Cutting the Cord - Reborn as My Mom's High School Frenemy - Full - video Dailymotion

Golden.Rewind

Cutting the Cord - Reborn as My Mom's High School Frenemy - Full

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00:00:001996, Texas.

00:00:02I suddenly jerk up from the sink, gasping for air.

00:00:04Water drips from my thick blonde hair.

00:00:06I stare at the mirror in shock.

00:00:07The face staring back at me is vibrant, beautiful, full of life.

00:00:10Vintage, smoky eye makeup framing a chalky teenage face.

00:00:1318. You young, healthy, cancer-free.

00:00:16I've been thrown back into the dead-end Texas high school years

00:00:19my mom spent her entire life clawing her way out of.

00:00:22Suddenly, the bathroom door swings open.

00:00:25A familiar grapefruit perfume hits me instantly.

00:00:27It's Valerie, my 18-year-old mother.

00:00:29Her hair is pulled into a high-tony tail,

00:00:31high-waisted jeans hugging her hips,

00:00:33a white tamtop straight out of a 90s teen magazine.

00:00:36Come on, the pep lolly's about to start.

00:00:37She yanks me forward hard enough to make me stumble.

00:00:40But instead of following her, I freeze.

00:00:42Stare at the young face in front of me,

00:00:44untouched by wealth, untouched by surgery,

00:00:46untouched by the years that twisted her into a monster.

00:00:48Valerie, we're... friends?

00:00:51Uh, duh, we're best friends.

00:00:53Why are you being so weird today? Come on!

00:00:55She turns and keeps pulling me towards the door.

00:00:57Half a step behind her, I stare at her back.

00:00:59The confusion in my eyes vanishes instantly,

00:01:01replaced by something cold, something vicious.

00:01:04The school's public address system drones on

00:01:06from the loudspeaker's overhead,

00:01:07buzzing with the daily lunch menu.

00:01:09Pizza slices, tater tots, and chocolate milk.

00:01:12Valerie pulls me through the crowded hallway,

00:01:14her hand warm and dry in mine.

00:01:16And then it hits me again,

00:01:18that sharp grapefruit perfume.

00:01:20The scent wraps around me so suddenly,

00:01:23my breath catches.

00:01:24It was the smell I knew best as a child.

00:01:26Before I turned five,

00:01:28she used to hold me in her arms,

00:01:29humming old country songs and asking if I loved her.

00:01:32But after she ditched me to chase her high school sweetheart to the big city,

00:01:36that scent only ever showed up in my nightmares.

00:01:39Scarlet, you've been acting weird all day.

00:01:41Scarlet?

00:01:42God, even this body's name sucks.

00:01:45Carefully, I slip my hand out of hers.

00:01:47My eyes swamp across the hallway,

00:01:49the dented locker numbers,

00:01:50the faded football team pictures,

00:01:52the bulletin board plastered with fall semester 1996.

00:01:55Cheerleaders rush past us,

00:01:57ponytails flying,

00:01:58while some varsity asshole has a scrawny kid pinned against a logger,

00:02:01shaking him down for lunch money.

00:02:03This isn't a dream.

00:02:04I'm really back in the 90s.

00:02:06That's when a tall, lanky guy with glasses started walking toward us.

00:02:10Hector, my mother's first love.

00:02:12The man who ruined all our lives.

00:02:14Hey, this is my Scarlet.

00:02:15She just transferred it in.

00:02:16Scarlet, meet Hector.

00:02:17Straight A student,

00:02:18total teacher's pet,

00:02:19basically tutoring half the school.

00:02:21Hey, I'm Hector.

00:02:23Welcome to East Ridge.

00:02:24The second I hear his name,

00:02:26my stomach turns.

00:02:27I ignore his hand completely

00:02:29and scan the noisy hallway

00:02:31for the one person who should have been here.

00:02:33Where's my dad?

00:02:35Austin should be at this school too.

00:02:37Wait, Austin's not in your class?

00:02:39Austin?

00:02:40There's no Austin in this entire school.

00:02:44Austin Walker, my dad.

00:02:45He's not, he's not here?

00:02:49Your dad?

00:02:50Just as I'm scrambling for an excuse,

00:02:52a roar erupts from the end of the hallway and saves me.

00:02:55The pep rally's starting.

00:02:57You coming or what?

00:02:58Sunlight spills across her shoulders.

00:03:00For a second,

00:03:01she looks nothing like the woman

00:03:02who would one day watch me die without blinking.

00:03:05The gym is loud,

00:03:06humilded,

00:03:07packed wall to wall.

00:03:08Football players in red jerseys

00:03:10charge onto the court

00:03:11while cheerleaders shake palm balls

00:03:13under the flashing lights.

00:03:14The bleachers thunder with stomping feet

00:03:16and screaming students.

00:03:18This Friday,

00:03:19let's show Eastridge who really runs this town.

00:03:22The crowd explodes.

00:03:24She's radiant up there.

00:03:25Beside me,

00:03:26Hector adjusts his glasses,

00:03:28eyes fixed on her.

00:03:29She's gonna get out of this town someday.

00:03:31He says it like he already knows the future.

00:03:34I don't answer.

00:03:35I just stare at Valerie beneath the spotlight.

00:03:37After the rally,

00:03:39students pour out of the gym.

00:03:40The halls fill with slamming lockers

00:03:43and overlapping conversations again.

00:03:45People argue about Friday's game.

00:03:48Girls debate who's gonna win prom queen.

00:03:50Last period is study hall.

00:03:52Valerie sits one row ahead of me by the window.

00:03:54Her notes need enough to look typed.

00:03:56As she flips a page,

00:03:58something slips out from between her books.

00:04:01A pale green application packet.

00:04:03Harvard University.

00:04:04My breathing catches.

00:04:05She actually got an application.

00:04:08But later in life,

00:04:09she always says Harvard was never an option

00:04:11for someone like her.

00:04:12So that was a lie too.

00:04:13Valerie,

00:04:14your future turns out cheap and pathetic anyway.

00:04:16So why are you out here

00:04:16pretend to be some gifted golden girl right now?

00:04:18It makes me sick.

00:04:19I rise from my seat.

00:04:21Then,

00:04:21with one sharp shove of my elbow,

00:04:23I knock over the black coffee on her desk.

00:04:26The dark liquid spills perfectly

00:04:27across the application packet,

00:04:29soaking through the giant Harvard crest

00:04:31until the ink begins to bleed.

00:04:32I stare at her coldly,

00:04:34waiting for her to snap.

00:04:35Waiting for the mask to fall off.

00:04:37Waiting to finally see the real Valerie

00:04:39underneath all that fake sweetness.

00:04:41But her reaction throws me completely off.

00:04:46Oh God, Scarlet!

00:04:47Are you okay?

00:04:48She grabs a stack of napkins

00:04:50and immediately starts swiping coffee off my hand.

00:04:52There's real concern in her eyes.

00:04:53No anger.

00:04:54No blame.

00:04:55Not even irritation.

00:04:56It's wrong.

00:04:57She's too nice.

00:04:58So nice it scares me.

00:05:00Nice enough to make me wonder

00:05:01if the woman I remember

00:05:02was ever the real Valerie at all.

00:05:04Just then,

00:05:05the classroom door swings open.

00:05:07A Latino teacher steps inside

00:05:08and walks over to Valerie's desk.

00:05:10Hey, Valerie.

00:05:12Something came up with Scarlet's family.

00:05:14Kind of an emergency.

00:05:15Your parents called

00:05:16and asked if you could bring her home

00:05:17with you after school.

00:05:18An emergency?

00:05:20What the hell happened?

00:05:21By the time school lets out,

00:05:23the Texas sunset looks like

00:05:24the whole sky's on fire.

00:05:26Stadium lights flicker on

00:05:27one by one around the football field.

00:05:29The cheer squad is still practicing

00:05:30while snippets of 90s pop songs

00:05:32crack through the loudspears.

00:05:33Valerie walks a few steps ahead of me,

00:05:35her ponytail swaying softly behind her.

00:05:37She suddenly stops

00:05:38and turns to me gently.

00:05:39I heard about your parents.

00:05:41Scarlet, don't be scared, okay?

00:05:42You've still got me.

00:05:43We're best friends.

00:05:44Then she pulls me into a hug.

00:05:45I'm sorry for what happened.

00:05:46If you need a shoulder to cry on,

00:05:47I'll always be here.

00:05:48That faint grapefruit scent

00:05:50wraps around me again

00:05:51and just like that, I break.

00:05:53In my last life,

00:05:54there were countless nights

00:05:54when I would have given anything

00:05:55for this exact embrace.

00:05:57As I sob into her shoulder,

00:05:59I deliberately smears and snot

00:06:00all over her pretty shirt.

00:06:01Petty revenge.

00:06:02Pathetic, tiny revenge.

00:06:04But her arms are warm

00:06:05exactly the way I remember

00:06:06from childhood.

00:06:07So how the hell did someone like this

00:06:09become the woman

00:06:10who wouldn't even save my life?

00:06:12A bicycle bell rings behind us.

00:06:14Hector catches up,

00:06:15pushing an old bike

00:06:15with a paper box of cupcakes

00:06:16sitting in the basket.

00:06:17He adjusts his glasses awkwardly.

00:06:19Sugar helps.

00:06:21A little, anyway.

00:06:22I watch the two of them

00:06:23walking side by side

00:06:24beneath the football field lights

00:06:25and something bitter twists

00:06:26in my chest.

00:06:27What, Hector?

00:06:28You gonna pick her up

00:06:29like this every day?

00:06:30Keep her stuck in this town

00:06:31and make her your wife someday?

00:06:32Hector stops walking,

00:06:33but when he looks at me,

00:06:35his expression is completely

00:06:36open and sincere.

00:06:37Valerie's meant for bigger things

00:06:38than this place.

00:06:39She's too talented

00:06:40to spend her life

00:06:41shrinking herself for some guy.

00:06:44That'd be...

00:06:45wrong.

00:06:46I freeze

00:06:47because I never imagined

00:06:48Hector would say

00:06:49something like that.

00:06:52I'm not getting stuck

00:06:53married with kids at 18.

00:06:55I want to see

00:06:56what's out there first.

00:06:57But you did have me at 18.

00:06:58You ended up trapped

00:06:59in a rotting trailer park

00:07:00full of violence

00:07:01and screaming

00:07:01and broken walls.

00:07:03Valerie,

00:07:03did your dreams betray you?

00:07:05The whole walk there,

00:07:07something about this timeline

00:07:08feels off in a way

00:07:09I can't explain.

00:07:11And then Valerie

00:07:12opens the front door.

00:07:14The smell of home-cooked food

00:07:16hits me instantly.

00:07:18So you're Scarlet, huh?

00:07:20Hi, Mr. Wyatt.

00:07:22Thanks for letting me stay over.

00:07:24He bursts out laughing

00:07:26and pulls me inside

00:07:27before I can even finish.

00:07:29The house is warm,

00:07:31spotless,

00:07:31lived in.

00:07:32There's a brand new pair

00:07:33of slippers waiting for me

00:07:34by the entryway

00:07:34along with folded pajamas

00:07:36set out they'd been

00:07:36expecting me for days.

00:07:37The living room walls

00:07:38are lined with plaques,

00:07:39commendations,

00:07:40and framed federal service award.

00:07:41On the TV,

00:07:42a local news station

00:07:43is covering a major

00:07:44drug trafficking case

00:07:45near the Texas border.

00:07:46A photo flashes on screen

00:07:47of two fallen narcotics agents.

00:07:49Your parents were good people, kiddo.

00:07:51Best partners I ever had.

00:07:53Real heroes.

00:07:54And from now on,

00:07:55this house is yours too.

00:07:56You hear me?

00:07:57That's when it finally hits me.

00:07:59The parents belonging to this body

00:08:01are already dead.

00:08:02Dinner is loud and warm

00:08:03and painfully alive.

00:08:05Grandpa keeps piling food onto plates.

00:08:07Grandma laughs at everything.

00:08:08A dog nudges against my legs

00:08:09beneath the table.

00:08:10The kitchen light glows so warmly

00:08:12it almost hurts to look at.

00:08:13And across from me sits Valerie,

00:08:14laughing freely

00:08:15while her parents dole on her

00:08:16like she's the center

00:08:17of their universe.

00:08:18My chest tightens so hard

00:08:19it feels unbearable.

00:08:21This is insane.

00:08:22Like some cruel cosmic joke.

00:08:24She grew up surrounded

00:08:25by this much love.

00:08:26So how the hell

00:08:27did she become someone

00:08:28who could watch me die

00:08:29without a single shred

00:08:30of kindness?

00:08:31Late that night,

00:08:32Valerie and I lay

00:08:33side by side in the dark.

00:08:35There's been this huge cartel case

00:08:37near the border lately.

00:08:38I keep having nightmares

00:08:39something's gonna happen

00:08:40to my parents.

00:08:41At 18,

00:08:42she looks so young,

00:08:44so fragile.

00:08:45Before sunrise,

00:08:46I wake to the sound

00:08:47of movement in the living room.

00:08:49Grandpa is sitting by the door

00:08:50pulling on his police boots.

00:08:51I run out barefoot

00:08:52and grab onto his sleeve

00:08:53before he can leave.

00:08:54Mr. Wyatt,

00:08:55please be careful out there.

00:08:56He smiles and ruffles my hair.

00:08:58I will, kiddo.

00:08:59Promise I'll come home safe.

00:09:00Then he and Grandma

00:09:01disappear together

00:09:02into the pale border fog

00:09:04of early morning

00:09:04and the dread in my chest

00:09:06only grows heavier.

00:09:10Valerie stumbles out of bed

00:09:11half asleep the next morning

00:09:13and stands in front of the mirror,

00:09:15completely lost

00:09:15trying to fix her ponytail.

00:09:17God, she's hopeless.

00:09:19I walk over

00:09:19and quietly redo her hair for her.

00:09:22It's the first time

00:09:23in both my lives

00:09:24that I've ever been

00:09:24this close to her.

00:09:26Scarlett,

00:09:26how are you so good at this?

00:09:27And suddenly I remember how,

00:09:29when I was little,

00:09:30she always hacked my hair off

00:09:31into awful tomboy cuts.

00:09:33Maybe it wasn't coldness after all.

00:09:35Maybe 18-year-old Valerie

00:09:36just barely knew

00:09:37how to take care of herself.

00:09:38A bicycle bell rings

00:09:39outside the yard.

00:09:40Hector,

00:09:40right on schedule.

00:09:41He hands me an ice-cold soda,

00:09:43then stares at my face

00:09:44for a little too long.

00:09:47Scarlett,

00:09:47is it just me

00:09:48or are you starting to look

00:09:49more and more like Valerie?

00:09:51A chill shoots straight through me.

00:09:52Right before I died

00:09:53in my last life,

00:09:54I was barely recognizable,

00:09:55skin and bones from the cancer.

00:09:56But the last time

00:09:57I looked in a mirror,

00:09:58I realized something horrifying.

00:09:59I hadn't taken over

00:10:00someone else's body.

00:10:01I came back wearing

00:10:02my own 18-year-old face.

00:10:04Pretty girls always

00:10:05kind of look alike, right?

00:10:06Surrounded by all this warmth,

00:10:08I start wavering.

00:10:09It gets harder and harder

00:10:10to connect this version of Valini

00:10:12to the woman from my last life.

00:10:13This girl is kind,

00:10:15bright,

00:10:15alive.

00:10:16I finally begin to understand

00:10:18why my dad,

00:10:18Austin,

00:10:19spent his whole life loving her

00:10:20even when she never

00:10:21truly loved him back.

00:10:22Part of me even starts thinking

00:10:23that when I finally meet him

00:10:24in this timeline,

00:10:25maybe I should tell him

00:10:26to fall for somebody else.

00:10:27But I never imagined

00:10:29that just as I started

00:10:30letting my guard down,

00:10:31hell was already

00:10:31opening its doors.

00:10:33School lets out early that day.

00:10:35Hector and I stop by

00:10:36a taco truck on the corner.

00:10:38Valerie says she's tired

00:10:39and asks us to grab her

00:10:41a baked potato

00:10:41before heading home

00:10:42ahead of us.

00:10:43We're almost at her house

00:10:45when an old pickup truck

00:10:46with no plates

00:10:47suddenly comes flying backward

00:10:49out of the driveway.

00:10:50Several tattooed men in masks

00:10:52jump into the bed

00:10:53of the truck.

00:10:54Then a scream

00:10:55tears through the air.

00:10:57It's Valerie.

00:11:01Hector and I sprint

00:11:02toward the house so fast

00:11:03my lungs feel like

00:11:04like they're tearing apart.

00:11:06The front door

00:11:07hangs crooked on its hinges,

00:11:08creaking heavily

00:11:09as it swings loosely

00:11:10against the broken frame.

00:11:12The second we step inside,

00:11:13the smell hits me.

00:11:14Blood, sweat, whiskey.

00:11:16The living room

00:11:16looks like a battlefield.

00:11:17Furniture overturned.

00:11:18Glass shattered everywhere.

00:11:19Family photos

00:11:20ripped from the walls.

00:11:21Blood smeared across

00:11:21the wooden floorboards

00:11:22in long streaks

00:11:23like someone had been dragged.

00:11:24Grandpa and Grandma

00:11:25lie motionless

00:11:26on the ground.

00:11:27And in the middle of the room,

00:11:29Valerie,

00:11:29covered in blood,

00:11:31curled up on the floor.

00:11:32A tattooed man

00:11:33stands nearby,

00:11:34calmly fixing his belt

00:11:35like nothing happened.

00:11:37Hector roars and charges at him,

00:11:39only to get kicked hard

00:11:40across the room.

00:11:42The stranger turns

00:11:42toward me slowly.

00:11:43Then he grabs my collar

00:11:45and jerks me forward

00:11:46and jerks me forward

00:11:46so violently

00:11:46my feet leave the ground.

00:11:48Hector!

00:11:50The stench of blood

00:11:51and cigarettes

00:11:51floods my nose

00:11:53so hard I nearly gag.

00:11:54Well, damn.

00:11:55If it isn't Officer Miller's kid.

00:11:57Lucky day for you, sweetheart.

00:12:00Boss already told us

00:12:01to pull out.

00:12:02Otherwise,

00:12:02you'd have been

00:12:03a lot of fun, too.

00:12:04He spits onto the floor

00:12:05beside me

00:12:06and turns to leave.

00:12:08Behind him,

00:12:09Valerie curls tighter

00:12:10into herself,

00:12:11desperately clutching

00:12:12the ripped fabric

00:12:12over her chest.

00:12:14A broken sound

00:12:15escapes her throat.

00:12:16Something inside me snaps.

00:12:18I throw myself forward

00:12:19and grab the man's

00:12:20pant leg with both hands.

00:12:21Moonlight spills

00:12:22through the shattered window,

00:12:23sliding across the side

00:12:24of his face.

00:12:25That jawline,

00:12:26that scar near his mouth,

00:12:27that voice,

00:12:28my entire body freezes.

00:12:30The world goes

00:12:31completely silent around me

00:12:32because he isn't

00:12:33some random cartel thug.

00:12:35He's Austin,

00:12:37my father.

00:12:41Hector scrambles to the wall

00:12:43and grabs the landline,

00:12:44but the phone cord

00:12:45has already been cut.

00:12:49You brought this on yourself,

00:12:50you little bitch!

00:12:52He lunges at me

00:12:53and starts ripping

00:12:54at my clothes,

00:12:55yanking violently

00:12:56at my collar.

00:12:57Trying to save me,

00:12:58Hector throws himself

00:12:59at Austin again

00:13:00without a second thought.

00:13:01In the chaos,

00:13:02I catch a flash of murder

00:13:04in Austin's eyes.

00:13:05He suddenly pulls

00:13:06a hunting knife

00:13:06from the back

00:13:07of his waist hand

00:13:08and in that instant,

00:13:09I completely lose it.

00:13:10Without thinking,

00:13:12I grab the blade

00:13:13with my bare hand.

00:13:14My dad?

00:13:15How could this be my dad?

00:13:16Tears crash

00:13:17into the growing pool

00:13:18of blood beneath me.

00:13:19The man I loved most

00:13:21growing up,

00:13:21the father who raised me

00:13:23in that trailer park

00:13:24with nothing.

00:13:25How could it be you?

00:13:26You're a rapist now,

00:13:27a murderer.

00:13:28I can't take it.

00:13:29I feel like I'm losing

00:13:30my mind.

00:13:31But the sharp pain

00:13:32slicing through my palm

00:13:33and Vallier's desperate

00:13:35sobbing remind me

00:13:36this is real.

00:13:37I clamp down on the knife

00:13:38with everything I have

00:13:40and scream hysterically

00:13:41at Hector.

00:13:42Hector, run!

00:13:43Go get help!

00:13:45Go!

00:13:45Now!

00:13:46Blood streams

00:13:47down Hector's face

00:13:48as he staggers

00:13:49toward the door

00:13:50and bolts outside.

00:13:51And the second he's gone,

00:13:53Austin completely snaps.

00:13:55With a vicious twist

00:13:56of his wrist,

00:13:57he jerks the knife free

00:13:58and points the blade

00:14:00straight at my throat.

00:14:03But just then,

00:14:05my grandmother,

00:14:06who had been lying

00:14:07motionless in a pool of blood,

00:14:08somehow forces herself

00:14:10back up

00:14:10with the last bit of strength

00:14:12she has left.

00:14:13Austin turns,

00:14:15ready to stab the next.

00:14:18No!

00:14:18I slam into him

00:14:20with everything I have.

00:14:21The blade plunges

00:14:22straight into my stomach.

00:14:24Warmth explodes

00:14:25through my body.

00:14:25Then comes the pain.

00:14:27Endless,

00:14:28crushing pain.

00:14:29I press both hands

00:14:30against the wound,

00:14:31holding onto the knife

00:14:32with everything I've got

00:14:33so Austin can't

00:14:34pull it back out.

00:14:35You can't kill them.

00:14:37You can't.

00:14:39I'm crying,

00:14:41choking as blood pours

00:14:42from my mouth

00:14:43in heavy bursts.

00:14:44But Austin just twists

00:14:45the knife cruelly

00:14:46inside me.

00:14:48The agony sends me

00:14:49collapsing to my knees

00:14:51in the blood.

00:14:51That's when Grandma

00:14:52suddenly wraps both arms

00:14:54around Austin's neck

00:14:55from behind

00:14:55and drags him to the floor

00:14:56with every ounce of strength

00:14:57she has left.

00:14:58My grandfather,

00:15:00already covered in blood,

00:15:01grabs onto Austin's leg

00:15:02and refuses to let go.

00:15:04Realizing he's about

00:15:05to get caught,

00:15:06Austin curses violently,

00:15:07kicks himself free from them

00:15:08and climbs out the window,

00:15:10disappearing into the darkness

00:15:11near the border.

00:15:12Scarlet!

00:15:14Scarlet, stay with me!

00:15:15Please, don't close your eyes!

00:15:18Through my fading vision,

00:15:20I feel Valerie pulling me

00:15:21into her arms.

00:15:22My consciousness

00:15:23is already slipping away,

00:15:25sobbing controllably.

00:15:26With tears and blood

00:15:27all over my face,

00:15:28I still try to take off

00:15:29my jacket and cover her with it.

00:15:31But I'm too weak.

00:15:32My arm barely lifts halfway

00:15:33before it drops

00:15:34limply into the blood.

00:15:35In the distance,

00:15:36sirens scream through the night.

00:15:38I hear Hector crying

00:15:39as he rushes back inside

00:15:40with the police.

00:15:41Then everything goes dark.

00:15:43Somewhere far away,

00:15:44voices echo around me

00:15:45as I'm lifted onto a stretcher.

00:15:48She's flatlining.

00:15:49Move!

00:15:49Get the defibrillator now!

00:15:53When I finally open my eyes again,

00:15:54all I see is the pale white ceiling

00:15:56of a hospital room.

00:15:57Sitting beside my bed is Hector.

00:15:58When he ran for help,

00:15:59Austin's men caught him

00:16:00and beat him half to death.

00:16:01The second he sees me awake,

00:16:02arrogant genius,

00:16:03completely falls apart.

00:16:04He wipes his eyes

00:16:05while gripping to entail.

00:16:06You were the last one to wake up.

00:16:08Do you have any idea

00:16:09how close you came to dying?

00:16:10You scared the hell out of us!

00:16:12He's crying so hard,

00:16:13it's a complete mess.

00:16:14Tears, snot, everything.

00:16:15At one point,

00:16:15he even spits on my face

00:16:16while talking.

00:16:17I let out a weak laugh.

00:16:18The anesthesia still

00:16:19hasn't fully worn over.

00:16:20I can't really feel pain yet,

00:16:21just a heavy numbness

00:16:21all over my body.

00:16:22I look at him anxiously.

00:16:23Valerie's parents?

00:16:24And Valerie, are they okay?

00:16:27Her folks made it

00:16:28to the hospital just in time.

00:16:29If that knife had hit

00:16:30either of them any worse.

00:16:33I struggle to sit up,

00:16:34desperate to see her,

00:16:35but before I can move,

00:16:36the hospital room door

00:16:36slowly opens.

00:16:38Valerie is standing there.

00:16:39Her eyes look hollow,

00:16:40and when she looks at me,

00:16:41there's something shattered

00:16:42in them I can't even

00:16:43begin to explain.

00:16:44I say her name softly.

00:16:46She nods faintly

00:16:46and walks over.

00:16:47Her cold fingers

00:16:48are on my shoulder.

00:16:49Does it hurt?

00:16:50I shake my head.

00:16:51Looking at her red-rimmed eyes,

00:16:53I force a small smile.

00:16:55Have you been crying?

00:16:56She doesn't answer.

00:16:57She just holds my hand tighter

00:16:59and gently squeezes my cheek

00:17:00like she's afraid I'll disappear.

00:17:01And suddenly,

00:17:02she lowers her head

00:17:03and tears drip

00:17:03onto the back of my hand.

00:17:04Thank you, Scarlett.

00:17:06If it weren't for you,

00:17:07I would have lost my parents.

00:17:10I look at the 18-year-old version

00:17:11of my mother

00:17:12standing in front of me,

00:17:13her fate already

00:17:14completely changed

00:17:15because of me.

00:17:15I sniff hard,

00:17:17holding back tears.

00:17:17I don't say a single word.

00:17:19I just let her tears

00:17:20soak into my skin

00:17:21before slowly lifting

00:17:22my free hand

00:17:22and placing it softly

00:17:23over the trembling hand

00:17:24resting on my shoulder.

00:17:28Valerie looks down

00:17:29at my hand covering hers

00:17:30as if she understands

00:17:31the comfort in my eyes.

00:17:34She takes a deep breath.

00:17:37Tears still cling to her lashes,

00:17:38but for the first time

00:17:40in forever,

00:17:40her voice carries

00:17:41a little relief.

00:17:43I've got good news.

00:17:44The case is over.

00:17:45The cartel operation

00:17:46finally got busted.

00:17:48Every single person

00:17:49involved in the attack

00:17:49was caught near the border.

00:17:51My parents can finally

00:17:52rest for a while.

00:17:53The moment I hear

00:17:54Austin and the traffickers

00:17:55were all arrested,

00:17:56my entire mind goes blank.

00:17:58Relief crashes over me

00:17:59so hard I almost shoot upright

00:18:00in the hospital bed.

00:18:01Wait, seriously?

00:18:02They caught all of them?

00:18:05Yes, seriously.

00:18:07Now stop moving

00:18:07before you rip

00:18:08your stitches open.

00:18:09Crushing weight

00:18:10that haunted me

00:18:10through both lifetimes

00:18:11finally disappears

00:18:12at that moment.

00:18:13Meanwhile, Hector,

00:18:14who has been sitting

00:18:14nearby this entire time,

00:18:16calmly peels a banana

00:18:17like nothing's happening.

00:18:18Doctor said you should eat this.

00:18:20You've already woken up

00:18:21a few times

00:18:21these past couple days.

00:18:22You've managed to pass gas,

00:18:23so now they're just waiting

00:18:24to see if you can finally

00:18:25have a bowel movement.

00:18:27Coming from someone

00:18:28usually this serious,

00:18:29it's so absurd

00:18:29I completely lose it.

00:18:30Unfortunately,

00:18:31the second I laugh,

00:18:32pain rips through

00:18:32the stitches in my abdomen.

00:18:33I immediately hiss in pain,

00:18:35clutching my stomach.

00:18:35Valerie starts laughing too,

00:18:37but after a few seconds

00:18:38her laughter fades.

00:18:39Tears suddenly begin

00:18:39falling again without warning.

00:18:41She tries to cry quietly.

00:18:43She doesn't want

00:18:43either of us to notice.

00:18:44Hector's smile

00:18:45slowly disappears too.

00:18:47I wrap both arms tightly

00:18:48around this 18-year-old girl.

00:18:50At that moment,

00:18:51through my chest

00:18:52is no longer the hatred

00:18:53I carried in my previous life.

00:18:54Mom,

00:18:55if I had known

00:18:56my biologed father

00:18:57was the monster

00:18:58who destroyed your entire family,

00:18:59how could I ever

00:19:00have hated you?

00:19:01I would have only hated myself

00:19:03forever being born,

00:19:04since fate gave me

00:19:05another chance.

00:19:06Then this time,

00:19:07I'll set you free.

00:19:11After surviving the nightmare,

00:19:13the little Texas town

00:19:13slowly comes back to life.

00:19:15Once I'm discharged

00:19:15from the hospital,

00:19:16my grandparents take me home.

00:19:18Grandpa proudly hands me

00:19:19a limited edition Barbie doll

00:19:20he brought back from New York.

00:19:21In my previous life,

00:19:22it was the only toy

00:19:23my mother had ever given me,

00:19:24but this time,

00:19:25somehow,

00:19:25it heals me first.

00:19:26Then Grandma

00:19:27completely hijacks

00:19:28what was supposed to be

00:19:28an emotional family dinner

00:19:29with giant sizzling Texas steaks,

00:19:31oversized cowboy hats

00:19:32and boots that look

00:19:33straight out of a Hollywood audition,

00:19:34and enough chaos

00:19:35to turn the whole night upside down.

00:19:37Even Hector,

00:19:38who normally acts

00:19:38way too composed for his age,

00:19:40finally laughs

00:19:40without holding back.

00:19:43But beneath the warm

00:19:44yellow glow of the dinner lights,

00:19:46the conversation

00:19:46eventually turns to goodbye.

00:19:48Hector's mother

00:19:48lifts her wine glass,

00:19:49eyes red and swollen,

00:19:50and quietly announces

00:19:51that they're moving back

00:19:52to Boston before Thanksgiving.

00:19:53She can't handle the danger

00:19:54near the border anymore.

00:19:56And in that moment,

00:19:57a misunderstanding

00:19:58from both my lifetimes

00:19:59finally unravels.

00:20:00In my previous life,

00:20:02Hector never left

00:20:03because he looked down

00:20:03on my mother's reputation.

00:20:05His mother had simply

00:20:06watched her son nearly die.

00:20:07Any parent would have wanted

00:20:08to run from this place

00:20:09after that.

00:20:10As an old country song

00:20:12crackles through the radio

00:20:13in the background,

00:20:14we start talking

00:20:14about the future.

00:20:16Valerie asks

00:20:16where I want to go

00:20:17to school someday.

00:20:18I look at her,

00:20:19the girl whose entire future

00:20:21was crushed fate

00:20:21in my previous life.

00:20:23An answer without hesitation,

00:20:25Harvard.

00:20:25Under the endless

00:20:26Texas night sky,

00:20:27with the Milky Way

00:20:28stretched above her

00:20:28like a dream,

00:20:29I finally understand

00:20:30the suffocating pain

00:20:31she carried in her

00:20:31previous life.

00:20:32I turn my head slightly

00:20:33and whisper so softly

00:20:34that only I can hear it.

00:20:35Mom, this time

00:20:36go live your life,

00:20:36chase your dreams,

00:20:37be yourself again.

00:20:38As for me,

00:20:39I'll stay behind

00:20:39in the darkness

00:20:40of this timeline.

00:20:41The day Hector leaves,

00:20:42the boy who has always

00:20:43been calm and restrained

00:20:44completely breaks down

00:20:45the moment he steps

00:20:46onto the bus.

00:20:47Clinging to the window,

00:20:48he cries so hard

00:20:49he can barely breathe.

00:20:50And then the bus

00:20:50slowly pulls away,

00:20:51kicking up clouds

00:20:52of Texas dust

00:20:53before disappearing

00:20:54at the end of the highway.

00:20:55Watching the bus

00:20:56vanish into the distance,

00:20:57I think life might

00:20:58finally return to normal.

00:20:59But fate still

00:21:00isn't done with me yet.

00:21:01Something happened

00:21:02to Valerie.

00:21:05After seeing Hector off,

00:21:07we head home

00:21:07through the bitter

00:21:07Texas winter wind.

00:21:08I cling tightly

00:21:09to Valerie's arm,

00:21:10trying my best

00:21:10to keep the mood light

00:21:11while talking excitedly

00:21:12about Christmas dinner plans.

00:21:13It has to be there.

00:21:14And Mr. Wyatt

00:21:15smoked pulled pork too.

00:21:16No argument.

00:21:16This year,

00:21:17we are eating like royalty.

00:21:18I'm still rambling happily

00:21:19when Valerie's expression

00:21:20suddenly changes.

00:21:21Without warning,

00:21:21she jerks her arm

00:21:22out of my grasp.

00:21:23Like a frightened deer,

00:21:24she stumbles towards

00:21:25a trash can

00:21:26on the side of the road,

00:21:27bends over,

00:21:27and starts violently

00:21:28throwing up.

00:21:29She vomits so hard

00:21:30there's eventually

00:21:30nothing left

00:21:31except bitter dry humps.

00:21:33By the end,

00:21:34she can barely

00:21:34stay standing.

00:21:35She grips a freezing

00:21:36telephone pole for support,

00:21:38her whole body

00:21:39trembling violently,

00:21:40her face drained

00:21:41completely white.

00:21:42My mind goes blank.

00:21:43The smile freezes

00:21:44on my face.

00:21:46Watching her clutch

00:21:47her stomach

00:21:48and reek in pain,

00:21:49a terrifying cold realization

00:21:51crawls slowly up my spine

00:21:53like ice water.

00:21:55No symptoms.

00:21:57No.

00:21:58No way.

00:22:04You're pregnant?

00:22:08Valerie instinctively

00:22:09places a hand

00:22:10over her stomach.

00:22:11Her eyes are filled

00:22:12with the kind of panic

00:22:13and confusion

00:22:14no 18-year-old girl

00:22:16should ever have to carry.

00:22:17What happened that night

00:22:18may have been stopped

00:22:19halfway through,

00:22:20but some nightmares

00:22:21had already rerouted

00:22:22themselves deep in the dark.

00:22:25She looks at me helplessly,

00:22:27tears trembling

00:22:28in her eyes.

00:22:29I...

00:22:30I don't know, Scarlet.

00:22:31I thought maybe

00:22:32it was just stress lately.

00:22:35I haven't had much appetite

00:22:37and I kept feeling nauseous.

00:22:39Come on.

00:22:40We're going to the clinic.

00:22:41Now.

00:22:41I don't even let her

00:22:42finish speaking.

00:22:43I grab her hand

00:22:45and practically drag her

00:22:46down the street

00:22:47toward the town's

00:22:47small community clinic.

00:22:50The doctor on duty

00:22:52is an elderly

00:22:52Cuban-American woman

00:22:53with silver hair,

00:22:55Dr. Ramirez.

00:22:56She isn't just the only

00:22:57general practitioner in town.

00:22:58She's also one of

00:22:59Grandma Wyatt's

00:23:00oldest friends

00:23:01and her tells

00:23:01alongside her years ago.

00:23:03The second Dr. Romero

00:23:04sees Valerie's face

00:23:05and the sheer panic

00:23:06in my eyes,

00:23:07her sharp, battle-worned gaze

00:23:08immediately narrows.

00:23:10Wasting another second,

00:23:11she starts ushering

00:23:12every remaining patient

00:23:14out of the clinic.

00:23:15The entire room

00:23:16falls into suffocating silence.

00:23:20Tell me what's going on.

00:23:21My scalp precles with dread

00:23:23as I quickly explain

00:23:24Valerie's nausea

00:23:25and vomiting.

00:23:26The old doctor says nothing

00:23:28after hearing me out,

00:23:29but a deep,

00:23:29piercing sorrow

00:23:30flashes through her eyes.

00:23:32She quietly takes Valerie

00:23:33into the examination room

00:23:34in the back.

00:23:35The moment the door closes,

00:23:37all the strength

00:23:38drains out of me.

00:23:39I collapse into the

00:23:40cold metal chair

00:23:41outside the office,

00:23:42shoving both hands

00:23:43deep into my hair.

00:23:44More than anyone else,

00:23:45I know exactly

00:23:46where I came from.

00:23:47And because of that,

00:23:47a horrifying truth

00:23:48finally pieces itself

00:23:49together in my mind.

00:23:50In my previous life,

00:23:51Austin, the man who raised me

00:23:53after destroying Valerie's life,

00:23:54was actually released

00:23:55from prison early.

00:23:56After committing crimes like that,

00:23:57he still got out

00:23:58in less than 20 years.

00:23:59Back then,

00:24:00when the case went to court,

00:24:01Valerie must have

00:24:02stayed silent.

00:24:03Maybe to hide the shame

00:24:04of being pregnant

00:24:04as a teenager.

00:24:05Maybe to protect

00:24:06the Wyatt family's reputation.

00:24:08Whatever the reason,

00:24:09her silence

00:24:09helped set a monster free.

00:24:11The guilt of my own existence

00:24:12tears through me

00:24:13like a dull blade.

00:24:14This nightmare

00:24:14destroyed a brilliant girl

00:24:15who was supposed

00:24:16to go to Harvard,

00:24:16and the one thing

00:24:17it gave back to the world

00:24:18was a demon.

00:24:21Half an hour later,

00:24:22the exam room door

00:24:23slowly creaks open.

00:24:25Dr. Ramirez steps outside,

00:24:26looking exhausted.

00:24:27She gently pats my shoulder.

00:24:30Scarlet,

00:24:32go get Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt

00:24:33for me.

00:24:36The moment the truth

00:24:37comes out,

00:24:38the house,

00:24:39which had barely survived

00:24:40one nightmare already,

00:24:42falls into dead silence

00:24:44all over again.

00:24:53Grandpa sits heavily

00:24:54on the couch.

00:24:56This massive,

00:24:57hard-nosed cop

00:24:58who once stared down

00:24:59cartel gunfires

00:25:00now looks hollowed out,

00:25:02like a man aging

00:25:03ten years

00:25:04in a single night.

00:25:07He buries his rough,

00:25:09caliphate hands

00:25:10over his face

00:25:11and says nothing.

00:25:14Meanwhile,

00:25:15Grandma holds

00:25:1618-year-old Valerie

00:25:17tightly in her arms,

00:25:18sobbing so hard

00:25:20she can barely breathe.

00:25:22We're packing tonight.

00:25:25We'll go straight to Boston

00:25:26and stay with Hector

00:25:27and his mother.

00:25:30I won't let that

00:25:31monster's family

00:25:32lay a finger on you

00:25:34ever again.

00:25:36Valerie stays curled up

00:25:38in the corner of the bed

00:25:39the entire time,

00:25:40silent as a porcelain doll.

00:25:41She doesn't say a word.

00:25:43She just keeps staring at me

00:25:45with those shattered,

00:25:46empty eyes.

00:25:47But somewhere inside them

00:25:48is still this helpless instinct

00:25:50begging for someone

00:25:51to save her.

00:25:51The sight tears me

00:25:53apart inside.

00:25:55I lower my head

00:25:56immediately,

00:25:58too ashamed to even

00:25:59look my own mother

00:26:00in the eye.

00:26:01And then things

00:26:02somehow get even worse.

00:26:04Austin's trashy parents,

00:26:06the grandparents I had

00:26:07in my previous life,

00:26:08somehow hear about

00:26:09Valerie's pregnancy.

00:26:11Right after the attack,

00:26:12those two cowards

00:26:13vanished completely

00:26:13to avoid being dragged

00:26:14into the police investigation.

00:26:16But the second they hear

00:26:17Valerie is carrying

00:26:17Austin's child,

00:26:18they swoop in like

00:26:19vultures smelling blood.

00:26:20To them,

00:26:21this pregnancy is leverage,

00:26:23the perfect weapon

00:26:24to destroy the Wyatt family.

00:26:25We barely made it back home

00:26:27before the two of them

00:26:28show up outside the house

00:26:29with some sleazy lawyer

00:26:30they hired.

00:26:33The smell of cheap cigarettes

00:26:35and stale alcohol

00:26:36hits before they even

00:26:37step into the yard.

00:26:41My former grandfather,

00:26:42Silas Walker,

00:26:44doesn't show even

00:26:44a trace of shame.

00:26:46No guilt.

00:26:47No apology.

00:26:50Just this disgusting,

00:26:51smug arrogance.

00:26:56Standing in the yard,

00:26:57he bellows toward the house

00:26:58like he owns the place.

00:27:00Officer Wyatt,

00:27:01don't hide in there.

00:27:02My son, Austin,

00:27:04may be in prison,

00:27:05but he still has

00:27:05parental rights.

00:27:06That maybe is part

00:27:07of our family.

00:27:08And you're not taking

00:27:09our grandchild anywhere.

00:27:11The sleazy lawyer beside him

00:27:13adjusts his glasses

00:27:14smirks coldly.

00:27:18If Ms. Yeight refuses

00:27:20to drop the charges,

00:27:21we're fully prepared

00:27:21to drag this

00:27:22through family court

00:27:23for years.

00:27:24And trust me,

00:27:24once the media

00:27:25gets involved,

00:27:26everybody in Texas

00:27:27is going to know

00:27:28exactly what happened

00:27:28to your daughter.

00:27:32Then Mayabelle Walker,

00:27:34my former grandmother,

00:27:36blows out a stream

00:27:36of cigarette smoke

00:27:37and starts screeching

00:27:38in the house.

00:27:40You go testify

00:27:41in federal court

00:27:42and we'll swear

00:27:43Valerie wanted it.

00:27:45We'll tell everyone

00:27:46you cops framed our son.

00:27:50We'll make damn sure

00:27:52every police department

00:27:53in Texas knows

00:27:55what kind of girl

00:27:55your daughter really is.

00:27:57You think those badges

00:27:58are going to survive this?

00:28:01We'll ruin

00:28:02your whole family!

00:28:07The police had kept

00:28:08the details of that night

00:28:09sealed tightly.

00:28:11Nobody in town knew

00:28:12what Valerie had actually

00:28:13suffered in the dark.

00:28:14But now,

00:28:15these two shameless monsters

00:28:16are ripping open

00:28:17her deepest traumata

00:28:18in public

00:28:19just to save

00:28:19their worthless son

00:28:20from federal prison.

00:28:21They stand outside

00:28:22with a damn megaphone,

00:28:24turning a survivor's

00:28:25private nightmare

00:28:26into some sick public spectacle

00:28:27about protecting

00:28:28the family bloodline.

00:28:29Before long,

00:28:30the whole town knows.

00:28:31But they don't actually

00:28:32want the baby.

00:28:33That's never been the point.

00:28:35What they want

00:28:36is pressure.

00:28:38They want to weaponize

00:28:39this conservative

00:28:40little town.

00:28:41The gossip,

00:28:42the judgment,

00:28:43the victim blaming

00:28:43until the Wyatts

00:28:44have nowhere left to run.

00:28:46And their terms

00:28:47are crystal clear.

00:28:48They want Valerie

00:28:49to change her testimony

00:28:50in federal court.

00:28:52They want her to claim

00:28:53Austin was just the driver

00:28:54and knew nothing

00:28:55about the attack.

00:28:57In exchange,

00:28:57the walkers will stop

00:28:58harassing the family

00:28:59and leave them alone.

00:29:01Hearing the whispers

00:29:02rising outside the fence,

00:29:04seeing neighbors stare

00:29:05with that fake sympathy

00:29:07hiding disgust underneath.

00:29:11Everything suddenly

00:29:12clicks into place

00:29:12inside my head.

00:29:15Now I understand

00:29:16exactly how Austin

00:29:17got that early release

00:29:18in my previous life.

00:29:20There had been a deal.

00:29:21And Valerie had been

00:29:23crushed into accepting it.

00:29:24Looking at those

00:29:25two smug bastards

00:29:26standing outside our home

00:29:27acting righteous.

00:29:28Every ounce of humiliation

00:29:29from my previous life

00:29:30and every drop of rage

00:29:31from this one

00:29:31finally explodes inside me.

00:29:33To hell with staying calm.

00:29:35I grab Grandpa's

00:29:36Louisville slugger

00:29:37from behind the front door

00:29:37and storm outside,

00:29:39gripping the bat so hard

00:29:40my knuckles go white.

00:29:41By then,

00:29:41all I can see is red.

00:29:58Right in front of everyone,

00:29:59I swing the bat.

00:30:00Crack, crack.

00:30:01The heavy end

00:30:02of the Louisville slugger

00:30:03smashes straight into Silas

00:30:04and Maybion's faces

00:30:05without a shred of hesitation.

00:30:06The sound of teeth breaking

00:30:08mixes with their screams

00:30:09as both of them

00:30:09stumble backward,

00:30:10clutching their bloody mouths

00:30:11before collapsing into the dirt.

00:30:13Your son is a convicted rapist!

00:30:15I point the bat

00:30:16directly at the two of them,

00:30:17shaking with rage.

00:30:19Where the hell

00:30:19was all talk about the La La

00:30:20when your psycho son

00:30:22was pointing a gun

00:30:23at federal officers?

00:30:24And now you want to come here

00:30:25and black rail cops?

00:30:28Gripping the bat

00:30:29with both hands,

00:30:30I swing as hard as I can

00:30:31into the lawyer's sedan

00:30:32parked by the curb.

00:30:33The windshield explodes

00:30:34instantly into a spider web

00:30:35of shattered glass.

00:30:36Then I whip around

00:30:37towards the neighbors

00:30:38gathering outside the fence,

00:30:39all of them whispering

00:30:40and staring.

00:30:41What are you all looking at?

00:30:43Anybody else wants to stand here

00:30:45screaming at a victim

00:30:46with these two pieces of trash?

00:30:47I raise the broken bat,

00:30:49splintered wood

00:30:50jouting from the barrel.

00:30:51I swear to God,

00:30:52the next swing straight

00:30:53goes through your skull!

00:30:54Get the hell away

00:30:55from the Wyatt house!

00:30:56All of you, move!

00:30:58The hot border wind

00:30:59tears through the street.

00:31:00One look at the shattered bat

00:31:02in my hands is enough.

00:31:03The neighbors pale instantly

00:31:04and start backing away in fear.

00:31:06And then suddenly,

00:31:07Silas runges at me

00:31:08with a rusty switchblade

00:31:09in his hand.

00:31:10Drop the charges

00:31:11or I'll kill

00:31:12every last one of you!

00:31:16The gunshot detonates

00:31:17the street like thunder.

00:31:19The bullet slices

00:31:20past Silas' ear

00:31:21and blasts apart

00:31:21one of the wooden fence posts

00:31:23behind him.

00:31:23Everyone freezes.

00:31:25Grandpa Rick stands there

00:31:26gripping a cold plate

00:31:27on the revolver.

00:31:28The barrel pressed

00:31:28directly against Silas' forehead.

00:31:30His voice is low

00:31:31and deadly.

00:31:32Officer Miller's daughter

00:31:33took a knife

00:31:34from my family.

00:31:35You touch her again

00:31:36and see what happens.

00:31:38The ringing echo

00:31:39from the gunshot

00:31:40leaves everyone stunned.

00:31:42Silas drops the knife

00:31:43immediately.

00:31:43It clatters onto the dirt

00:31:45beside him

00:31:46as he collapses

00:31:46in terror.

00:32:15He's gonna kill us!

00:32:17You think you can threaten

00:32:18my daughter's name?

00:32:19I'll go to prison smiling

00:32:20before I let your family

00:32:21destroy her life.

00:32:22Now get the hell

00:32:23off my property

00:32:24before I bury all of you

00:32:25out in the desert myself.

00:32:27Rick cocks the revolver once,

00:32:29never taking his eyes

00:32:30off Silas.

00:32:31You assaulted my family.

00:32:33As a police officer,

00:32:34I have every right

00:32:35to arrest you right now.

00:32:36Next time,

00:32:37you won't walk away

00:32:38this lucky.

00:32:39Now get out.

00:32:40The sheer violence

00:32:41radiating off the two

00:32:42retired narcotics officers

00:32:44terrifies everyone

00:32:45into silence.

00:32:46The gossipy neighbors

00:32:47scatter immediately.

00:32:48Silas and Maybel

00:32:49scramble to their feet

00:32:50and flee down the road

00:32:51like stray dogs.

00:32:53But then suddenly,

00:32:54Grandpa Rick doubles over

00:32:56coughing violently.

00:32:57Fresh blood begins

00:32:58soaking through the white

00:32:59bandages wrapped

00:33:00around his torso.

00:33:06Grandpa's stitches

00:33:07tear open again,

00:33:08so Grandma rushes him

00:33:09back to the hospital.

00:33:09I stay behind

00:33:10to take care of Valerie.

00:33:11Standing outside

00:33:11her bedroom door,

00:33:12I force myself to breathe

00:33:13through the panic

00:33:13crushing my chest.

00:33:14I wipe the tears

00:33:15and blood off my face

00:33:16over and over

00:33:16with my sleeve

00:33:17until my skin burns raw.

00:33:18I can't let Valerie

00:33:19see me falling apart.

00:33:20Right now,

00:33:20I have to be strong for her.

00:33:22I shove the bedroom door open

00:33:23and lock it tightly behind me,

00:33:24shutting out the chaos outside.

00:33:26Then I walk straight

00:33:27towards her bed.

00:33:29The second I see her

00:33:30sitting there,

00:33:31pale,

00:33:32hollow,

00:33:33motionless,

00:33:34something inside me

00:33:35finally breaks completely.

00:33:37Valerie?

00:33:39Let's leave.

00:33:40We can start over

00:33:41somewhere else.

00:33:42New York,

00:33:43California,

00:33:44anywhere.

00:33:45Please,

00:33:46just pack a bag

00:33:47and come with me,

00:33:47okay?

00:33:47I almost sound desperate.

00:33:49I grab her shoulders gently,

00:33:52trying to pull strength

00:33:52from the girl who,

00:33:53in another lifetime,

00:33:55would become my mother

00:33:5619 years later.

00:33:57But Valerie never says a word.

00:33:59She just stays curled

00:34:01in the corner of the bed.

00:34:02The fading sunset

00:34:04filters through the blinds,

00:34:05strip by strip,

00:34:06dying slowly across her face.

00:34:08Then she finally lifts her head.

00:34:10And once again,

00:34:11she looks at me

00:34:12with those same shattered eyes,

00:34:14empty,

00:34:15helpless,

00:34:15but still quietly

00:34:16begging someone to save her.

00:34:18Sight crushes my chest.

00:34:19For my entire previous life,

00:34:21I thought I had been born unwanted.

00:34:22But now I finally understand the truth.

00:34:24My birth was never love.

00:34:25It was a chain,

00:34:26a weapon crafted by a monster

00:34:28to trap my mother

00:34:28and destroy her family forever.

00:34:30I have never hated myself

00:34:31more than I do right now.

00:34:35Valerie,

00:34:36listen to me.

00:34:37This baby.

00:34:39Before I can finish,

00:34:40Valerie suddenly covers

00:34:41my mouth with her hand.

00:34:44I look up at her

00:34:46and suddenly the dam inside me

00:34:49completely breaks.

00:34:50Tears pour down my face

00:34:52as I collapse to my knees

00:34:53beside the bed.

00:34:54I pull her hand away

00:34:56from my mouth

00:34:56and finally scream out

00:34:58the truth

00:34:59that destroyed me

00:35:00for an entire lifetime.

00:35:02This baby

00:35:03is a stain

00:35:04that monster

00:35:05left on your life.

00:35:06You'll hate it forever.

00:35:09Every time you look at it,

00:35:11you'll remember him.

00:35:13You'll wish

00:35:14it had never been born.

00:35:16My voice cracks apart completely.

00:35:19It's better to end this now

00:35:20than let that child

00:35:21grow up trapped

00:35:22in pain and misery.

00:35:25I can barely breathe

00:35:26through the sobbing.

00:35:27No one can calmly

00:35:29beg their own mother

00:35:29to erase them

00:35:30from existence.

00:35:31But at that exact moment,

00:35:33Valerie,

00:35:33who has been sitting there

00:35:34lifeless and hollow

00:35:35this whole,

00:35:36whole time,

00:35:37suddenly trembles violently.

00:35:39It's like something inside her

00:35:40finally snaps awake.

00:35:42She bolts upright

00:35:43from the bed

00:35:44and throws her arms

00:35:45around me without warning,

00:35:46crushing me

00:35:47against her chest.

00:35:48She holds me so tightly

00:35:49her fingers dig painfully

00:35:50into my back.

00:35:51Hot tears spill

00:35:53onto my neck,

00:35:54burning against my skin.

00:35:55And then she completely

00:35:56breaks down.

00:35:57I never wanted you dead.

00:36:00Nora.

00:36:02Her voice is raw

00:36:04and shattered from crying.

00:36:06Not once,

00:36:08not for a single second

00:36:09did I ever wish

00:36:11you were dead.

00:36:15That single sentence

00:36:16crashes through the room

00:36:18with the weight

00:36:18of two lifetimes behind it.

00:36:20Every ounce of pain,

00:36:22resentment,

00:36:23anger,

00:36:24and loneliness

00:36:24I carried inside me

00:36:25shatters instantly

00:36:26into dust.

00:36:28Because she called me Nora.

00:36:30Not Scarlet.

00:36:32Nora.

00:36:33In this timeline,

00:36:34nobody knows that name.

00:36:36Nobody except my mother

00:36:37from my previous life.

00:36:39I freeze in her arms,

00:36:41my mind going

00:36:42completely blank.

00:36:43She isn't just

00:36:44the 18-year-old Valerie

00:36:45who knows nothing

00:36:46about the future.

00:36:48She remembers too.

00:36:50In this broken,

00:36:51twisted timeline,

00:36:53and near my find,

00:36:54my mother was reborn

00:36:56alongside me.

00:36:58I know.

00:37:00My entire body shakes

00:37:01as I cling to

00:37:02her shoulder-her-shoulder

00:37:03like a lost child.

00:37:07I know I was never

00:37:09supposed to be born.

00:37:10You had every reason

00:37:12to hate me

00:37:13because of that monster.

00:37:14Valerie suddenly

00:37:15grabs my face

00:37:16with both hands

00:37:17and forces me

00:37:18to look at her

00:37:18through her tears.

00:37:19How could a mother

00:37:20ever hate her child?

00:37:22After two lifetimes,

00:37:24inside this old

00:37:24Texas house in 1996,

00:37:26she finally tears

00:37:27open the truth

00:37:28she buried for decades.

00:37:29And through

00:37:30uncontrollable sobbing,

00:37:31my mother finally

00:37:32tells me why she stood

00:37:33beside my hospital bed

00:37:35and watched me die

00:37:36in my previous life.

00:37:39The reason I couldn't

00:37:41donate bone marrow

00:37:42was because I had

00:37:43terminal cancer too.

00:37:45I wasn't eligible

00:37:47to donate.

00:37:48I wasn't abandoning you,

00:37:49Nora.

00:37:50How could I ever

00:37:52abandon my own daughter?

00:37:54Outside,

00:37:55the winter wind

00:37:56screams across

00:37:57the Texas borderlands.

00:37:59But inside this cold

00:38:00little room,

00:38:01a mother and daughter

00:38:02separated by two lifetimes

00:38:05finally find each other

00:38:06again in the ruins

00:38:07of everything they lost.

00:38:09Valerie clutches me

00:38:10so tightly,

00:38:11she's shaking.

00:38:12I never gave on you,

00:38:14Nora.

00:38:14I begged everyone

00:38:16I could for help.

00:38:17I borrowed money

00:38:17from anybody willing

00:38:18to listen because

00:38:19I wanted to save you.

00:38:21Every word tears

00:38:22out of her throat

00:38:22like it physically

00:38:23hurts to say it.

00:38:24Your bastard father

00:38:25wouldn't pay

00:38:26a single dime.

00:38:27The ICU bills

00:38:28kept piling up

00:38:28every single day.

00:38:30The hospital kept

00:38:30mailing notices

00:38:31until my bowel box

00:38:32was overflowing.

00:38:32In the end,

00:38:33I sold every apartment

00:38:34and every piece of property

00:38:36I owned in Boston

00:38:36just to barely cover

00:38:38your medical bills.

00:38:39Then her breathing

00:38:39completely falls apart.

00:38:41And Austin,

00:38:42that monster wanted

00:38:43to pull your ventilator

00:38:44out and himself

00:38:44back at the trailer park.

00:38:46He lied to you.

00:38:47He actually convinced you

00:38:48that I was the one

00:38:49who abandoned you.

00:38:50She cries so hard

00:38:51she can barely breathe anymore.

00:38:52Decades of humiliation

00:38:53and buried motherhood

00:38:54finally exploding out

00:38:55all at once.

00:38:56Back then,

00:38:57I left with Hector's mother

00:38:58to work in the city

00:38:58because I needed money.

00:38:59I was trying to build

00:39:00enough of a life

00:39:01to come back

00:39:02and take you away

00:39:02from that rotting border town.

00:39:04But the second I left,

00:39:06Austin cut off

00:39:06every possible way

00:39:07for me to contact you.

00:39:08He guarded the trailer park

00:39:09with a gun

00:39:10and wouldn't even

00:39:11let me get near you.

00:39:12The only thing

00:39:13I could do...

00:39:16Her voice breaks

00:39:17completely.

00:39:19...was stand outside

00:39:20your school

00:39:20at the beginning

00:39:21of every semester

00:39:22and watch you

00:39:23from across the street.

00:39:27I bite down so hard

00:39:29on my little lip

00:39:30I taste blood.

00:39:31My vision is

00:39:33completely blurred

00:39:33by tears.

00:39:35And finally,

00:39:37I understand everything.

00:39:39Back then,

00:39:40she was only 18.

00:39:42A girl who had survived

00:39:43something horrific

00:39:44whose mind was already

00:39:45hanging by a thread.

00:39:47There was no way

00:39:48she could go back

00:39:48to that monster.

00:39:49For her,

00:39:51every step towards

00:39:52that trailer cramp

00:39:52was like walking back

00:39:53into hell itself.

00:39:54But fate has always

00:39:56been cruel.

00:39:56By the time Mom

00:39:57finally saved enough money

00:39:59and came back

00:39:59to fight for custody of me,

00:40:01Austin had already

00:40:02sensed something was coming.

00:40:03He grabbed me

00:40:04in the middle of the night

00:40:05and disappeared.

00:40:06And in the 1990s,

00:40:07before cell phones,

00:40:09databases,

00:40:10and internet tracking

00:40:11connected the world,

00:40:12we vanished

00:40:12into countless

00:40:13forgotten trailer parks

00:40:14scattered across America.

00:40:16She never found us again.

00:40:19Valerie cups my face

00:40:20with trembling hands.

00:40:25When you turned 18,

00:40:27you finally tracked down

00:40:28my private number.

00:40:29Her voice cracks apart.

00:40:31But by then,

00:40:34I'd already been diagnosed

00:40:35with terminal cancer.

00:40:38I didn't have much time

00:40:39left, Nora.

00:40:43Her tears mix with mine

00:40:44as they stream down

00:40:45our faces together.

00:40:47My body was falling apart

00:40:48day by day.

00:40:49I didn't want to drag you

00:40:50into that.

00:40:51I couldn't bear the thought

00:40:52of you watching me die

00:40:53in a hospital bed

00:40:54or inheriting all my debt

00:40:56after I was gone.

00:40:57That's why I acted cold

00:40:59on the phone.

00:41:00That's why I pretended

00:41:01I didn't know you.

00:41:02Everything inside my head

00:41:03goes completely blank.

00:41:07The mother I spent

00:41:08my whole life hating

00:41:09never abandoned me.

00:41:11Never abandoned me.

00:41:11Not once.

00:41:12With a body and soul

00:41:14shattered by a monster,

00:41:15she still fought

00:41:16through the filled

00:41:17and hopelessness

00:41:17of the 1990s

00:41:19with everything she had left

00:41:20just to keep loving me.

00:41:22We cling to each other

00:41:23in that dark little room

00:41:24and cry until there

00:41:25are no tears left.

00:41:27Finally,

00:41:28I wipe my face hard

00:41:29and force myself

00:41:30to look straight

00:41:31into her eyes.

00:41:32Mom,

00:41:33if we've really both

00:41:34been given another chance,

00:41:36then don't let me

00:41:37become your change

00:41:38all over again.

00:41:39We can still fix this.

00:41:41We'll go to the hospital.

00:41:43Without me,

00:41:43you can finally

00:41:43live your own life.

00:41:45Valerie instantly

00:41:46shakes her head

00:41:46in panic.

00:41:47Stop!

00:41:48Don't say that!

00:41:49I can't do it!

00:41:50Nora,

00:41:51you are part of me!

00:41:52I will never let you go!

00:41:55She covers her face,

00:41:56crying uncontrollably.

00:41:57And seeing the pain

00:41:59and determination

00:41:59in her eyes,

00:42:00I can't force her anymore.

00:42:02The sunset

00:42:03over the Texas border

00:42:04paints the entire sky

00:42:05blood red.

00:42:06Hot wind rolls

00:42:07through the yard

00:42:08carrying dust

00:42:09and dry heat

00:42:10that makes my chest

00:42:10tighten with unease.

00:42:12Grandpa fires up

00:42:13the smoker in the backyard

00:42:14using a stash

00:42:15of oak wood

00:42:15he's been saving for years.

00:42:17Before long,

00:42:18the air fills with the smell

00:42:19of smoked brisket and ribs.

00:42:20Grandma and I spend

00:42:21the entire afternoon

00:42:22preparing dinner,

00:42:23wanting to give Mom

00:42:23the girl who suffered

00:42:24so much in this timeline,

00:42:25the happiest 18th birthday possible.

00:42:27But just as Grandma

00:42:28wipes her hands clean

00:42:29and starts heading inside

00:42:30to call Valerie at a dinner...

00:42:39Officer Wyatt,

00:42:40we've got a problem.

00:42:42Austin escaped

00:42:42during transport

00:42:43to federal prison.

00:42:44He killed two federal marshals

00:42:46and stole a shotgun.

00:42:47Dispatch intercepted

00:42:48a report ten minutes ago.

00:42:49He's heading straight for town

00:42:50in a stolen pickup truck.

00:42:51The second I hear

00:42:52Austin's name,

00:42:54rage destinates inside my body.

00:42:55Every ounce of blood

00:42:56in my veins

00:42:57feels like it catches fire.

00:42:59He's coming here for revenge!

00:43:06That monster ruined my mother

00:43:08once already.

00:43:09Why the hell

00:43:10should he get another chance

00:43:11to destroy her life?

00:43:18While Grandpa and Grandma

00:43:20rush back inside

00:43:21and scotch

00:43:21to grab their

00:43:22Remingston shoe duns,

00:43:24I move first.

00:43:31Without hesitation,

00:43:33I snatch up the heavy cleaver

00:43:34sitting beside the cutting board

00:43:35in the kitchen.

00:43:46I don't even look back

00:43:47at the house.

00:43:48Eyes burning red

00:43:49with hatred,

00:43:50I run straight into

00:43:51the blood-colored

00:43:52Texas dusk.

00:43:53Austin,

00:43:54even if this drags my soul

00:43:55straight into hell,

00:43:57this time,

00:43:58I'm going to kill you myself.

00:44:03Night falls fast

00:44:05near the border.

00:44:06Freezing wind

00:44:07filled with sand

00:44:08cuts across my face

00:44:09like blades.

00:44:12I crouch silently

00:44:13in the shadows

00:44:14near the edge

00:44:14of the neighborhood,

00:44:15my palms slick

00:44:16with sweat

00:44:17around the handle

00:44:17of the clemver.

00:44:20But no matter

00:44:21how long I wait,

00:44:23Austin never appears.

00:44:24Then around midnight,

00:44:25a horrible instinct

00:44:26suddenly clenches

00:44:27around my heart.

00:44:29Valerie should have

00:44:30returned from the clinic

00:44:31hours ago,

00:44:32but she still isn't home.

00:44:33Headlights suddenly

00:44:34tear through the darkness.

00:44:36Grandpa's old

00:44:37pickup truck

00:44:37skids to a stop

00:44:38beside me.

00:44:39Scarlett,

00:44:40get in!

00:44:46Grandma and Grandpa

00:44:47both look pale with fear,

00:44:49gripping loaded

00:44:49Remington shoot guns

00:44:50tightly in their hands.

00:44:52We immediately start

00:44:53tracking tire marks

00:44:54and crushed brush

00:44:55along the bide side.

00:44:59following every sign

00:45:00we can find.

00:45:01The search leads us

00:45:02all the way

00:45:02to the edge of town.

00:45:04Then the pickup engine dies.

00:45:05Silence.

00:45:06Nothing but cold desert wind

00:45:08and darkness.

00:45:09In front of us

00:45:10sits an abandoned trailer park

00:45:11that's been empty for years.

00:45:12We split up

00:45:13to search for Valerie.

00:45:14Let go of me!

00:45:15You're insane!

00:45:15Let me go!

00:45:19Let go of me!

00:45:20You're insane!

00:45:21Let me go!

00:45:27Let me go!

00:45:28You're insane!

00:45:29So I run toward

00:45:31Valerie's screams

00:45:32alone.

00:45:35But somewhere during

00:45:36those few

00:45:37desperate seconds

00:45:38hearing my mother

00:45:39crying inside

00:45:40that trailer

00:45:42something strange

00:45:43happens.

00:45:45The panic inside

00:45:46my head

00:45:47suddenly disappears.

00:45:48Something strange

00:45:49happens.

00:45:50The panic inside

00:45:51my head

00:45:51suddenly disappears.

00:45:53Completely.

00:45:53As I sprint

00:45:54through the freezing dark

00:45:55I grip the heavy meat clever hidden beneath my coat so tightly my hand aches.

00:45:59My palm is slipped with sweat, but my eyes hold no fear anymore, only calm and certainty.

00:46:07In that moment, I finally understand why I came back to this world.

00:46:10I wasn't reborn to keep living as that monster's unwanted child.

00:46:14I crossed 28 years of time for one reason only, to set my mother free, even if it cost

00:46:19the life I was never supposed to have in the first place.

00:46:23I stare at the battered trailer door glowing faintly under the moonlight, and I never

00:46:28slow down for even a second.

00:46:30You sick bastard!

00:46:32Die!

00:46:37Without hesitation, I slam my foot into the flimsy aluminum trailer door.

00:46:42Using the momentum, I throw myself straight at Austin from behind.

00:46:47Under the pale moonlight, I raise the heavy cleaver high over my head and bring it down

00:46:52with every ounce of hatred from both lifetimes behind it.

00:46:56Austin lets out an animalistic scream, but I underestimated what kind of monster he really

00:47:02is.

00:47:05I'm gonna rip you apart!

00:47:06A man who survived years of cartel violence along the border doesn't go down easily.

00:47:12No!

00:47:13The pain only drives me insane.

00:47:16Before I can swing again, agony shoots through my arm like the bone is about to snap.

00:47:20No!

00:47:21I'm gonna kill you!

00:47:24The clever is ripped out of my hands instantly.

00:47:27Clang!

00:47:28The weapon crashes to the floor as Austin slams me hard against the ground inside the trailer.

00:47:35Under the dim moonlight leaking through the broken trailer walls, Austin finally sees

00:47:40my face clearly.

00:47:44You little bitch again.

00:47:47You just keep ruining everything!

00:47:50He roars hysterically and raises the clember over his head.

00:47:53Then it comes down.

00:47:55Again.

00:47:56And again.

00:47:57The blade flashes silver through the cramped trailer.

00:48:00Each strike tears violently into my stomach and chest without mercy.

00:48:09Warm blood immediately floods from my mouth, soaking my clothes.

00:48:16But strangely, I can't feel pain anymore.

00:48:23My mind is terrifyingly clear.

00:48:25Only one thought keeps screaming inside my head.

00:48:28Don't let him go.

00:48:30Don't let him get to Valerie.

00:48:31No!

00:48:32Please!

00:48:33Stop!

00:48:34Let her go!

00:48:37No!

00:48:40Please stop!

00:48:48And the second I see him turning toward my mother again, something inside me snaps.

00:48:54Using every last ounce of strength from both my lives,

00:48:58I throw myself onto him from behind and lock my arms around his body like a steel trap.

00:49:12No matter how violently he punches me, no matter how many times the blade carves into my flesh,

00:49:19I grit my teeth so hard I taste blood and hold on anyway.

00:49:24Even as blood pours from my mouth, I use my dying body weight to keep him pinned in place.

00:49:31You wanna hurt her?

00:49:32You wanna hurt her?

00:49:33Then you'll have to cut me into pieces first.

00:49:36Then you'll have to cut me into pieces first!

00:49:37Then you'll have to cut me into pieces first!

00:49:41A deafening shotgun blast erupts through the trailer.

00:49:44Austin!

00:49:46Blinding police spotlights flood the darkness as Grandpa storms inside, roaring.

00:49:51The blast tears straight through Austin's skull.

00:49:54The impact stops the monster cold.

00:49:57His body jerks violently before collapsing to the floor like dead weight.

00:50:01Scarlet!

00:50:02Scarlet!

00:50:03Finally, the demon falls silent, and with the last bit of life draining from my body,

00:50:07I collapse into the blood beside him.

00:50:14Scarlet!

00:50:15Scarlet!

00:50:19Scarlet, wake up!

00:50:21Please!

00:50:23Mom's begging you, please wake up!

00:50:26My mother's screams tear through the freezing Texas night.

00:50:30Raw.

00:50:31Desperate.

00:50:32Sharp enough to rip the sky apart.

00:50:34I wanna lift my hand.

00:50:37Wipe the blood off her face.

00:50:38Like I always do.

00:50:40Pull her into my arms one last time.

00:50:42But my arm feels filled with concrete.

00:50:44My body is getting colder by the second.

00:50:46And the voices around me sound farther and farther away.

00:50:48Like they're trapped beneath deep water.

00:50:50The whole world is slowly drifting out of reach.

00:50:52I lie there helplessly in the cold moldy blood pooling across the floor of the abandoned trailer.

00:50:57I see grandpa and grandma rushing toward me.

00:51:00Grandpa's hands.

00:51:02The same steady hands that held a gun his entire life without trembling once.

00:51:06He presses so hard his knuckles turn white.

00:51:09But the blood still keeps pouring through his fingers.

00:51:13Grandma collapses beside me.

00:51:15Covering her mouth as sobs wreck her body.

00:51:19The whole world is slowly drifting out of reach.

00:51:23I know then.

00:51:25I'm never gonna wake up again.

00:51:29That monster who haunts both of my lives.

00:51:32Like a curse carved into my bones.

00:51:36Austin Walker is finally killed that night by grandpa's shotgun.

00:51:40The blast tears straight through his head.

00:51:43His blood.

00:51:43His violence.

00:51:44His evil.

00:51:45All of it splatter across the rusted trailer walls and sinks into the mud of the Texas borderlands.

00:51:51Justice comes late.

00:51:52The law never even gets the chance to put him on death row.

00:51:55Fate beats it to the punch.

00:51:57Brutal, bloody, and absolute.

00:51:59After two lifetimes of suffering, the debt is finally paid.

00:52:03But the devil's death doesn't bring life back to our family.

00:52:05A few days later, an unusual storm rolls across the border.

00:52:09Cold rain mixes with sand and dirt, turning the whole town grey, muddy, and bitterly cold

00:52:13as if the sky itself is mourning everything we've lost.

00:52:16The Wyatt house falls silent.

00:52:17The kitchen that once smells of barbecue and fresh coffee never lights up again.

00:52:21Valerie becomes a ghost.

00:52:23She barely speaks.

00:52:25Barely moves.

00:52:26Like someone winds her up once and then forgets to do it again.

00:52:30Late one night, after the rain finally stops,

00:52:33she stumbles into my room alone.

00:52:35Dust has already settled across everything I leave behind.

00:52:38With trembling hands, she folds my faded jeans,

00:52:41picks up my unfinished notebooks,

00:52:43smooths out the wrinkles in the blanket on my bed.

00:52:46And the moment her fingers touch those cold sheets,

00:52:49the ones that will never hold my warmth again,

00:52:51something inside her finally breaks.

00:52:53Tears hit the hardwood floor one after another.

00:52:55Soft. Heavy.

00:52:58Nora?

00:52:59Can Mom come find you in heaven?

00:53:04Valerie drops to her knees beside the bed.

00:53:07She buries her pale face deep into my old pillow,

00:53:10the one I never get around to washing.

00:53:12There's still the faint smell of cheap shampoo lingering in the fabric,

00:53:16the last trace of her daughter left in this world.

00:53:19She clutches the sheets so tightly her fingers cramp,

00:53:23crying like a child who loses everything in the middle of the desert.

00:53:28The news of the border shooting reaches Boston overnight.

00:53:32Hector and his mother immediately cancel everything

00:53:35and drive back to Texas.

00:53:38Neither of them asks questions.

00:53:41They simply stay beside my grandparents

00:53:44and help them hold themselves together long enough to bury me.

00:53:48The funeral is held in the little cemetery outside town.

00:53:53For once, there is no sandstorm.

00:53:56White roses cover my grave.

00:53:59Hector stands at the very back of the crowd.

00:54:02The boy who once looked so calm and untouchable

00:54:05now has eyes darkened with grief and rage.

00:54:09He stares at the photo on my headstone,

00:54:12my 18-year-old smile frozen forever in time,

00:54:15and clenches his fists so hard his knuckles turn pale.

00:54:21After the funeral, the atmosphere inside the Wyatt house feels suffocating.

00:54:26Grandpa and Grandma sit silently at the dinner table,

00:54:30exhaustion and grief etched into every line on their faces.

00:54:34Hector sits alone on the old bench near the living room window,

00:54:37staring out at the empty Texas highway.

00:54:38He struggles with himself for a long time before finally standing and walking over to Valerie.

00:54:44He crouches down in front of her carefully,

00:54:46like he's afraid she might shitter if he moves too fast.

00:54:53Valerie, come with us. Leave this place behind.

00:54:57We can start over somewhere else. Okay?

00:55:00His voice is barely above a whisper.

00:55:03He doesn't even dare touch her.

00:55:05He just looks at her with quiet heartbreak in his eyes.

00:55:08Valerie doesn't answer.

00:55:10She sits there in the shadows,

00:55:11clutching my faded denim jacket against her chest

00:55:14like it's the last oxygen left in the world.

00:55:18That night, after everyone finally falls asleep from sheer exhaustion,

00:55:22the old house sinks into silence.

00:55:31And Valerie wanders back into my room again.

00:55:49She doesn't turn on the lights.

00:55:51In a room without me, even the light feels like a mockery.

00:56:00She kneels alone on the cold floor,

00:56:02organizing my belongings one piece at a time

00:56:04under the pale moonlight coming through the window.

00:56:15My textbook's full of notes.

00:56:20My eraser's worn down to almost nothing.

00:56:23Then finally,

00:56:25my old backpack.

00:56:26The cheap one with frayed edges and fading fabric.

00:56:29She pulls it into her arms and buries her face against it,

00:56:34breathing in what little remains of my scent.

00:56:40Then her hand brushes against something hidden deep inside the torn inner lining.

00:56:53Paper.

00:56:54A folded envelope slips loose and falls softly into her lap.

00:56:58On the front is only one word.

00:57:02Those are the words I want to say across two lifetimes.

00:57:06The words I never managed to say out loud before I die.

00:57:17Valerie freezes.

00:57:18Her whole body stiffens as her trembling fingers slowly tear the envelope open.

00:57:24She's shaking so badly,

00:57:26her fingernail slices the edge of the paper and draws blood,

00:57:30but she doesn't even notice.

00:57:32Then she sees the first line.

00:57:35And the moment she reads the name buried deepest inside her heart,

00:57:43her breathing stops.

00:57:51Mom.

00:57:53If you're reading this,

00:57:55I'm probably already gone.

00:58:02Don't cry for me.

00:58:06From the first day I came back to this timeline,

00:58:09I already make up my mind.

00:58:12I'm going to trade my life for your freedom.

00:58:18Under the moonlight,

00:58:20Valerie's eyes instantly turn red.

00:58:22She covers her mouth tightly

00:58:25to stop herself from sobbing out loud and keeps reading.

00:58:31During those 28 filthy years in my first life,

00:58:35I hated you so much sometimes.

00:58:38Living in that moldy trailer park,

00:58:40I wonder every day why everyone else has a loving mom except me.

00:58:44Why you left me alone in hell.

00:58:46But in this life,

00:58:47I finally learned the truth.

00:58:48My mother loves me more than anyone ever could.

00:58:52You burn your whole life away trying to protect me.

00:58:55And honestly, Mom,

00:58:57being loved by you like that is already enough.

00:58:59You're brilliant.

00:59:01Beautiful.

00:59:03Grandpa and Grandma love you so much.

00:59:06Hector's mom once says you're meant to soar high above the clouds.

00:59:09Not rot away in border town dirt because some rapist destroys your life.

00:59:14Please let me go, Mom.

00:59:15Don't give birth to me again.

00:59:17As long as the name Nora exists,

00:59:19Austin Walker's shadow will always haunt you.

00:59:21This time don't look back.

00:59:23Promise me.

00:59:24Go somewhere cleaner.

00:59:26Higher.

00:59:26Better.

00:59:27Go live the life you're supposed to have.

00:59:29Be free.

00:59:31By the end of the letter,

00:59:32Valerie has completely collapsed onto the floor.

00:59:35She presses those pages against her chest like they're the last pieces of my heartbeat left in the world

00:59:39and cries so hard she can barely breathe.

00:59:42Curled up beside the bed in the darkness,

00:59:44she breaks apart completely.

00:59:46And in that winter night of 1996,

00:59:50in a world without her daughter,

00:59:52my mother lets out the most shattered, guilt-raden, heartbroken sobs of both our lifetimes.

01:00:02That night, the Texas winter wind howls so hard it nearly tears the old wooden house apart.

01:00:09Valerie clutches my letter against her chest and cries until her voice gives up.

01:00:17In that letter, I beg her to let me go, beg her not to look back,

01:00:21beg her to chase her dreams and finally become the free person she deserves to be.

01:00:27But staring into my empty room, something reignites in her hollow, lifeless eyes.

01:00:34A fire.

01:00:36A stubbornness stronger than grief itself.

01:00:41Valerie whispers hoskily into the darkness.

01:00:45You silly girl.

01:00:48How could a mother ever stop loving her child?

01:00:51She can't do what I ask.

01:00:55Because she had already told me once before.

01:00:59I will never let you go.

01:01:03You are part of my body.

01:01:05Part of my life.

01:01:09A few days later, Hector and his mother help my exhausted grandparents finish arranging everything.

01:01:25Then, carrying unbearable grief with them, the entire family leaves Texas for Boston.

01:01:38The day the bus pulls away, kicking up yellow dust behind it.

01:01:44Valerie stands by the window and takes a deep breath of cold New England air.

01:01:52This time, she isn't running as a victim buried under shame.

01:01:57This time, she's a mother determined to rewrite fate itself.

01:02:02And bring her daughter back into the world with every ounce of love she has.

01:02:09Time moves quickly beneath Boston's blue skies.

01:02:14Valerie throws every ounce of grief and pain into studying.

01:02:21Fueled by the determination of two lifetimes, she works through endless nights.

01:02:27Until she's accepted into Harvard with near-perfect scores.

01:02:32And Hector, the boy who once cries for me at that Texas bus station,

01:02:38finally achieved his own dream too.

01:02:42Earning a place at one of the country's top medical schools.

01:02:47Textbooks become Valerie's shelter and the child growing inside her.

01:02:52The child, once used by monsters as blackmail,

01:02:56is finally being nurtured in warmth and love.

01:02:59The following autumn, beneath golden maple leaves

01:03:03and the bright lights of a Boston maternity room,

01:03:06a baby girl enters the world with a loud, healthy cry.

01:03:11Valerie lies exhausted against the hospital bed,

01:03:14tears blurring her vision as she smiles wider than she ever has before.

01:03:18With trembling arms, she holds the tiny newborn against her chest and kisses her forehead gently.

01:03:26Noma, welcome to the world, baby.

01:03:29This time, there's no moldy trailer park.

01:03:31No violence.

01:03:33No shadow left behind by monsters.

01:03:35Sunlight pours through the hospital windows onto a warm nursery crib.

01:03:39Grandpa and Grandma show up crying and carrying brand new Barbie dolls.

01:03:43Hector adjusts his glasses and smiles softly beside her.

01:03:47And this version of Nora is finally born into love.

01:03:53After that, life slowly finds its way onto the right path.

01:03:58Without the suffering and burdens of the first timeline,

01:04:01Valerie and Hector both reach the futures they are always meant to have.

01:04:04Hector becomes one of the country's leading surgeons, saving countless lives.

01:04:10Valerie becomes a legendary attorney known across America,

01:04:15dedicating her career to protecting women and children through civil rights law.

01:04:20And the new Nora grows up beneath Harvard's golden autumn trees,

01:04:24surrounded by love instead of fear.

01:04:26She is bright.

01:04:28Confident.

01:04:30Happy.

01:04:32The cancer that once destroys my body.

01:04:36Never appears in hers.

01:04:41As little Nora grows up,

01:04:44she watches Valerie and Hector eventually fall in love

01:04:47and build a quiet, beautiful family together.

01:04:50Their life isn't glamorous,

01:04:52but the love they give her overflows far beyond

01:04:55what most families could ever offer.

01:04:58And somewhere inside the golden evening light,

01:05:01the version of me that crosses time itself.

01:05:04The wandering soul, carried away by the wind,

01:05:07finally smiles.

01:05:09At the end of her autobiography,

01:05:10my mother writes one final dedication.

01:05:14Every achievement and honor in my life belongs to a girl named Nora.

01:05:18My daughter once tears open the darkness with her own life,

01:05:22and I spend the rest of mine bringing her back into the light.

01:05:25I lean quietly against my mother's knee in that final memory,

01:05:29and whisper softly in my heart,

01:05:31Do you hear me?

01:05:33Mom, this time, you get everything right.

01:05:36And at last, those two wounded souls walk hand in hand

01:05:40towards the endless stars waiting beyond the clouds.

01:05:42.

01:05:43.

Cutting the Cord - Reborn as My Mom's High School Frenemy - Full

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