Have you been crying?
00:17:02She doesn't answer.
00:17:03She just holds my hand tighter and gently squeezes my cheek like she's afraid I'll disappear.
00:17:07And suddenly, she lowers her head and tears drip onto the back of my hand.
00:17:10Thank you, Scarlet.
00:17:11If it weren't for you, I would have lost my parents.
00:17:15I look at the 18-year-old version of my mother standing in front of me, her fate already completely
00:17:20changed because of me.
00:17:21I sniff hard, holding back tears.
00:17:23I don't say a single word.
00:17:24I just let her tears soak into my skin, before slowly lifting my free hand and placing it softly over
00:17:29the trembling hand resting on my shoulder.
00:17:34Valerie looks down at my hand covering hers, as if she understands the comfort in my eyes.
00:17:39She takes a deep breath.
00:17:43Tears still cling to her lashes, but for the first time in forever, her voice carries a little relief.
00:17:49I've got good news.
00:17:50The case is over.
00:17:51The cartel operation finally got busted.
00:17:54Every single person involved in the attack was caught near the border.
00:17:57My parents can finally rest for a while.
00:17:59The moment I hear Austin and the traffickers were all arrested, my entire mind goes blank.
00:18:04Relief crashes over me so hard, I almost shoot upright in the hospital bed.
00:18:07Wait, seriously? They caught all of them?
00:18:11Yes, seriously. Now stop moving before you rip your stitches open.
00:18:15The crushing weight that haunted me through both lifetimes finally disappears at that moment.
00:18:19Meanwhile, Hector, who has been sitting nearby this entire time, calmly peels a banana like nothing's happening.
00:18:24Doctor said you should eat this.
00:18:26You've already woken up a few times these past couple days.
00:18:28You've managed to pass gas, so now they're just waiting to see if you can finally have a bowel movement.
00:18:33Coming from someone usually this serious, it's so absurd I completely lose it.
00:18:36Unfortunately, the second I laugh, pain rips through the stitches in my abdomen.
00:18:39I immediately hiss in pain, clutching my stomach.
00:18:41Valerie starts laughing too, but after a few seconds, her laughter fades.
00:18:45Tears suddenly begin falling again without warning.
00:18:47She tries to cry quietly.
00:18:49She doesn't want either of us to notice.
00:18:50Hector's smile slowly disappears too.
00:18:53I wrap both arms tightly around this 18-year-old girl.
00:18:56At that moment, through my chest is no longer the hatred I carried in my previous life.
00:19:00Mom, if I had known my biologed father was the monster who destroyed your entire family, how could I ever
00:19:06have hated you?
00:19:07I would have only hated myself for ever being born, since fate gave me another chance.
00:19:12Then this time, I'll set you free.
00:19:18After surviving the nightmare, the little Texas town slowly comes back to life.
00:19:21Once I'm discharged from the hospital, my grandparents take me home.
00:19:24Grandpa proudly hands me a limited edition Barbie doll he brought back from New York.
00:19:27In my previous life, it was the only toy my mother had ever given me, but this time, somehow, it
00:19:32heals me first.
00:19:33Then Grandma completely hijacks what was supposed to be an emotional family dinner with giant sizzling Texas steaks,
00:19:38oversized cowboy hats and boots that look straight out of a Hollywood audition,
00:19:41and enough chaos to turn the whole night upside down.
00:19:43Even Hector, who normally acts way too composed for his age, finally laughs without holding back.
00:19:49But beneath the warm yellow glow of the dinner lights, the conversation eventually turns to goodbye.
00:19:54Hector's mother lifts her wine glass, eyes red and swollen,
00:19:57and quietly announces that they're moving back to Boston before Thanksgiving.
00:20:00She can't handle the danger near the border anymore.
00:20:02And in that moment, a misunderstanding from both my lifetimes finally unravels.
00:20:07In my previous life, Hector never left because he looked down on my mother's reputation.
00:20:11His mother had simply watched her son nearly die.
00:20:14Any parent would have wanted to run from this place after that.
00:20:17As an old country song crackles through the radio in the background, we start talking about the future.
00:20:22Valerie asks where I want to go to school someday.
00:20:25I look at her, the girl whose entire future was crushed fate in my previous life.
00:20:29An answer without hesitation.
00:20:31Harvard.
00:20:32Under the endless Texas night sky, with the Milky Way stretched above her like a dream,
00:20:35I finally understand the suffocating pain she carried in her previous life.
00:20:38I turn my head slightly and whisper so softly that only I can hear it.
00:20:41Mom, this time go live your life.
00:20:43Chase your dreams.
00:20:44Be yourself again.
00:20:45As for me, I'll stay behind in the darkness of this timeline.
00:20:47The day Hector leaves, the boy who has always been calm and restrained
00:20:51completely breaks down the moment he steps onto the bus.
00:20:53Clinging to the window, he cries so hard he can barely breathe.
00:20:56And then the bus slowly pulls away, kicking up clouds of Texas dust before disappearing at the end of the
00:21:01highway.
00:21:01Watching the bus vanish into the distance, I think life might finally return to normal.
00:21:06But fate still isn't done with me yet.
00:21:07Something happened to Valerie.
00:21:12After seeing Hector off, we head home through the bitter Texas winter wind.
00:21:16I cling tightly to Valerie's arm, trying my best to keep the mood light while talking excitedly about Christmas dinner
00:21:20plans.
00:21:20It has to be there.
00:21:21And Mr. Wyatt smoked pulled pork too.
00:21:23No argument.
00:21:23This year, we are eating like royalty.
00:21:25I'm still rambling happily when Valerie's expression suddenly changes.
00:21:28Without warning, she jerks her arm out of my grasp.
00:21:31Like a frightened deer, she stumbles towards a trash can on the side of the road, bends over, and starts
00:21:35violently throwing up.
00:21:36She vomits so hard there's eventually nothing left except bitter dry humps.
00:21:40By the end, she can barely stay standing.
00:21:42She grips a freezing telephone pole for support.
00:21:45Her whole body trembling violently.
00:21:47Her face drained completely white.
00:21:49My mind goes blank.
00:21:50The smile freezes on my face.
00:21:52Watching her clutch her stomach and reek in pain, a terrifying cold realization crawls slowly up my spine like ice
00:22:01water.
00:22:02No symptoms.
00:22:05No.
00:22:05No way.
00:22:11You... you're pregnant?
00:22:16Valerie instinctively places a hand over her stomach.
00:22:19Her eyes are filled with the kind of panic and confusion no 18-year-old girl should ever have to
00:22:24carry.
00:22:25What happened that night may have been stopped halfway through, but some nightmares had already rerouted themselves deep in the
00:22:31dark.
00:22:32She looks at me helplessly, tears trembling in her eyes.
00:22:37I... I don't know, Scarlett.
00:22:39I thought maybe it was just stress lately.
00:22:43I haven't had much appetite, and I kept feeling nauseous.
00:22:47Come on.
00:22:47We're going to the clinic.
00:22:48Now.
00:22:49I don't even let her finish speaking.
00:22:51I grab her hand and practically drag her down the street toward the town's small community clinic.
00:22:58The doctor on duty is an elderly Cuban-American woman with silver hair, Dr. Ramirez.
00:23:03She isn't just the only general practitioner in town.
00:23:06She's also one of Grandma Wyatt's oldest friends, and her child's alongside her years ago.
00:23:10The second Dr. Romero sees Valerie's face and the sheer panic in my eyes, her sharp battle-worned gaze immediately
00:23:17narrowed.
00:23:17Wasting another second, she starts ushering every remaining patient out of the clinic.
00:23:22The entire room falls into suffocating silence.
00:23:28Tell me what's going on.
00:23:30My scalp precles with dread as I quickly explain Valerie's nausea and vomiting.
00:23:34The old doctor says nothing after hearing me out, but a deep, piercing sorrow flashes through her eyes.
00:23:40She quietly takes Valerie into the examination room in the back.
00:23:43The moment the door closes, all the strength drains out of me.
00:23:47I collapse into the cold metal chair outside the office, shoving both hands deep into my hair.
00:23:52More than anyone else, I know exactly where I came from.
00:23:55And because of that, a horrifying truth finally pieces itself together in my mind.
00:23:58In my previous life, Austin, the man who raised me after destroying Valerie's life, was actually released from prison early.
00:24:04After committing crimes like that, he still got out in less than 20 years.
00:24:07Back then, when the case went to court, Valerie must have stayed silent.
00:24:11Maybe to hide the shame of being pregnant as a teenager.
00:24:13Maybe to protect the Wyatt family's reputation.
00:24:15Whatever the reason, her silence helped set a monster free.
00:24:19The guilt of my own existence tears through me like a dull blade.
00:24:22This nightmare destroyed a brilliant girl who was supposed to go to Harvard.
00:24:24And the one thing it gave back to the world was a demon.
00:24:29Half an hour later, the exam room door slowly creaks open.
00:24:33Dr. Ramirez steps outside, looking exhausted.
00:24:35She gently pats my shoulder.
00:24:39Scarlet, go get Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt for me.
00:24:44The moment the truth comes out, the house, which had barely survived one nightmare already, falls into dead silence all
00:24:52over again.
00:25:02Grandpa sits heavily on the couch.
00:25:04This massive, hard-nosed cop who once stared down cartel gunfires now looks hollowed out,
00:25:10like a man aging ten years in a single night.
00:25:16He buries his rough, caliphate hands over his face and says nothing.
00:25:22Meanwhile, Grandma holds 18-year-old Valerie tightly in her arms, sobbing so hard she can barely breathe.
00:25:45Valerie stays curled up in the corner of the bed the entire time, silent as a porcelain doll.
00:25:50She doesn't say a word.
00:25:52She just keeps staring at me with those shattered, empty eyes.
00:25:55But somewhere inside them is still this helpless instinct begging for someone to save her.
00:26:00The sight tears me apart inside.
00:26:03I lower my head immediately, too ashamed to even look my own mother in the eye.
00:26:09And then things somehow get even worse.
00:26:13Austin's trashy parents, the grandparents I had in my previous life, somehow hear about Valerie's pregnancy.
00:26:19Right after the attack, those two cowards vanished completely to avoid being dragged into the police investigation.
00:26:24But the second they hear Valerie is carrying Austin's child, they swoop in like vultures smelling blood.
00:26:29To them, this pregnancy is leverage, the perfect weapon to destroy the Wyatt family.
00:26:34We barely made it back home before the two of them show up outside the house with some sleazy lawyer
00:26:39they hired.
00:26:41The smell of cheap cigarettes and stale alcohol hits before they even step into the yard.
00:26:50My former grandfather, Silas Walker, doesn't show even a trace of shame.
00:26:55No guilt.
00:26:56No apology.
00:26:59Just this disgusting, smug arrogance.
00:27:05Standing in the yard, he bellows toward the house like he owns the place.
00:27:08Officer Wyatt, don't hide in there.
00:27:11My son, Austin, may be in prison, but he still has parental rights.
00:27:15That baby is part of our family, and you're not taking our grandchild anywhere.
00:27:20The sleazy lawyer beside him adjusts his glasses and smirks coldly.
00:27:27If Ms. Yight refuses to drop the charges, we're fully prepared to drag this through family court for years.
00:27:32And trust me, once the media gets involved, everybody in Texas is going to know exactly what happened to your
00:27:37daughter.
00:27:41Then Mayabelle Walker, my former grandmother, blows out a stream of cigarette smoke and starts screeching at the house.
00:27:49You go testify in federal court, and we'll swear Valerie wanted it.
00:27:54We'll tell everyone you cops framed our son.
00:27:59We'll make damn sure every police department in Texas knows what kind of girl your daughter really is.
00:28:06You think those badges are going to survive this?
00:28:10We'll ruin your whole family!
00:28:16The police had kept the details of that night sealed tightly.
00:28:20Nobody in town knew what Valerie had actually suffered in the dark.
00:28:23But now, these two shameless monsters are ripping open her deepest traumata in public just to save their worthless son
00:28:29from federal prison.
00:28:30They stand outside with a damn megaphone, turning a survivor's private nightmare into some sick public spectacle about protecting the
00:28:37family bloodline.
00:28:38Before long, the whole town knows.
00:28:40But they don't actually want the baby.
00:28:42That's never been the point.
00:28:44What they want is pressure.
00:28:47They want to weaponize this conservative little town.
00:28:50The gossip, the judgment, the victim blaming, until the Wyatts have nowhere left to run.
00:28:55And their terms are crystal clear.
00:28:57They want Valerie to change her testimony in federal court.
00:29:01They want her to claim Austin was just the driver and knew nothing about the attack.
00:29:06In exchange, the Walkers will stop harassing the family and leave them alone.
00:29:10Hearing the whispers rising outside the fence.
00:29:13Seeing neighbors stare with that fake sympathy hiding disgust underneath.
00:29:20Everything suddenly clicks into place inside my head.
00:29:24Now I understand exactly how Austin got that early release in my previous life.
00:29:29There had been a deal.
00:29:30And Valerie had been crushed into accepting it.
00:29:33Looking at those two smug bastards standing outside our home acting righteous.
00:29:37Every ounce of humiliation from my previous life and every drop of rage from this one finally explodes inside me.
00:29:42To hell with staying calm.
00:29:44I grab grandpa's Louisville slugger from behind the front door and storm outside, gripping the bat so hard my knuckles
00:29:49go white.
00:29:50By then, all I can see is red.
00:30:07Right in front of everyone, I swing the bat.
00:30:10Crack, crack.
00:30:10The heavy end of the Louisville slugger smashes straight into Silas and Maybane's faces without a shred of hesitation.
00:30:16The sound of teeth breaking mixes with their screams as both of them stumble backward, clutching their bloody mouths before
00:30:21collapsing into the dirt.
00:30:22Your son is a convicted rapist!
00:30:25I point the bat directly at the two of them, shaking with rage.
00:30:28Where the hell was the talk about the La La when your psycho son was pointing a gun at federal
00:30:33officers?
00:30:33And now you want to come here and black rail cops?
00:30:38Gripping the bat with both hands, I swing as hard as I can into the lawyer's sedan parked by the
00:30:42curb.
00:30:42The windshield explodes instantly into a spiderweb of shattered glass.
00:30:46Then I whip around towards the neighbors gathering outside the fence, all of them whispering and staring.
00:30:51What are you all looking at?
00:30:53Anybody else wants to stand here screaming at a victim with these two pieces of trash?
00:30:57I raise the broken bat, splintered wood jouting from the barrel.
00:31:01I swear to God the next swing straight goes through your skull!
00:31:04Get the hell away from the Wyatt house!
00:31:06All of you, move!
00:31:08The hot border wind tears through the street.
00:31:10One look at the shattered bat in my hands is enough.
00:31:13The neighbors pale instantly and start backing away in fear.
00:31:16And then suddenly, Silas runges at me with a rusty switchblade in his hand.
00:31:20Drop the charges or I'll kill every last one of you!
00:31:26The gunshot detonates the street like thunder.
00:31:29The bullet slices past Silas' ear and blasts apart one of the wooden fence posts behind him.
00:31:34Everyone freezes.
00:31:35Grandpa Rick stands there gripping a cork python revolver.
00:31:38The barrel pressed directly against Silas' forehead.
00:31:40His voice is low and deadly.
00:31:42Officer Miller's daughter took a knife from my family.
00:31:45You touch her again and see what happens.
00:31:48The ringing echo from the gunshot leaves everyone stunned.
00:31:52Silas drops the knife immediately.
00:31:53It clatters onto the dirt beside him as he collapses in terror.
00:32:00He's gonna kill us!
00:32:01The cops are trying to murder us!
00:32:04But before she can say another word, another figure comes flying down the porch steps.
00:32:08Grandma.
00:32:09She moves like lightning.
00:32:11Grabbing a fistful of Maybella's brittle yellow hair, she yanks her sideways so hard the old woman nearly falls.
00:32:17Slap!
00:32:19Grandma backhands her across the face hard enough to send her crashing into the dirt, then plants a boot against
00:32:24her chest.
00:32:25Her eyes are pure steel.
00:32:27You think you can threaten my daughter's name?
00:32:29I'll go to prison smiling before I let your family destroy her life.
00:32:32Now get the hell off my property before I bury all of you out in the desert myself.
00:32:37Rick cocks the revolver once, never taking his eyes off Silas.
00:32:41You assaulted my family. As a police officer, I have every right to arrest you right now.
00:32:46Next time, you won't walk away this lucky.
00:32:49Now get out.
00:32:50The sheer violence radiating off the two retired narcotics officers terrifies everyone into Silas.
00:32:56The gossiping neighbors scatter immediately.
00:32:58Silas and Maybella scramble to their feet and flee down the road like stray dogs.
00:33:03But then suddenly, Grandpa Rick doubles over coughing violently.
00:33:07Fresh blood begins soaking through the white bandages wrapped around his torso.
00:33:17Grandpa's stitches tear open again, so Grandma rushes him back to the hospital.
00:33:20I stay behind to take care of Valerie.
00:33:22Standing outside her bedroom door, I force myself to breathe through the panic crushing my chest.
00:33:25I wipe the tears and blood off my face over and over with my sleeve until my skin burns raw.
00:33:28I can't let Valerie see me falling apart.
00:33:30Right now, I have to be strong for her.
00:33:32I shove the bedroom door open and lock it tightly behind me, shutting out the chaos outside.
00:33:37Then I walk straight towards her bed.
00:33:39The second I see her sitting there, pale, hollow, motionless, something inside me finally breaks completely.
00:33:48Valerie?
00:33:49Let's leave.
00:33:51We can start over somewhere else.
00:33:53New York, California, anywhere.
00:33:55Please, just pack a bag and come with me, okay?
00:33:58I almost sound desperate.
00:34:00I grab her shoulders gently, trying to pull strength from the girl who, in another lifetime, would become my mother
00:34:0619 years later.
00:34:08But Valerie never says a word.
00:34:10She just stays curled in the corner of the bed.
00:34:13The fading sunset filters through the blinds, strip by strip, dying slowly across her face.
00:34:18Then she finally lifts her head.
00:34:20And once again, she looks at me with those same shattered eyes.
00:34:24Empty, helpless, but still quietly begging someone to save me.
00:34:29Sight crushes my chest.
00:34:30For my entire previous life, I thought I had been born unwanted.
00:34:33But now I finally understand the truth.
00:34:34My birth was never love.
00:34:36It was a chain, a weapon crafted by a monster to trap my mother and destroy her family forever.
00:34:41I have never hated myself more than I do right now.
00:34:45Valerie, listen to me.
00:34:48This baby...
00:34:49Before I can finish, Valerie suddenly covers my mouth with her hand.
00:34:55I look up at her.
00:34:57And suddenly the dam inside me completely breaks.
00:35:02Tears pour down my face as I collapse to my knees beside the bed.
00:35:06I pull her hand away from my mouth and finally scream out the truth that destroyed me for an entire
00:35:12lifetime.
00:35:12This baby is a stain that monster left on your life!
00:35:18You'll hate it forever!
00:35:20Every time you look at it, you'll remember him!
00:35:24You'll wish it had never been born!
00:35:27My voice cracks apart completely.
00:35:30It's better to end this now than let that child grow up trapped in pain and misery!
00:35:36I can barely breathe through the sobbing.
00:35:39No one can calmly beg their own mother to erase them from existence.
00:35:43But at that exact moment, Valerie, who has been sitting there lifeless and hollow this whole, whole time, suddenly trembles
00:35:49violently.
00:35:50It's like something inside her finally snaps awake.
00:35:53She bolts upright from the bed and throws her arms around me without warning, crushing me against her chest.
00:35:59She holds me so tightly, her fingers dig painfully into my back.
00:36:03Hot tears spill onto my neck, burning against my skin.
00:36:06And then she completely breaks down.
00:36:08I never wanted you dead.
00:36:11Nora!
00:36:13Her voice is raw and shattered from crying.
00:36:17Not once!
00:36:19Not for a single second did I ever wish you were dead!
00:36:27That single sentence crashes through the room with the weight of two lifetimes behind it.
00:36:32Every ounce of pain, resentment, anger, and loneliness I carried inside me shatters instantly into dust.
00:36:40Because she called me Nora.
00:36:42Not Scarlet.
00:36:44Nora.
00:36:45In this timeline, nobody knows that name.
00:36:48Nobody except my mother from my previous life.
00:36:51I freeze in her arms.
00:36:52My mind going completely blank.
00:36:55She isn't just the 18-year-old Valerie who knows nothing about the future.
00:36:59She remembers, too.
00:37:02In this broken, twisted timeline, a near my find, my mother was reborn alongside me.
00:37:09I know.
00:37:11My entire body shakes as I cling to her shoulder-her-shoulder like a lost child.
00:37:19I know I was never supposed to be born.
00:37:22You had every reason to hate me because of that monster.
00:37:26Valerie suddenly grabs my face with both hands and forces me to look at her through her tears.
00:37:31How could a mother ever hate her child?
00:37:34After two lifetimes, inside this old Texas house in 1996, she finally tears open the truth she buried for decades.
00:37:41And through uncontrollable sobbing, my mother finally tells me why she stood beside my hospital bed and watched me die
00:37:47in my previous life.
00:37:52The reason I couldn't donate bone marrow was because I had terminal cancer, too.
00:37:58I wasn't eligible to donate.
00:38:00I wasn't abandoning you, Nora.
00:38:03How could I ever abandon my own daughter?
00:38:06Outside, the winter wind screams across the Texas borderlands.
00:38:11But inside this cold little room, a mother and daughter separated by two lifetimes finally find each other again in
00:38:19the ruins of everything they lost.
00:38:21Valerie clutches me so tightly she's shaking.
00:38:24I never gave on you, Nora.
00:38:27I begged everyone I could for help.
00:38:29I borrowed money from anybody willing to listen because I wanted to save you.
00:38:33Every word tears out of her throat like it physically hurts to say it.
00:38:36Your bastard father wouldn't pay a single dime.
00:38:39The ICU bills kept piling up every single day.
00:38:42The hospital kept mailing notices until my bowel box was overflowing.
00:38:45In the end, I sold every apartment and every piece of property I owned in Boston just to barely cover
00:38:50your medical bills.
00:38:51Then her breathing completely falls apart.
00:38:53And Austin, that monster wanted to pull your ventilator out himself back at the trailer park.
00:38:58He lied to you.
00:38:59He actually convinced you that I was the one who abandoned you.
00:39:02She cries so hard she can barely breathe anymore.
00:39:05Decades of humiliation and buried motherhood finally exploding out all at once.
00:39:08Back then, I left with Hector's mother to work in the city because I needed money.
00:39:12I was trying to build enough of a life to come back and take you away from that rotting border
00:39:16town.
00:39:17But the second I left, Austin cut off every possible way for me to contact you.
00:39:21He guarded the trailer park with a gun and wouldn't even let me get near you.
00:39:25The only thing I could do...
00:39:28Her voice breaks completely.
00:39:31We'll stand outside your school at the beginning of every semester and watch you from across the street.
00:39:40I bite down so hard on my little lip, I taste blood.
00:39:44My vision is completely blurred by tears.
00:39:48And finally, I understand everything.
00:39:52Back then, she was only 18.
00:39:55A girl who had survived something horrific, whose mind was already hanging by a thread.
00:39:59There was no way she could go back to that monster.
00:40:02For her, every step towards that trailer cramp was like walking back into hell itself.
00:40:07But fate has always been cruel.
00:40:09By the time mom finally saved enough money and came back to fight for custody of me,
00:40:14Austin had already sensed something was coming.
00:40:16He grabbed me in the middle of the night and disappeared.
00:40:19And in the 1990s, before cell phones, databases, and internet tracking connected the world,
00:40:25we vanished into countless forgotten trailer parks scattered across America.
00:40:29She never found us again.
00:40:32Valerie cups my face with trembling hands.
00:40:38When you turned 18, you finally tracked down my private number.
00:40:42Her voice cracks apart.
00:40:45But by then, I'd already been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
00:40:51I didn't have much time left, Nora.
00:40:56Her tears mixed with mine as they streamed down our faces together.
00:41:00My body was falling apart day by day.
00:41:02I didn't want to drag you into that.
00:41:04I couldn't bear the thought of you watching me die in a hospital bed,
00:41:07or inheriting all my debt after I was gone.
00:41:10That's why I acted cold on the phone.
00:41:13That's why I pretended I didn't know you.
00:41:15Everything inside my head goes completely blank.
00:41:21The mother I spent my whole life hating never abandoned me.
00:41:25Not once.
00:41:26With a body and soul shattered by a monster,
00:41:29she still fought through the filth and hopelessness of the 1990s with everything she had left,
00:41:34just to keep loving me.
00:41:35We cling to each other in that dark little room and cry until there are no tears left.
00:41:40Finally, I wipe my face hard and force myself to look straight into her eyes.
00:41:46Mom, if we've really both been given another chance,
00:41:50then don't let me become your chance all over again.
00:41:53We can still fix this.
00:41:54We'll go to the hospital.
00:41:56Without me, you can finally live your own life.
00:41:58Valerie instantly shakes her head in panic.
00:42:00Stop!
00:42:01Don't say that!
00:42:02I can't do it!
00:42:03Nora, you are part of me!
00:42:05I will never let you go!
00:42:08She covers her face, crying uncontrollably.
00:42:11And seeing the pain and determination in her eyes,
00:42:14I can't force her anymore.
00:42:15The sunset over the Texas border paints the entire sky blood red.
00:42:20Hot wind rolls through the yard,
00:42:22carrying dust and dry heat that makes my chest tighten with unease.
00:42:25Grandpa fires up the smoker in the backyard,
00:42:27using a stash of oak wood he's been saving for years.
00:42:30Before long, the air fills with the smell of smoked brisket and ribs.
00:42:34Grandma and I spend the entire afternoon preparing dinner,
00:42:36wanting to give Mom, the girl who suffered so much in this timeline,
00:42:39the happiest 18th birthday possible.
00:42:40But just as Grandma wipes her hands clean
00:42:42and starts heading inside to call Valerie at a dinner...
00:42:53Officer Wyatt, we've got a problem.
00:42:55Austin escaped during transport to federal prison.
00:42:58He killed two federal marshals and stole a shotgun.
00:43:01Dispatch intercepted a report ten minutes ago.
00:43:03He's heading straight for town in a stolen pickup truck.
00:43:05The second I hear Austin's name, rage destinates inside my body.
00:43:09Every ounce of blood in my veins feels like it catches fire.
00:43:13He's coming here for revenge!
00:43:20That monster ruined my mother once already.
00:43:32While Grandpa and Grandma rush back inside in Scotch to grab their Remingston Shoe Dungs,
00:43:37I move first.
00:43:45Without hesitation, I snatch up the heavy cleaver sitting beside the cutting board in the kitchen.
00:43:59I don't even look back at the house.
00:44:02Eyes burning red with hatred, I run straight into the blood-colored Texas dusk.
00:44:07Austin, even if this drags my soul straight into hell,
00:44:10This time, I'm going to kill you myself.
00:44:17Night falls fast near the border.
00:44:20Freezing wind filled with sand cuts across my face like blades.
00:44:26I crouch silently in the shadows near the edge of the neighborhood,
00:44:29my palms slick with sweat around the handle of the clemver.
00:44:34But no matter how long I wait,
00:44:37Austin never appears.
00:44:38Then around midnight, a horrible instinct suddenly clenches around my heart.
00:44:43Valerie should have returned from the clinic hours ago,
00:44:46but she still isn't home.
00:44:48Headlights suddenly tear through the darkness.
00:44:50Grandpa's old pickup truck skids to a stop beside me.
00:44:53Scarlett, get in!
00:45:00Grandma and Grandpa both look pale with fear,
00:45:03gripping loaded Remington shoot guns tightly in their hands.
00:45:06We immediately start tracking tire marks and crushed brush along the bide side.
00:45:13Following every sign we can find,
00:45:15the search leads us all the way to the edge of town.
00:45:18Then the pickup engine dies.
00:45:19Silence.
00:45:20Nothing but cold desert wind and darkness.
00:45:23In front of us sits an abandoned trailer park that's been empty for years.
00:45:26We split up to search for Valerie.
00:45:28Let go of me! You're insane! Let me go!
00:45:33Let go of me! You're insane! Let me go!
00:45:38My mind goes blank.
00:45:40I know instantly there's no time to turn back for Grandpa.
00:45:44So I run toward Valerie's screams, alone.
00:45:49But somewhere during those few desperate seconds,
00:45:52hearing my mother crying inside that trailer,
00:45:57something strange happens.
00:46:00The panic inside my head suddenly disappears.
00:46:05Completely.
00:46:08As I sprint through the freezing dark,
00:46:10I grip the heavy meat clever hidden beneath my coat so tightly my hand aches.
00:46:14My palm is slipped with sweat.
00:46:16But my eyes hold no fear anymore.
00:46:18Only calm.
00:46:19And certainty.
00:46:21In that moment, I finally understand why I came back to this world.
00:46:24I wasn't reborn to keep living as that monster's unwanted child.
00:46:28I crossed 28 years of time for one reason only.
00:46:31To set my mother free.
00:46:33Even if it cost the life I was never supposed to have in the first place.
00:46:37I stare at the battered trailer door glowing faintly under the moonlight.
00:46:41And I never slow down for even a second.
00:46:45You sick bastard!
00:46:46Die!
00:46:51Without hesitation, I slam my foot into the flimsy aluminum trailer door.
00:46:57Using the momentum, I throw myself straight at Austin from behind.
00:47:02Under the pale moonlight, I raise the heavy cleaver high over my head
00:47:06and bring it down with every ounce of hatred from both lifetimes behind it.
00:47:11Austin lets out an animalistic scream,
00:47:14but I underestimated what kind of monster he really is.
00:47:20I'm gonna rip you apart!
00:47:22A man who survived years of cartel violence along the border doesn't go down easily.
00:47:28The pain only drives me insane.
00:47:30Before I can swing again, agony shoots through my arm like the bone is about to snap.
00:47:36I'm gonna kill you!
00:47:39The clever is ripped out of my hands instantly.
00:47:41Clang!
00:47:43The weapon crashes to the floor as Austin slams me hard against the ground inside the trailer.
00:47:51Under the dim moonlight leaking through the broken trailer walls,
00:47:54Austin finally sees my face clearly.
00:47:59You little bitch again.
00:48:02You just keep ruining everything!
00:48:05He roars hysterically and raises the clember over his head.
00:48:08Then it comes down.
00:48:10Again.
00:48:11And again.
00:48:12The blade flashes silver through the cramped trailer.
00:48:15Each strike tears violently into my stomach and chest without mercy.
00:48:25Warm blood immediately floods from my mouth, soaking my clothes.
00:48:31It's strange there.
00:48:33I can't feel pain anymore.
00:48:38My mind is terrifyingly clear.
00:48:41Only one thought keeps screaming inside my head.
00:48:44Don't let him go.
00:48:45Don't let him get to Valerie.
00:48:46No!
00:48:48Please!
00:48:48Stop!
00:48:49Let her go!
00:48:53No!
00:48:56Please stop!
00:49:04And the second I see him turning toward my mother again, something inside me snaps,
00:49:10using every last ounce of strength from both my lives.
00:49:14I throw myself onto him from behind, and lock my arms around his body like a steel trap.
00:49:28No matter how violently he punches me, no matter how many times the blade carves into my flesh,
00:49:35I grit my teeth so hard I taste blood and hold on anyway.
00:49:40Even as blood pours from my mouth, I use my dying body weight to keep him pinned in place.
00:49:45You wanna hurt her?
00:49:48Then you'll have to cut me into pieces first.
00:49:52Then you'll have to cut me into pieces first!
00:49:56A deafening shotgun blast erupts through the trailer.
00:50:00Austin!
00:50:01Blinding police spotlights flood the darkness as Grandpa storms inside, roaring.
00:50:06The blast tears straight through Austin's skull.
00:50:10The impact stops the monster cold.
00:50:12His body jerks violently before collapsing to the floor like dead weight.
00:50:17Scarlett!
00:50:18Finally, the demon falls silent, and with the last bit of life draining from my body,
00:50:23I collapse into the blood beside him.
00:50:30Scarlett!
00:50:31Scarlett!
00:50:32Scarlett!
00:50:35Scarlett!
00:50:36Scarlett, wake up!
00:50:37Please!
00:50:39Mom's begging you, please wake up!
00:50:42My mother's screams tear through the freezing Texas night, raw, desperate, sharp enough to rip the sky apart.
00:50:50I wanna lift my hand.
00:50:53Wipe the blood off her face, like I always do.
00:50:56Pull her into my arms one last time.
00:50:58But my arm feels filled with concrete.
00:51:00My body is getting colder by the second, and the voices around me sound farther and farther away, like they're
00:51:05trapped beneath deep water.
00:51:06The whole world is slowly drifting out of reach.
00:51:08I lie there helplessly in the cold, moldy blood pooling across the floor of the abandoned trailer.
00:51:13I see grandpa and grandma rushing toward me.
00:51:17Grandpa's hands, the same steady hands that held a gun his entire life without trembling once.
00:51:22He presses so hard his knuckles turn white, but the blood still keeps pouring through his fingers.
00:51:29Grandma collapses beside me, covering her mouth as sobs wreck her body.
00:51:35The whole world is slowly drifting out of reach.
00:51:39I know then, I'm never gonna wake up again.
00:51:46That monster who haunts both of my lives, like a curse carved into my bones.
00:51:52Austin Walker is finally killed that night by grandpa's shotgun.
00:51:57The blast tears straight through his head.
00:51:59His blood, his violence, his evil.
00:52:02All of it splatter across the rusted trailer walls and sinks into the mud of the Texas borderlands.
00:52:07Justice comes late.
00:52:09The law never even gets the chance to put him on death row.
00:52:12Fate beats it to the punch.
00:52:13Brutal, bloody, and absolute.
00:52:15After two lifetimes of suffering, the debt is finally paid.
00:52:19But the devil's death doesn't bring life back to our family.
00:52:22A few days later, an unusual storm rolls across the border.
00:52:25Cold rain mixes with sand and dirt, turning the whole town gray, muddy, and bitterly cold as if the sky
00:52:30itself is mourning everything we've lost.
00:52:32The Wyatt house falls silent.
00:52:34The kitchen that once smells of barbecue and fresh coffee never lights up again.
00:52:38Valerie becomes a ghost.
00:52:39She barely speaks.
00:52:41Barely moves.
00:52:43Like someone winds her up once and then forgets to do it again.
00:52:46Late one night, after the rain finally stops, she stumbles into my room alone.
00:52:51Dust has already settled across everything I leave behind.
00:52:54With trembling hands, she folds my faded jeans, picks up my unfinished notebooks, smooths out the wrinkles in the blanket
00:53:01on my bed.
00:53:02And the moment her fingers touch those cold sheets, the ones that will never hold my warmth again, something inside
00:53:08her finally breaks.
00:53:09Tears hit the hardwood floor one after another. Soft. Heavy.
00:53:14Nora? Can Mom come find you in heaven?
00:53:21Valerie drops to her knees beside the bed.
00:53:23She buries her pale face deep into my old pillow, the one I never get around to washing.
00:53:29There's still the faint smell of cheap shampoo lingering in the fabric, the last trace of her daughter left in
00:53:35this world.
00:53:36She clutches the sheets so tightly her fingers cramp, crying like a child who loses everything in the middle of
00:53:42the desert.
00:53:45The news of the border shooting reaches Boston overnight.
00:53:49Hector and his mother immediately cancel everything and drive back to Texas.
00:53:55Neither of them asks questions.
00:53:58They simply stay beside my grandparents and help them hold themselves together long enough to bury me.
00:54:05The funeral is held in the little cemetery outside town.
00:54:10For once, there is no sandstorm.
00:54:13White roses cover my grave.
00:54:16Hector stands at the very back of the crowd.
00:54:18The boy who once looked so calm and untouchable now has eyes darkened with grief and rage.
00:54:25He stares at the photo on my headstone, my 18-year-old smile frozen forever in time,
00:54:32and clenches his fists so hard his knuckles turn pale.
00:54:38After the funeral, the atmosphere inside the Wyatt house feels suffocating.
00:54:43Grandpa and Grandma sit silently at the dinner table,
00:54:47exhaustion and grief etched into every line on their faces.
00:54:50Hector sits alone on the old bench near the living room window, staring out at the empty Texas highway.
00:54:56He struggles with himself for a long time before finally standing and walking over to Valerie.
00:55:01He crouches down in front of her carefully, like he's afraid she might shitter if he moves too fast.
00:55:11Valerie, come with us. Leave this place behind.
00:55:14We can start over somewhere else. Okay?
00:55:18His voice is barely above a whisper.
00:55:20He doesn't even dare touch her. He just looks at her with quiet heartbreak in his eyes.
00:55:26Valerie doesn't answer.
00:55:27She sits there in the shadows, clutching my faded denim jacket against her chest like it's the last oxygen left
00:55:33in the world.
00:55:35That night, after everyone finally falls asleep from sheer exhaustion, the old house sinks into silence.
00:55:48And Valerie wanders back into my room again.
00:56:07She doesn't turn on the lights.
00:56:09In a room without me, even the light feels like a mockery.
00:56:17She kneels alone on the cold floor, organizing my belongings one piece at a time under the pale moonlight coming
00:56:24through the window.
00:56:32My textbook's full of notes.
00:56:37My eraser's worn down to almost nothing.
00:56:41Then finally...
00:56:43My old backpack.
00:56:44The cheap one with frayed edges and fading fabric.
00:56:48She pulls it into her arms and buries her face against it, breathing in what little remains of my scent.
00:56:58Then her hand brushes against something hidden deep inside the torn inner lining.
00:57:11Paper.
00:57:12A folded envelope slips loose and falls softly into her lap.
00:57:16On the front is only one word.
00:57:20Those are the words I want to say across two lifetimes.
00:57:24The words I never manage to say out loud before I die.
00:57:35Valerie freezes.
00:57:37Her whole body stiffens as her trembling fingers slowly tear the envelope open.
00:57:42She's shaking so badly, her fingernail slices the edge of the paper and draws blood, but she doesn't even notice.
00:57:50Then she sees the first line.
00:57:53And the moment she reads the name buried deepest inside her heart...
00:58:01Her breathing stops.
00:58:09Mom.
00:58:11If you're reading this, I'm probably already gone.
00:58:21Don't cry for me.
00:58:24From the first day I came back to this timeline, I already make up my mind.
00:58:31I'm going to trade my life for your freedom.
00:58:36Under the moonlight, Valerie's eyes instantly turn red.
00:58:41She covers her mouth tightly to stop herself from sobbing out loud and keeps reading.
00:58:49During those 28 filthy years in my first life, I hated you so much sometimes.
00:58:57Living in that moldy trailer park, I wonder every day why everyone else has a loving mom except me.
00:59:02Why you left me alone in hell.
00:59:05But in this life, I finally learned the truth.
00:59:07My mother loves me more than anyone ever could.
00:59:10You burn your whole life away trying to protect me.
00:59:14And honestly, mom, being loved by you like that is already enough.
00:59:18You're brilliant.
00:59:19Beautiful.
00:59:21Grandpa and grandma love you so much.
00:59:25Hector's mom once says you're meant to soar high above the clouds.
00:59:28Not rot away in border town dirt because some rapist destroys your life.
00:59:33Please let me go, mom.
00:59:34Don't give birth to me again.
00:59:36As long as the name Nora exists, Austin Walker's shadow will always haunt you.
00:59:40This time don't look back.
00:59:42Promise me.
00:59:43Go somewhere cleaner.
00:59:44Higher.
00:59:45Better.
00:59:46Go live the life you're supposed to have.
00:59:48Be free.
00:59:49By the end of the letter, Valerie has completely collapsed onto the floor.
00:59:53She presses those pages against her chest like they're the last pieces of my heartbeat left in the world
00:59:58and cries so hard she can barely breathe.
01:00:01Curled up beside the bed in the darkness, she breaks apart completely.
01:00:05And in that winter night of 1996, in a world without her daughter,
01:00:11my mother lets out the most shattered, guilt-ratened, heartbroken sobs of both our lifetimes.
01:00:21That night, the Texas winter wind howls so hard it nearly tears the old wooden house apart.
01:00:28Valerie clutches my letter against her chest and cries until her voice gives up.
01:00:36In that letter, I beg her to let me go, beg her not to look back, beg her to chase
01:00:41her dreams
01:00:42and finally become the free person she deserves to be.
01:00:46But staring into that empty room, something reignites in her hollow, lifeless eyes.
01:00:54A fire.
01:00:56A stubbornness stronger than grief itself.
01:01:00Valerie whispers hoskily into the darkness.
01:01:04You silly girl.
01:01:07How could a mother ever stop loving her child?
01:01:10She can't do what I ask.
01:01:14Because she had already told me once before.
01:01:18I will never let you go.
01:01:22You are part of my body.
01:01:25Part of my life.
01:01:29A few days later, Hector and his mother help my exhausted grandparents
01:01:35finish arranging everything.
01:01:44Then, carrying unbearable grief with them, the entire family leaves Texas for Boston.
01:01:57The day the bus pulls away, kicking up yellow dust behind it.
01:02:03Valerie stands by the window and takes a deep breath of cold New England air.
01:02:11This time, she isn't running as a victim buried under shame.
01:02:16This time, she's a mother determined to rewrite fate itself.
01:02:21And bring her daughter back into the world with every ounce of love she has.
01:02:28Time moves quickly beneath Boston's blue skies.
01:02:34Valerie throws every ounce of grief and pain into studying.
01:02:40Fueled by the determination of two lifetimes, she works through endless nights until she's accepted into Harvard with near-perfect
01:02:50scores.
01:02:52And Hector, the boy who once cries for me at that Texas bus station,
01:02:58finally achieved his own dream too.
01:03:02Earning a place at one of the country's top medical schools.
01:03:07Textbooks become Valerie's shelter and the child growing inside her.
01:03:11The child once used by monsters as black man is finally being nurtured in warmth and love.
01:03:19The following autumn, beneath golden maple leaves and the bright lights of a Boston maternity room,
01:03:26a baby girl enters the world with a loud, healthy cry.
01:03:31Valerie lies exhausted against the hospital bed, tears blurring her vision as she smiles wider than she ever has before.
01:03:37With trembling arms, she holds the tiny newborn against her chest and kisses her forehead gently.
01:03:44Noma, welcome to the world, baby.
01:03:48This time, there's no moldy trailer park, no violence, no shadow left behind by monsters.
01:03:55Sunlight pours through the hospital windows onto a warm nursery crib.
01:03:58Grandpa and Grandma show up crying and carrying brand-new Barbie dolls.
01:04:03Hector adjusts his glasses and smiles softly beside me.
01:04:07And this version of Nora is finally born into life.
01:04:13After that, life slowly finds its way onto the right path.
01:04:18Without the suffering and burdens of the first timeline,
01:04:20Valerie and Hector both reach the futures they are always meant to have.
01:04:25Hector becomes one of the country's leading surgeons, saving countless lives.
01:04:30Valerie becomes a legendary attorney known across America,
01:04:35dedicating her career to protecting women and children through civil rights law.
01:04:40And the new Nora grows up being Harvard's golden autumn trees,
01:04:44surrounded by love instead of fear.
01:04:47She is bright.
01:04:49Confident.
01:04:50Happy.
01:04:53The cancer that once destroys my body.
01:04:56Never appears in her arms.
01:05:01As little Nora grows up,
01:05:04she watches Valerie and Hector eventually fall in love
01:05:07and build a quiet, beautiful family together.
01:05:10Their life isn't glamorous.
01:05:12But the love they give her overflows far beyond what most families could ever offer.
01:05:18And somewhere inside the golden evening light.
01:05:21The version of me that crosses time itself.
01:05:24The wandering soul, carried away by the wind,
01:05:27finally smiles.
01:05:29At the end of her autobiography, my mother writes one final dedication.
01:05:34Every achievement and honor in my life belongs to a girl named Nora.
01:05:38My daughter once tears open the darkness with her own life,
01:05:42and I spend the rest of mine bringing her back into the light.
01:05:45I lean quietly against my mother's knee in that final memory,
01:05:49and whisper softly in her heart,
01:05:51dear dreams.
01:05:52Mom, this time, you get everything right.
01:05:56And at last, those two wounded souls walk hand in hand
01:06:00towards the endless stars waiting down the clouds.
01:06:05My boyfriend burns the admission letter I just got and hasn't opened yet.
01:06:09He says,
01:06:10One of us should go to college while the other covers the tuition fee.
01:06:13He calls it teamwork.
01:06:15I smile and nod.
01:06:17The admission letter he burned is his own.
01:06:19I'm more than happy if he's going to cover my tuition fee.
01:06:23Finn, did you see an admission letter on the table?
01:06:26When I come home with a bunch of bags,
01:06:28I notice my boyfriend is already there.
01:06:30We live next to each other.
01:06:32We grew up together and started dating when we're older.
01:06:35My parents are away all the time,
01:06:37and Finn's divorced parents ignores him.
01:06:39Feeling heartbroken for him?
01:06:41I gave him a copy of my house key,
01:06:43so he could come over anytime he wanted.
01:06:45Right now, he's sitting on the sofa and eating takeout
01:06:48as he fiddles with his lighter.
01:06:50Finn looks very calm.
01:06:52Something's off.
01:06:53He should have read the admission letter by now.
01:06:56The letter belongs to him.
01:06:57Out of respect, when it was delivered this morning,
01:07:00I didn't open it.
01:07:01I left it in plain sight on the table as a surprise for him.
01:07:05Finn's admission letter came early,
01:07:07and he aced the SAT with flying colors.
01:07:10I think he got into an elite college.
01:07:13I want to celebrate his success.
01:07:15I usually watch my spending,
01:07:17but I went out and bought some nice food and a small cake,
01:07:21so we could celebrate together.
01:07:23No, I didn't see it.
01:07:24Surprisingly, Finn shakes his head.
01:07:27Thing is, I know I left it on the table before I went out.
01:07:30I have a good memory.
01:07:32I know I'm right.
01:07:34It can't be.
01:07:35I left an admission letter before going out.
01:07:38I'm very confused.
01:07:39I'm about to search when he speak.
01:07:41I remember now.
01:07:42Finn suddenly grabs my hand and says with unease,
01:07:45I burned it.
01:07:46He points at the kitchen trash can, still smoking.
01:07:50What?
01:07:51Why would you burn an admission letter?
01:07:53I rush into the kitchen and reach out to salvage the burning letter.
01:07:57Half of it is scorched, but I have to do what I can.
01:08:00Finn studied long and hard to get this.
01:08:03I can't let it go up in flames.
01:08:05I just can't.
01:08:06It's already ruined.
01:08:07Don't hurt yourself. I'll be worried.
01:08:10Acting concerned, Finn grabs my burned hand and drags me to the couch,
01:08:14despite my protests.
01:08:15The fire in the kitchen trash can dies down.
01:08:19The black smoke thinning.
01:08:21Why, Finn?
01:08:22Why did you do that?
01:08:23I'm utterly confused.
01:08:25He's always said he had a lousy family, and he needed to get into a college to change his life
01:08:30for the better.
01:08:31Why would he burn his admission letter?
01:08:34One of us going to college is enough.
01:08:36After I keep pressuring him, he finally tells me what he really thinks.
01:08:40He must have realized how despicable he had been.
01:08:43After all, he doesn't dare to meet my gaze.
01:08:46What do you mean?
01:08:47I think I heard it wrong.
01:08:48What does he mean by that?
01:08:50What about me, then?
01:08:52We aced the SAT.
01:08:53We can attend college instead of working.
01:08:56That's stupid!
01:08:58Why doesn't he take the easy way?
01:09:01He didn't burn his own admission letter just to go to work, did he?
01:09:04Has he got a screw loose?
01:09:06I just don't get it.
01:09:08I just told you, college costs a lot.
01:09:11One of us should keep studying for a bright future, while the other covers the tuition fee.
01:09:15It's teamwork. Are you cool with that?
01:09:18Flushed Finn makes a cruel request, eager to go to college.
01:09:22When his parents divorced, he chose independence.
01:09:26Then, he got an old house and $50,000 from them.
01:09:30Now, the money is nearly gone.
01:09:33He doesn't have money, and he doesn't want to be shamed for working while in college.
01:09:38So, it's just when someone earned pay.
01:09:38it's never been locked.
01:09:38So, as you can, the people have no money!
01:09:38It's even more intelligent than you riding as a dream Рим hatte Sunderedовой
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