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

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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.

00:00:08The 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.

00:00:14You young, healthy, cancer-free.

00:00:16I've been thrown back into the dead-end Texas high school years my mom spent her entire life

00:00:21clawing 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.

00:00:30Her hair is pulled into a high-tony tail, high-waisted jeans hugging her hips, a white

00:00:33tam-top 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, stare at the young face in front of me, untouched

00:00:44by wealth, untouched by surgery, untouched by the years that twisted her into a monster.

00:00:49Valerie, we're friends?

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

00:00:53Why are you being so weird today?

00:00:54Come 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, replaced by something cold, something vicious.

00:01:04The school's public address system drones on from the loudspeakers overhead, buzzing

00:01:08with the daily lunch menu.

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

00:01:12Valerie pulls me through the crowded hallway, her 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 my breath catches.

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

00:01:26Before I turned five, she used to hold me in her arms, humming old country songs and asking

00:01:31if I loved her.

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

00:01:37only ever showed up in my nightmares.

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

00:01:41Scarlett?

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

00:01:44Carefully, I slipped my hand out of hers.

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

00:01:49The dented locker numbers, the faded football team pictures, the bulletin board plastered

00:01:53with fall semester 1996.

00:01:55Cheerleaders rush past us, ponytails flying while some varsity asshole has a scrawny kid

00:02:00pinned against a logger, shaking 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.

00:02:10My mother's first love.

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

00:02:13Hey, this is my Scarlett.

00:02:15She just transferred it in.

00:02:16Scarlett, meet Hector.

00:02:17Straight A student, total teacher's pet, basically tutoring half the school.

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

00:02:23Welcome to East Ridge.

00:02:24The second I hear his name, my stomach turns.

00:02:27I ignore his hand completely and scan the noisy hallway for the one person who should have

00:02:33been 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.

00:02:45My dad.

00:02:46He's not here?

00:02:49Your dad?

00:02:50Just as I'm scrambling for an excuse, a roar erupts from the end of the hallway and saves

00:02:55me.

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, she looks nothing like the woman who would one day watch me die without blinking.

00:03:04The gym is loud, humilded, packed wall to wall.

00:03:09Football players in red jerseys charge onto the court while cheerleaders shake palm balls

00:03:13under the flashing lights.

00:03:14The bleachers thunder with stomping feet and screaming students.

00:03:18This Friday, let's show East Ridge who really runs this town.

00:03:22The crowd explodes.

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

00:03:26Beside me, Hector adjusts his glasses, eyes 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, students pour out of the gym.

00:03:41The halls fill with slamming lockers and 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 neat enough to look typed.

00:03:57As she flips a page, something slips out from between her books.

00:04:01A pale green application packet.

00:04:03Harvard University.

00:04:05My breathing catches.

00:04:05She actually got an application.

00:04:08But later in life, she always says Harvard was never an option for someone like her.

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

00:04:13Valerie, your future turns out cheap and pathetic anyway.

00:04:16So why are you out here pretend to be some gifted golden girl right now?

00:04:18It makes me sick.

00:04:20I rise from my seat.

00:04:21Then, with one sharp shove of my elbow, I knock over the black coffee on her desk.

00:04:26The dark liquid spills perfectly across the application packet,

00:04:29soaking through the giant Harvard crest until the ink begins to bleed.

00:04:32I stare at her coldly, waiting for her to snap.

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

00:04:37Waiting to finally see the real Valerie underneath all that fake sweetness.

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

00:04:46Oh god, Scarlett, are you okay?

00:04:48She grabs a stack of napkins and 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 if the woman I remember was ever the real Valerie at all.

00:05:04Just then, the classroom door swings open.

00:05:07A Latino teacher steps inside and walks over to Valerie's desk.

00:05:10Hey Valerie, something came up with Scarlett's family.

00:05:14Kind of an emergency.

00:05:15Your parents called and asked if you could bring her home with you after school.

00:05:18An emergency?

00:05:20What the hell happened?

00:05:21By the time school lets out, the Texas sunset looks like the whole sky's on fire.

00:05:26Stadium lights flicker on one by one around the football field.

00:05:29The cheer squad is still practicing while snippets of 90s pop songs crack through the loudspears.

00:05:34Valerie walks a few steps ahead of me, her ponytail swaying softly behind her.

00:05:37She suddenly stops and turns to me gently.

00:05:39I heard about your parents.

00:05:41Scarlett, 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, I'll always be here.

00:05:48That faint grapefruit scent wraps around me again.

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

00:05:53In my last life, there were countless nights when I would have given anything for this exact embrace.

00:05:57As I sob into her shoulder, I deliberately smears and snot all over her pretty shirt.

00:06:01Petty revenge.

00:06:02Pathetic, tiny revenge.

00:06:03But her arms are warm exactly the way I remember from childhood.

00:06:07So how the hell did someone like this become the woman who wouldn't even save my life?

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

00:06:14Hector catches up, pushing an old bike with a paper box of cupcakes sitting in the basket.

00:06:18He adjusts his glasses awkwardly.

00:06:20Sugar helps.

00:06:21A little, anyway.

00:06:22I watch the two of them walking side by side beneath the football field lights,

00:06:25and something bitter twists in my chest.

00:06:27What, Hector?

00:06:28You gonna pick her up like this every day?

00:06:30Keep her stuck in this town and make her your wife someday?

00:06:32Hector stops walking, but when he looks at me, his expression is completely open and sincere.

00:06:37Valerie's meant for bigger things than this place.

00:06:39She's too talented to spend her life shrinking herself for some guy.

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

00:06:46I freeze, because I never imagined Hector would say something like that.

00:06:52I'm not getting stuck married with kids at 18.

00:06:55I want to see what's out there first.

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

00:06:58You ended up trapped in a rotting trailer park full of violence and screaming and broken walls.

00:07:03Valerie, did your dreams betray you?

00:07:05The whole walk there, something about this timeline feels off in a way I can't explain.

00:07:11And then Valerie opens the front door.

00:07:14The smell of home-cooked food hits me instantly.

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

00:07:21Hi, Mr. Wyatt.

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

00:07:24He bursts out laughing and pulls me inside before I can even finish.

00:07:29The house is warm, spotless, lived in.

00:07:32There's a brand new pair of slippers waiting for me by the entryway,

00:07:35along with folded pajamas set out they'd been expecting me for days.

00:07:37The living room walls are lined with plaques, commendations, and framed Federal Service Award.

00:07:42On the TV, a local news station is covering a major drug trafficking case near the Texas border.

00:07:46A photo flashes on screen of two fallen narcotics agents.

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

00:07:52Best partners I ever had.

00:07:53Real heroes.

00:07:54And from now on, this 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 are already dead.

00:08:02Dinner is loud and warm and painfully alive.

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

00:08:07Grandma laughs at everything.

00:08:08A dog nudges against my legs beneath the table.

00:08:10The kitchen light glows so warmly it almost hurts to look at.

00:08:13And across from me sits Valerie, laughing freely while her parents dole on her like she's the center of their

00:08:17universe.

00:08:18My chest tightens so hard it feels unbearable.

00:08:21This is insane.

00:08:22Like some cruel cosmic joke.

00:08:24She grew up surrounded by this much love.

00:08:26So how the hell did she become someone who could watch me die without a single shred of kindness?

00:08:31Late that night, Valerie and I lay side by side in the dark.

00:08:35There's been this huge cartel case near the border lately.

00:08:39I keep having nightmares something's gonna happen to my parents.

00:08:41At 18, she looks so young, so fragile.

00:08:45Before sunrise, I wake to the sound of movement in the living room.

00:08:49Grandpa is sitting by the door, pulling on his police boots.

00:08:51I run out barefoot and grab onto his sleeve before he can leave.

00:08:54Mr. Wyatt, please be careful out there.

00:08:57He smiles and ruffles my hair.

00:08:58I will, kiddo.

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

00:09:00Then he and Grandma disappear together into the pale border fog of early morning.

00:09:05And the dread in my chest only grows heavier.

00:09:10Valerie stumbles out of bed half asleep the next morning and stands in front of the mirror,

00:09:15completely lost trying to fix her ponytail.

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

00:09:19I walk over and quietly redo her hair for her.

00:09:22It's the first time in both my lives that I've ever been this close to her.

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

00:09:28And suddenly I remember how, when I was little,

00:09:30she always hacked my hair off into awful tomboy cuts.

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

00:09:35Maybe 18-year-old Valerie just barely knew how to take care of herself.

00:09:38A bicycle bell rings outside the yard.

00:09:40Hector, right on schedule.

00:09:41He hands me an ice-cold soda, then stares at my face for a little too long.

00:09:47Scarlet, is it just me or are you starting to look more and more like Valerie?

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

00:09:52Right before I died in my last life, I was barely recognizable.

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

00:09:57But the last time I looked in a mirror, I realized something horrifying.

00:09:59I hadn't taken over someone else's body.

00:10:01I came back wearing my own 18-year-old face.

00:10:04Pretty girls always kind of look alike, right?

00:10:06Surrounded by all this warmth, I start wavering.

00:10:09It gets harder and harder to connect this version of Valenie to the woman from my last life.

00:10:14This girl is kind, bright, alive.

00:10:16I finally begin to understand why my dad, Austin,

00:10:19spent his whole life loving her even when she never truly loved him back.

00:10:22Part of me even starts thinking that when I finally meet him in this timeline,

00:10:25maybe I should tell him to fall for somebody else.

00:10:28But I never imagined that just as I started letting my guard down,

00:10:31hell was already opening its doors.

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

00:10:35Hector and I stop by a taco truck on the corner.

00:10:38Valerie says she's tired and asks us to grab her a baked potato

00:10:41before heading home ahead of us.

00:10:43We're almost at her house when an old pickup truck with no plates

00:10:47suddenly comes flying backward out of the driveway.

00:10:50Several tattooed men in masks jump into the bed of the truck.

00:10:54Then a scream tears through the air.

00:10:57It's Valerie.

00:11:01Hector and I sprint toward the house so fast,

00:11:03my lungs feel like they're tearing apart.

00:11:06The front door hangs crooked on its hinges,

00:11:09creaking heavily as it swings loosely against the broken frame.

00:11:12The second we step inside, the smell hits me.

00:11:14Blood, sweat, whiskey.

00:11:16The living room looks like a battlefield.

00:11:17Furniture overturned.

00:11:18Glass shattered everywhere.

00:11:19Family photos ripped from the walls.

00:11:21Blood smeared across the wooden floorboards

00:11:22in long streaks like someone had been dragged.

00:11:24In fact, Grandpa and Grandma lie motionless on the ground.

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

00:11:29Valerie, covered in blood, curled up on the floor.

00:11:32A tattooed man stands nearby,

00:11:34calmly fixing his belt like nothing happened.

00:11:38Hector roars and charges at him,

00:11:40only to get kicked hard across the room.

00:11:42The stranger turns toward me slowly.

00:11:44Then he grabs my collar and jerks me forward

00:11:46so violently my feet leave the ground.

00:11:48Hector!

00:11:50The stench of blood and cigarettes

00:11:51floods my nose so hard I nearly gag.

00:11:54Well, damn.

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

00:11:58Lucky day for you, sweetheart.

00:12:00Boss already told us to pull out.

00:12:02Otherwise, you'd have been a lot of fun, too.

00:12:04He spits onto the floor beside me and turns to leave.

00:12:08Behind him, Valerie curls tighter into herself,

00:12:11desperately clutching the ripped fabric over her chest.

00:12:14A broken sound escapes her throat.

00:12:16Something inside me snaps.

00:12:18I throw myself forward and grab the man's pant leg with both hands.

00:12:21Moonlight spills through the shattered window,

00:12:23sliding across the side of 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 completely silent around me.

00:12:33Because he isn't some random cartel thug.

00:12:35He's Austin.

00:12:36My father.

00:12:41Hector scrambles to the wall and grabs the landline.

00:12:44But the phone cord has already been cut.

00:12:49You brought this on yourself, you little bitch!

00:12:52He lunges at me and starts ripping at my clothes,

00:12:55yanking violently at my collar.

00:12:57Trying to save me,

00:12:58Hector throws himself at Austin again,

00:13:00without a second thought.

00:13:01In the chaos,

00:13:02I catch a flash of murder in Austin's eyes.

00:13:05He suddenly pulls a hunting knife from the back of his waist hand.

00:13:08And in that instant,

00:13:09I completely lose it.

00:13:11Without thinking,

00:13:12I grab the blade with my bare hand.

00:13:14My dad?

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

00:13:17Tears crash into the growing pool of blood beneath me.

00:13:19The man I loved most growing up.

00:13:21The father who raised me in that trailer park with 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 my mind.

00:13:31But the sharp pain slicing through my palm

00:13:34and Valier's desperate sobbing remind me this is real.

00:13:37I clamp down on the knife with everything I have

00:13:40and scream hysterically at Hector.

00:13:42Hector, run!

00:13:43Go get help!

00:13:45Go!

00:13:45Now!

00:13:46Blood streams down Hector's face

00:13:48as he staggers toward the door and bolts outside.

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

00:13:53Austin completely snaps.

00:13:55With a vicious twist of his wrist,

00:13:57he jerks the knife free

00:13:59and points the blade straight at my throat.

00:14:03But just then,

00:14:05my grandmother,

00:14:06who had been lying motionless in a pool of blood,

00:14:08somehow forces herself back up

00:14:10with the last bit of strength she has left.

00:14:13Austin turns,

00:14:15ready to stab her next.

00:14:18No!

00:14:19I slam into him with everything I have.

00:14:21The blade plunges straight into my stomach.

00:14:24Warmth explodes through my body.

00:14:26Then comes the pain.

00:14:27Endless, crushing pain.

00:14:28I press both hands against the wound,

00:14:31holding onto the knife with everything I've got

00:14:33so Austin can't pull it back out.

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

00:14:37You can't.

00:14:40I'm crying,

00:14:41choking as blood pours from my mouth in heavy bursts.

00:14:44But Austin just twists the knife cruelly inside me.

00:14:48The agony sends me collapsing to my knees in the blood.

00:14:51That's when Grandma suddenly wraps both arms around Austin's neck from behind

00:14:55and drags him to the floor with every ounce of strength she has left.

00:14:59My grandfather, already covered in blood,

00:15:01grabs onto Austin's leg and refuses to let go.

00:15:04Realizing he's about to get caught,

00:15:06Austin curses violently,

00:15:07kicks himself free from them,

00:15:09and climbs out the window,

00:15:10disappearing into the darkness near 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 into her arms.

00:15:23My consciousness is already slipping away,

00:15:25sobbing controllably.

00:15:26With tears and blood all over my face,

00:15:28I still try to take off my jacket and cover her with it.

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

00:15:32My arm barely lifts halfway before it drops limply into the blood.

00:15:35In the distance, sirens scream through the night.

00:15:38I hear Hector crying as he rushes back inside with the police.

00:15:41Then everything goes dark.

00:15:43Somewhere far away,

00:15:44voices echo around me as I'm lifted onto a stretcher.

00:15:48She's flatlining!

00:15:49Move!

00:15:49Get the defibrillator!

00:15:50Now!

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

00:15:55all I see is the pale white ceiling of 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 and 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 while gripping to entail.

00:16:06So tenderly,

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

00:16:08Do you have any idea how 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,

00:16:14snot,

00:16:14everything.

00:16:15At one point,

00:16:15he even spits on my face while talking.

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

00:16:18The anesthesia still hasn't fully worn over.

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

00:16:21just a heavy numbness all over my body.

00:16:22I look at him anxiously.

00:16:23Valerie's parents and Valerie,

00:16:25are they okay?

00:16:27Her folks made it to the hospital just in time.

00:16:29If that knife had hit either 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 slowly opens.

00:16:38Valerie is standing there.

00:16:39Her eyes look hollow,

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

00:16:42there's something shattered in them

00:16:43I can't even begin to explain.

00:16:44I say her name softly.

00:16:46She nods faintly and walks over.

00:16:47Her cold fingers are 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.

00:17:01Then suddenly,

00:17:02she lowers her head

00:17:03and tears drip onto the back of my hand.

00:17:04Thank you, Scarlet.

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 of my mother

00:17:12standing in front of me,

00:17:13her fate already completely changed because of me.

00:17:15I sniff hard,

00:17:17holding back tears.

00:17:18I don't say a single word.

00:17:19I just let her tears soak into my skin

00:17:21before slowly lifting my free hand

00:17:22and placing it softly over the trembling hand

00:17:24resting on my shoulder.

00:17:28Valerie looks down at my hand covering hers,

00:17:31as if she understands the 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 in forever,

00:17:41her voice carries a little relief.

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

00:17:44The case is over.

00:17:45The cartel operation finally got busted.

00:17:48Every single person involved in the attack

00:17:50was caught near the border.

00:17:51My parents can finally rest for a while.

00:17:53The moment I hear Austin and the traffickers

00:17:55were all arrested,

00:17:56my entire mind goes blank.

00:17:58Relief crashes over me so hard,

00:18:00I almost shoot upright in the hospital bed.

00:18:02Wait, seriously?

00:18:02They caught all of them?

00:18:05Yes, seriously.

00:18:07Now stop moving before you rip your stitches open.

00:18:09The crushing weight that haunted me

00:18:10through both lifetimes

00:18:11finally disappears at that moment.

00:18:13Meanwhile, Hector,

00:18:14who has been sitting nearby this entire time,

00:18:16calmly peels a banana like nothing's happening.

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

00:18:20You've already woken up a few times

00:18:21these past couple days.

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

00:18:24so now they're just waiting to see

00:18:25if you can finally have a bowel movement.

00:18:26Coming from someone usually this serious,

00:18:29it's so absurd I completely lose it.

00:18:31Unfortunately, the second I laugh,

00:18:32pain rips through the stitches in my abdomen.

00:18:33I immediately hiss in pain,

00:18:35clutching my stomach.

00:18:36Valerie starts laughing too,

00:18:37but after a few seconds,

00:18:38her laughter fades.

00:18:39Tears suddenly begin falling again without warning.

00:18:41She tries to cry quietly.

00:18:43She doesn't want either of us to notice.

00:18:44Hector's smile slowly disappears too.

00:18:47I wrap both arms tightly

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

00:18:50At that moment, through my chest

00:18:52is no longer the hatred I carried

00:18:53in my previous life.

00:18:55Mom,

00:18:55if I had known my Biolodge father

00:18:57was the monster who destroyed

00:18:58your entire family,

00:18:59how could I ever have hated you?

00:19:01I would have only hated myself

00:19:03for ever being born,

00:19:04since fate gave me another 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

00:19:14slowly comes back to life.

00:19:15Once I'm discharged from 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 it heals me first.

00:19:26Then Grandma completely 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 straight

00:19:33out 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 without holding back.

00:19:43But beneath the warm yellow glow

00:19:45of the dinner lights,

00:19:46the conversation eventually

00:19:47turns to goodbye.

00:19:48Hector's mother lifts her wine glass,

00:19:49eyes red and swollen,

00:19:50and quietly announces

00:19:51that they're moving back to Boston

00:19:52before 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 from 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 watched

00:20:06her son nearly die.

00:20:07Any parent would have wanted

00:20:08to run from this place after that.

00:20:10As an old country song

00:20:12crackles through the radio

00:20:13in the background,

00:20:14we start talking about the future.

00:20:16Valerie asks where I want

00:20:17to go to school someday.

00:20:18I look at her,

00:20:19the girl whose entire future

00:20:21was crushed fate

00:20:22in my previous life.

00:20:23An answer without hesitation.

00:20:25Harvard.

00:20:25Under the endless Texas night sky,

00:20:27with the Milky Way

00:20:28stretched above her like a dream,

00:20:29I finally understand

00:20:30the suffocating pain

00:20:31she carried in her previous 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 go live your life.

00:20:37Chase your dreams.

00:20:37Be yourself again.

00:20:38As for me,

00:20:39I'll stay behind

00:20:39in the darkness of 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 onto 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 of Texas dust

00:20:53before disappearing

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

00:20:55Watching the bus vanish

00:20:56into the distance,

00:20:57I think life might

00:20:58finally return to normal.

00:20:59But fate still isn't

00:21:00done with me yet.

00:21:01Something happened to Valerie.

00:21:05After seeing Hector off,

00:21:07we head home

00:21:07through the bitter

00:21:08Texas winter wind.

00:21:09I cling tightly

00:21:09to Valerie's arm,

00:21:10trying my best

00:21:11to 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 smoked

00:21:15pulled 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,

00:21:22she 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.

00:21:55Those symptoms.

00:21:58No.

00:21:58No way.

00:22:05You'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 don't know, Scarlett.

00:22:32I thought maybe

00:22:33it 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.

00:22:51The doctor on duty

00:22:52is an elderly

00:22:53Cuban-American woman

00:22:54with 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 oldest friends

00:23:01and her child's

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-wurned gaze

00:23:09immediately narrow.

00:23:10Wasting another second,

00:23:11she starts ushering

00:23:13every 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.

00:23:22My scalp preckles 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,

00:23:30piercing sorrow

00:23:30flashes through her eyes.

00:23:32She quietly takes Valerie

00:23:33into the examination room

00:23:34in the back.

00:23:36The moment the door closes,

00:23:37all the strength

00:23:38drains out of me.

00:23:39I collapse into the cold

00:23:40metal chair outside the office,

00:23:42shoving both hands

00:23:43deep into my hair.

00:23:44More than anyone else,

00:23:45I know exactly where I came from.

00:23:47And because of that,

00:23:48a horrifying truth

00:23:48finally pieces itself

00:23:49together in my mind.

00:23:50In my previous life,

00:23:52Austin, 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 stayed silent.

00:24:03Maybe to hide the shame

00:24:04of being pregnant as a teenager.

00:24:05Maybe to protect

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

00:24:08Whatever the reason,

00:24:09her silence helped

00:24:10set 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 destroyed

00:24:14a brilliant girl

00:24:15who was supposed

00:24:16to go to Harvard.

00:24:17And 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 for me.

00:24:36The moment the truth comes 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 on the couch.

00:24:56This massive,

00:24:58hard-nosed cop

00:24:58who once stared down

00:24:59cartel gunfires

00:25:00now looks hollowed out

00:25:02like a man aging 10 years

00:25:04in a single night.

00:25:07He buries his rough,

00:25:09califafed 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,

00:25:19sobbing 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

00:25:28and his mother.

00:25:30I won't let that monster'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.

00:25:42She 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.

00:25:52The sight tears me apart inside.

00:25:55I lower my head immediately,

00:25:58too ashamed to even

00:25:59look my own mother in the eye.

00:26:01And then things somehow

00:26:02get 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

00:26:14to 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.

00:26:21To them,

00:26:21this pregnancy is leverage,

00:26:23the perfect weapon

00:26:24to destroy the Wyatt family.

00:26:25We've 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,

00:26:43Silas Walker,

00:26:44doesn't show even

00:26:45a trace of shame.

00:26:46No guilt.

00:26:48No apology.

00:26:50Just this disgusting,

00:26:52smug 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.

00:27:07That 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

00:27:14and smirks coldly.

00:27:18If Miss Yight refuses

00:27:20to drop the charges,

00:27:20we're fully prepared

00:27:21to drag this

00:27:22through family court

00:27:23for years.

00:27:24And trust me,

00:27:25once the media

00:27:25gets involved,

00:27:26everybody in Texas

00:27:27is going to know

00:27:28exactly what happened

00:27:29to your daughter.

00:27:33Then Mayabelle Walker,

00:27:34my former grandmother,

00:27:36blows out a stream

00:27:37of cigarette smoke

00:27:37and starts screeching

00:27:38and starts screeching

00:27:39at the house.

00:27:40You go testify

00:27:41in federal court,

00:27:43and 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

00:27:59are going to survive this?

00:28:01We'll ruin your whole family!

00:28:07The police had kept

00:28:08the details of that night

00:28:10sealed tightly.

00:28:11Nobody in town knew

00:28:12what Valerie had actually

00:28:13suffered in the dark.

00:28:15But 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 their 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

00:28:33want the baby.

00:28:34That's never been the point.

00:28:35What they want is pressure.

00:28:38They want to weaponize

00:28:39this conservative little town.

00:28:41The gossip,

00:28:42the judgment,

00:28:43the victim blaming

00:28:44until the Wyatts

00:28:45have 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

00:28:56about the attack.

00:28:56In exchange,

00:28:57the walkers will stop

00:28:59harassing the family

00:29:00and 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 clicks

00:29:12into place inside my head.

00:29:15Now I understand exactly

00:29:16how Austin got that early release

00:29:18in my previous life.

00:29:20There had been a deal.

00:29:21And Valerie had been crushed

00:29:23into accepting it.

00:29:24Looking at those two 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 Louisville slugger

00:29:37from behind the front door

00:29:38and 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 Mabian'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 stumble 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 directly

00:30:16at the two of them,

00:30:18shaking with rage.

00:30:19Where the hell

00:30:19was the talk about the law

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 instantly

00:30:34into 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

00:30:53straight goes through your skull!

00:30:54Get the hell away

00:30:55from the Wyatt house!

00:30:56All of you!

00:30:57Move!

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

00:31:10in his hand.

00:31:10Drop the charges

00:31:11or I'll kill

00:31:12every last one of you!

00:31:16The gunshot deconates

00:31:17through the street

00:31:18like thunder.

00:31:19The bullet slices

00:31:20past Silas's ear

00:31:21and blasts apart

00:31:21one of the wooden fence posts

00:31:23behind him.

00:31:24Everyone freezes.

00:31:25Grandpa Rick stands there

00:31:26gripping a cold plate

00:31:27and a revolver.

00:31:28The barrel pressed

00:31:28directly against Silas's forehead.

00:31:30His voice is low and deadly.

00:31:32Officer Miller's daughter

00:31:33took a knife for 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 immediately.

00:31:44It clatters onto the dirt

00:31:45beside him

00:31:46as he collapses in terror.

00:31:50He's gonna kill us!

00:31:51The cops are trying

00:31:53to murder us!

00:31:54But before she can say

00:31:55another word,

00:31:55another figure

00:31:56comes flying down

00:31:57the porch steps.

00:31:58Grandma.

00:31:59She moves like lightning.

00:32:01Grabbing a fistful

00:32:02of Maybella's

00:32:03brittle yellow hair,

00:32:04she yanks her sideways

00:32:05so hard

00:32:06the old woman nearly falls.

00:32:07Slap!

00:32:08Grandma backhands her

00:32:10across the face

00:32:10hard enough

00:32:11to send her crashing

00:32:12into the dirt,

00:32:12then plants a boot

00:32:13against her chest.

00:32:15Her eyes are pure steel.

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

00:32:25all of you out

00:32:26in 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 Silas.

00:32:46The gossipy neighbors

00:32:47scatter immediately.

00:32:48Silas and Maybella

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

00:32:55doubles over

00:32:56coughing violently.

00:32:57Fresh blood begins

00:32:58soaking through

00:32:59the white bandages

00:33:00wrapped around his torso.

00:33:06Grandpa's stitches

00:33:07tear open again

00:33:08so Grandma rushes

00:33:09him back to the hospital.

00:33:10I stay behind

00:33:10to take care of Valerie.

00:33:11Standing outside

00:33:12her bedroom door,

00:33:12I force myself

00:33:13to breathe through

00:33:13the panic crushing

00:33:14my 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

00:33:21for her.

00:33:22I shove the bedroom door

00:33:23open and lock it

00:33:24tightly behind me,

00:33:25shutting out the chaos

00:33:25outside.

00:33:26Then I walk straight

00:33:27towards her bed.

00:33:29The second I see

00:33:30her sitting 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?

00:33:48I almost sound desperate.

00:33:50I grab her shoulders

00:33:51gently,

00:33:52trying to pull strength

00:33:53from the girl who,

00:33:54in another lifetime,

00:33:55would become my mother

00:33:5619 years later.

00:33:57But Valerie

00:33:58never says a word.

00:33:59She just stays curled

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

00:34:03The fading sunset

00:34:04filters through the blinds,

00:34:05strip by strip,

00:34:06dying slowly

00:34:07across her face.

00:34:08Then she finally

00:34:09lifts her head.

00:34:10And once again,

00:34:11she looks at me

00:34:12with those same

00:34:12shattered eyes.

00:34:14Empty,

00:34:15helpless,

00:34:15but still quietly

00:34:16begging someone

00:34:17to save me.

00:34:18Sight crushes my chest.

00:34:19For my entire

00:34:20previous life,

00:34:21I thought I had been

00:34:21born unwanted.

00:34:22But now I finally

00:34:23understand the truth.

00:34:24My birth was never love.

00:34:25It was a chain,

00:34:26a weapon crafted

00:34:27by a monster

00:34:28to trap my mother

00:34:29and 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

00:34:41covers my mouth

00:34:41with her hand.

00:34:44I look up at her

00:34:46and suddenly

00:34:47the dam inside me

00:34:49completely breaks.

00:34:51Tears pour down my face

00:34:52as I collapse

00:34:53to my knees

00:34:53beside the bed.

00:34:54I pull her hand away

00:34:56from my mouth

00:34:57and 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.

00:35:07You'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

00:35:17apart 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

00:35:30to 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

00:35:40inside her

00:35:41finally snaps awake.

00:35:42She bolts upright

00:35:43from the bed

00:35:44and throws her arms

00:35:45around me

00:35:45without 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.

00:35:52Hot tears spill

00:35:53onto my neck,

00:35:54burning against my skin.

00:35:55And then she

00:35:56completely breaks down.

00:35:57I never wanted you dead.

00:36:00Nora.

00:36:02Her voice is raw

00:36:04and shatter from crying.

00:36:06Not once!

00:36:08Not for a single second

00:36:10did 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

00:36:19behind it.

00:36:20Every ounce of pain,

00:36:22resentment,

00:36:23anger,

00:36:24and loneliness

00:36:24I carried inside me

00:36:26shatters instantly

00:36:27into dust.

00:36:28Because she called me

00:36:30Nora.

00:36:30Not Scarlet.

00:36:32Nora.

00:36:33In this timeline,

00:36:34nobody knows that name.

00:36:36Nobody except my mother

00:36:38from 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,

00:36:53a 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

00:37:04like 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.

00:37:15Valerie 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,

00:37:23inside this old

00:37:24Texas house in 1996,

00:37:26she finally tears open

00:37:28the truth she buried

00:37:28for decades.

00:37:29And through

00:37:30uncontrollable sobbing,

00:37:31my mother finally tells me

00:37:33why she stood beside

00:37:34my 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

00:37:44terminal cancer too.

00:37:46I wasn't eligible

00:37:47to donate.

00:37:48I wasn't abandoning

00:37:49you, Nora.

00:37:50How could I ever

00:37:52abandon my own daughter?

00:37:54Outside,

00:37:55the winter wind screams

00:37:57across the Texas borderlands.

00:37:59But inside this cold

00:38:01little room,

00:38:01a mother and daughter

00:38:02separated by two lifetimes

00:38:04finally find each other again

00:38:06in 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 a single dime.

00:38:27The ICU bills kept

00:38:28piling up every single day.

00:38:30The hospital kept

00:38:30mailing notices

00:38:31until my bowel box

00:38:32was overflowing.

00:38:33In the end,

00:38:33I sold every apartment

00:38:35and 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 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

00:38:59because I needed money.

00:39:00I 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

00:39:10with a gun

00:39:10and wouldn't even

00:39:11let me get near you.

00:39:12The only thing I could do

00:39:16Her voice breaks completely

00:39:19was 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

00:39:34by 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

00:39:44something 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

00:39:53was like walking back

00:39:53into hell itself.

00:39:55But 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 into

00:40:13countless forgotten

00:40:14trailer parks

00:40:14scattered across America.

00:40:16She never found us again.

00:40:19Valerie cups my face

00:40:21with 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 left,

00:40:40Nora.

00:40:43Her tears mix with mine

00:40:45as 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.

00:41:11Not once.

00:41:13With a body and soul

00:41:14shattered by a monster,

00:41:15she still fought

00:41:16through the filled

00:41:17and hopelessness

00:41:18of the 1990s

00:41:19with everything

00:41:19she 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

00:41:25there are 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 chance

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

00:41:44live your own life.

00:41:45Valerie instantly

00:41:46shakes her head

00:41:47and 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.

00:41:58And seeing the pain

00:41:59and determination

00:41:59in her eyes,

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

00:42:02The sunset over

00:42:03the 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

00:42:16he's been saving

00:42:16for years.

00:42:17Before long,

00:42:18the air fills with

00:42:18the smell of smoked

00:42:19brisket and ribs.

00:42:20Grandma and I

00:42:21spend the 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

00:42:2618th 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

00:42:30at a dinner...

00:42:39Officer Wyatt,

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

00:42:42Austin escaped

00:42:43during 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 10 minutes ago.

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

00:42:50in a stolen pickup truck.

00:42:52The second I hear

00:42:53Austin's name,

00:42:54rage destinates

00:42:54inside my body.

00:42:56Every ounce of blood

00:42:57in my veins

00:42:57feels like it catches fire.

00:42:59He's coming here

00:43:00for revenge!

00:43:06That monster ruined

00:43:08my mother once 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 in Scotch

00:43:21to grab their Remingston

00:43:23shoeduns,

00:43:24I move first.

00:43:31Without hesitation,

00:43:33I snatch up

00:43:33the heavy cleaver

00:43:34sitting beside

00:43:35the cutting board

00:43:36in 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

00:43:51into the blood-colored

00:43:52Texas dusk.

00:43:53Austin.

00:43:54Even if this drags

00:43:55my soul straight

00:43:56into hell,

00:43:57this time,

00:43:58I'm going to kill

00:43:59you 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

00:44:27suddenly 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.

00:44:34Headlights suddenly

00:44:34tear through the darkness.

00:44:36Grandpa's old

00:44:37wake-up truck

00:44:37skids to a stop

00:44:38beside me.

00:44:39Scarlett, get in!

00:44:46Grandma and Grandpa

00:44:47both look pale

00:44:48with fear,

00:44:49gripping loaded

00:44:49Remington shoot guns

00:44:50tightly in their hands.

00:44:52We immediately

00:44:53start tracking

00:44:54tire 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

00:45:03to the edge of town.

00:45:04Then the pickup engine

00:45:05dies.

00:45:06Silence.

00:45:06Nothing but cold

00:45:07desert wind

00:45:08and darkness.

00:45:09In front of us

00:45:10sits an abandoned

00:45:10trailer park

00:45:11that's been empty

00:45:12for years.

00:45:12We split up

00:45:13to search for Valerie.

00:45:14Let go of me!

00:45:15You're insane!

00:45:16Let me go!

00:45:19Let go of me!

00:45:20You're insane!

00:45:21Let me go!

00:45:23My mind goes blank.

00:45:26I know instantly

00:45:27there's no time

00:45:28to turn back

00:45:28for Grandpa.

00:45:30So I run toward

00:45:32Valerie's screams

00:45:32alone.

00:45:35But somewhere

00:45:36during those 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

00:45:46inside my head

00:45:47suddenly disappears.

00:45:48Something strange

00:45:49happens.

00:45:50The panic

00:45:51inside my head

00:45:51suddenly disappears.

00:45:53Completely.

00:45:54As I sprint

00:45:55through the freezing

00:45:55dark,

00:45:56I grip the heavy

00:45:56meat clever

00:45:57hidden beneath my

00:45:58coat so tightly

00:45:58my hand aches.

00:45:59My palm is

00:46:00slipped with sweat.

00:46:01But my eyes

00:46:02hold no fear anymore.

00:46:04Only calm

00:46:05and certainty.

00:46:07In that moment,

00:46:08I finally understand

00:46:09why I came back

00:46:09to this world.

00:46:10I wasn't reborn

00:46:11to keep living

00:46:12as that monster's

00:46:13unwanted child.

00:46:14I crossed 28 years

00:46:15of time

00:46:16for one reason only.

00:46:17To set my mother

00:46:18free,

00:46:19even if it cost

00:46:19the life I was

00:46:20never supposed to

00:46:21have in the first place.

00:46:23I stare

00:46:24at the battered

00:46:25trailer door

00:46:25glowing faintly

00:46:26under the moonlight

00:46:27and I never

00:46:28slow down

00:46:28for even a second.

00:46:30You sick

00:46:31bastard!

00:46:33Die!

00:46:37Without hesitation,

00:46:38I slam my foot

00:46:39into the flimsy

00:46:40aluminum trailer door.

00:46:42Using the momentum,

00:46:44I throw myself

00:46:44straight at Austin

00:46:45from behind.

00:46:47Under the pale

00:46:48moonlight,

00:46:48I raise the heavy

00:46:49cleaver high over

00:46:50my head

00:46:51and bring it down

00:46:52with every ounce

00:46:53of hatred

00:46:53from both lifetimes

00:46:55behind it.

00:46:56Austin lets out

00:46:58an animalistic scream,

00:46:59but I underestimated

00:47:00what kind of monster

00:47:01he really is.

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

00:47:07A man who survived

00:47:08years of cartel violence

00:47:10along the border

00:47:10doesn't go down easily.

00:47:13The pain only drives

00:47:15him insane.

00:47:16Before I can swing again,

00:47:17agony shoots through

00:47:18my arm like the bone

00:47:19is about to snap.

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

00:47:24The clever is ripped

00:47:25out of my hands

00:47:26instantly.

00:47:27Clang!

00:47:28The weapon crashes

00:47:29to the floor

00:47:29as Austin slams me

00:47:30hard against the ground

00:47:31inside the trailer.

00:47:35Under the dim moonlight

00:47:37leaking through

00:47:37the broken trailer walls,

00:47:39Austin finally sees

00:47:40my face clearly.

00:47:44You little bitch again.

00:47:47You just keep ruining

00:47:49everything!

00:47:50He roars hysterically

00:47:51and raises the

00:47:52clember over his head.

00:47:53Then it comes down.

00:47:55Again.

00:47:56And again.

00:47:57The blade flashes silver

00:47:59through the cramped trailer.

00:48:00Each strike tears violently

00:48:02into my stomach and chest

00:48:04without mercy.

00:48:10warm blood immediately floods

00:48:11from my mouth,

00:48:12soaking my clothes.

00:48:16But strangely,

00:48:18I keep feeling pain anymore.

00:48:23my mind is terrifyingly clear.

00:48:25Only one thought

00:48:26keeps screaming

00:48:27inside my head.

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

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

00:48:32No!

00:48:32Please!

00:48:33Stop!

00:48:34Let her go!

00:48:37No!

00:48:40Please, stop!

00:48:49And the second I see him

00:48:50turning toward my mother again,

00:48:52something inside me snaps,

00:48:55using every last ounce of strength

00:48:56from both my lives.

00:48:58I throw myself onto him

00:49:00from behind

00:49:00and lock my arms around his body

00:49:02like a steel trap.

00:49:06No!

00:49:12No matter how violently

00:49:14he punches me,

00:49:16no matter how many times

00:49:18the blade carves into my flesh,

00:49:20I grit my teeth so hard

00:49:22I taste blood

00:49:22and hold on anyway.

00:49:25Even as blood pours

00:49:26from my mouth,

00:49:27I use my dying body weight

00:49:29to keep him pinned in place.

00:49:31You want to hurt her?

00:49:33Then you'll have to cut me

00:49:35into pieces first.

00:49:37Then you'll have to cut me

00:49:38into pieces first.

00:49:40A deafening shotgun blast

00:49:42erupts through the trailer.

00:49:44Austin!

00:49:46Blinding police spotlights

00:49:47flood the darkness

00:49:48as Grandpa storms inside,

00:49:49roaring.

00:49:51The blast tears

00:49:52straight through Austin's skull.

00:49:55The impact stops

00:49:56the monster cold.

00:49:57His body jerks violently

00:49:58before collapsing to the floor

00:50:00like dead weight.

00:50:01Scarlet!

00:50:02Finally,

00:50:03the demon falls silent

00:50:05and with the last bit of life

00:50:06draining from my body,

00:50:07I collapse into the blood

00:50:09beside him.

00:50:14Scarlet!

00:50:15Scarlet!

00:50:19Scarlet, wake up!

00:50:21Please!

00:50:23Mom's begging you,

00:50:24please wake up!

00:50:26My mother's screams

00:50:28tear through the freezing

00:50:29Texas night.

00:50:30Raw,

00:50:31desperate,

00:50:32sharp enough

00:50:32to rip the sky apart.

00:50:34I want to lift my hand,

00:50:37wipe the blood off her face

00:50:38like I always do,

00:50:40pull her into my arms

00:50:41one last time.

00:50:42But my arm feels

00:50:43filled with concrete.

00:50:44My body is getting colder

00:50:45by the second,

00:50:46and the voices around me

00:50:47sound farther and farther away

00:50:48like they're trapped

00:50:49beneath deep water.

00:50:50The whole world

00:50:51is slowly drifting out of reach.

00:50:52I lie there helplessly

00:50:53in the cold,

00:50:54moldy blood

00:50:55pooling across the floor

00:50:56of the abandoned trailer.

00:50:57I see Grandpa and Grandma

00:50:58rushing toward me.

00:51:01Grandpa's hands,

00:51:02the same steady hands

00:51:03that held a gun

00:51:04his entire life

00:51:05without trembling once.

00:51:06He presses so hard

00:51:08his knuckles turn white,

00:51:09but the blood still keeps

00:51:10pouring through his fingers.

00:51:13Grandma collapses beside me,

00:51:15covering her mouth

00:51:16as sobs wreck her body.

00:51:19The whole world

00:51:20is slowly drifting

00:51:21out of reach.

00:51:23I know then,

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

00:51:29That monster

00:51:30who haunts both of my lives

00:51:32like a curse

00:51:33carved into my bones.

00:51:36Austin Walker

00:51:37is finally killed that night

00:51:38by Grandpa's shotgun.

00:51:40The blast tears

00:51:41straight through his head.

00:51:43His blood,

00:51:44his violence,

00:51:44his evil.

00:51:45All of it splatter

00:51:47across the rusted trailer walls

00:51:48and sinks into the mud

00:51:49of the Texas borderlands.

00:51:51Justice comes late.

00:51:52The law never even gets

00:51:53the chance to put him

00:51:54on death row.

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

00:51:57Brutal, bloody,

00:51:57and absolute.

00:51:59After two lifetimes

00:52:00of suffering,

00:52:01the debt is finally paid.

00:52:03But the devil's death

00:52:04doesn't bring life

00:52:05back to our family.

00:52:06A few days later,

00:52:07an unusual storm

00:52:08rolls across the border.

00:52:09Cold rain mixes

00:52:10with sand and dirt,

00:52:11turning the whole town gray,

00:52:12muddy,

00:52:12and bitterly cold

00:52:13as if the sky itself

00:52:14is mourning everything

00:52:15we've lost.

00:52:16The Wyatt house

00:52:17falls silent.

00:52:18The kitchen that once

00:52:18smells of barbecue

00:52:19and fresh coffee

00:52:20never lights up again.

00:52:22Valerie becomes a ghost.

00:52:23She barely speaks.

00:52:25Barely moves.

00:52:26Like someone winds her up

00:52:28once and then forgets

00:52:29to do it again.

00:52:30Late one night,

00:52:31after the rain

00:52:32finally stops,

00:52:33she stumbles

00:52:34into my room alone.

00:52:35Dust has already settled

00:52:36across everything

00:52:37I leave behind.

00:52:38With trembling hands,

00:52:39she folds my faded jeans,

00:52:41picks up my

00:52:42unfinished notebooks,

00:52:43smooths out the wrinkles

00:52:44in the blanket on my bed.

00:52:46And the moment her fingers

00:52:47touch those cold sheets,

00:52:49the ones that will never

00:52:49hold my warmth again,

00:52:51something inside her

00:52:52finally breaks.

00:52:53Tears hit the hardwood floor

00:52:54one after another,

00:52:56soft, heavy.

00:52:58Nora?

00:52:59Can Mom come find you

00:53:00in heaven?

00:53:04Valerie drops to her knees

00:53:06beside the bed.

00:53:07She buries her pale face

00:53:08deep into my old pillow,

00:53:10the one I never get around

00:53:11to washing.

00:53:13There's still the faint smell

00:53:14of cheap shampoo

00:53:15lingering in the fabric,

00:53:16the last trace

00:53:17of her daughter

00:53:18left in this world.

00:53:19She clutches the sheets

00:53:21so tightly

00:53:21her fingers cramp,

00:53:23crying like a child

00:53:24who loses everything

00:53:25in the middle of the desert.

00:53:28The news of the border shooting

00:53:30reaches Boston overnight.

00:53:33Hector and his mother

00:53:34immediately cancel everything

00:53:36and drive back to Texas.

00:53:38Neither of them

00:53:39asks questions.

00:53:41They simply stay

00:53:43beside my grandparents

00:53:44and help them

00:53:44hold themselves together

00:53:45long enough

00:53:46to bury me.

00:53:49The funeral is held

00:53:50in the little cemetery

00:53:51outside town.

00:53:53For once,

00:53:54there is no sandstorm.

00:53:57White roses cover my grave.

00:53:59Hector stands

00:54:00at the very back

00:54:01of the crowd.

00:54:01The boy who once

00:54:03looked so calm

00:54:04and untouchable

00:54:05now has eyes

00:54:07darkened with grief

00:54:08and rage.

00:54:09He stares at the photo

00:54:10on my headstone,

00:54:12my 18-year-old smile

00:54:13frozen forever in time,

00:54:15and clenches his fists

00:54:16so hard

00:54:17his knuckles turn pale.

00:54:21After the funeral,

00:54:22the atmosphere

00:54:23inside the Wyatt house

00:54:24feels suffocating.

00:54:26Grandpa and Grandma

00:54:27sit silently

00:54:28at the dinner table.

00:54:30Exhaustion and grief

00:54:31etched into every line

00:54:32on their faces.

00:54:34Hector sits alone

00:54:35on the old bench

00:54:35near the living room window,

00:54:37staring out

00:54:37at the empty Texas highway.

00:54:39He struggles with himself

00:54:40for a long time

00:54:41before finally standing

00:54:42and walking over

00:54:43to Valerie.

00:54:44He crouches down

00:54:45in front of her carefully,

00:54:46like he's afraid

00:54:47she might shitter

00:54:47if he moves too fast.

00:54:53Valerie,

00:54:54come with us.

00:54:55Leave this place behind.

00:54:57We can start over

00:54:58somewhere else.

00:55:00Okay?

00:55:01His voice is barely

00:55:02above a whisper.

00:55:03He doesn't even dare

00:55:04touch her.

00:55:05He just looks at her

00:55:06with quiet heartbreak

00:55:07in his eyes.

00:55:08Valerie doesn't answer.

00:55:10She sits there

00:55:11in the shadows,

00:55:11clutching my faded

00:55:12denim jacket

00:55:13against her chest

00:55:14like it's the last oxygen

00:55:15left in the world.

00:55:18That night,

00:55:20after everyone

00:55:20finally falls asleep

00:55:21from sheer exhaustion,

00:55:23the old house

00:55:24sinks into silence.

00:55:31and Valerie wanders

00:55:33back into my room again.

00:55:49She doesn't turn on

00:55:50the lights.

00:55:51In a room without me,

00:55:53even the light

00:55:53feels like a mockery.

00:56:00She kneels alone

00:56:01on the cold floor,

00:56:02organizing my belongings

00:56:03one piece at a time

00:56:04under the pale moonlight

00:56:06coming through the window.

00:56:15My textbooks

00:56:16full of notes.

00:56:20My erasers worn down

00:56:21to almost nothing.

00:56:23Then finally,

00:56:25my old backpack,

00:56:26the cheap one

00:56:28with frayed edges

00:56:28and fading fabric.

00:56:30She pulls it into her arms

00:56:32and buries her face

00:56:33against it,

00:56:34breathing in

00:56:35what little remains

00:56:35of my scent.

00:56:40Then her hand brushes

00:56:42against something

00:56:42hidden deep

00:56:43inside the torn

00:56:44inner lining.

00:56:53paper.

00:56:54A folded envelope

00:56:56slips loose

00:56:56and falls softly

00:56:57into her lap.

00:56:58On the front

00:56:59is only one word.

00:57:02Those are the words

00:57:03I want to say

00:57:04across two lifetimes.

00:57:06The words

00:57:06I never managed

00:57:07to say out loud

00:57:08before I die.

00:57:17Valerie freezes.

00:57:18Her whole body

00:57:19stiffens

00:57:20as her trembling fingers

00:57:21slowly tear

00:57:22the envelope open.

00:57:24She's shaking

00:57:25so badly

00:57:26her fingernail

00:57:27slices the edge

00:57:28of the paper

00:57:28and draws blood

00:57:30but she doesn't

00:57:31even notice.

00:57:32Then she sees

00:57:33the first line

00:57:34and the moment

00:57:36she reads

00:57:36the name buried

00:57:37deepest inside her heart,

00:57:43her breathing

00:57:44stops.

00:57:51Mom,

00:57:53if you're

00:57:54reading this

00:57:55I'm probably

00:57:56already gone.

00:58:02Don't cry

00:58:03for me.

00:58:06From the first

00:58:07day I came

00:58:08back to this

00:58:09timeline

00:58:09I already

00:58:11make up

00:58:11my mind.

00:58:12I'm going

00:58:13to trade

00:58:14my life

00:58:14for your

00:58:15freedom.

00:58:18Under the

00:58:19moonlight

00:58:19Valerie's

00:58:20eyes instantly

00:58:21turn red.

00:58:23She covers

00:58:23her mouth

00:58:24tightly

00:58:24to stop

00:58:26herself

00:58:26from sobbing

00:58:27out loud

00:58:27and keeps

00:58:28reading.

00:58:31During those

00:58:3228 filthy

00:58:33years in

00:58:33my first

00:58:33life

00:58:35I hated

00:58:36I hated

00:58:36you so

00:58:37much

00:58:37sometimes.

00:58:38Living in

00:58:38that moldy

00:58:39trailer park

00:58:40I wonder

00:58:40every day

00:58:41why everyone

00:58:41else has a

00:58:42loving mom

00:58:42except me.

00:58:44Why you

00:58:45left me

00:58:45alone in

00:58:45hell.

00:58:46But in

00:58:46this life

00:58:47I finally

00:58:47learned the

00:58:48truth.

00:58:49My mother

00:58:49loves me

00:58:50more than

00:58:50anyone ever

00:58:51could.

00:58:52You burn

00:58:53your whole

00:58:53life away

00:58:54trying to

00:58:54protect me.

00:58:55And honestly

00:58:56mom,

00:58:57being loved

00:58:57by you like

00:58:58that is already

00:58:59enough.

00:58:59You're

00:59:00brilliant.

00:59:01Beautiful.

00:59:03Grandpa

00:59:03and grandma

00:59:04love you

00:59:05so much.

00:59:06Hector's

00:59:07mom once

00:59:07says you're

00:59:07meant to

00:59:08soar high

00:59:08above the

00:59:09clouds.

00:59:10Not rot

00:59:10away in

00:59:11border town

00:59:11dirt because

00:59:12some rapist

00:59:12destroys your

00:59:13life.

00:59:14Please let

00:59:15me go mom.

00:59:16Don't give

00:59:16birth to me

00:59:17again.

00:59:17As long as

00:59:18the name

00:59:18Nora exists

00:59:19Austin Walker's

00:59:20shadow will

00:59:20always haunt

00:59:21you.

00:59:22This time

00:59:22don't look

00:59:23back.

00:59:23Promise

00:59:24me.

00:59:24Go somewhere

00:59:25cleaner.

00:59:26Higher.

00:59:26Better.

00:59:27Go live the

00:59:28life you're

00:59:28supposed to

00:59:29have.

00:59:29Be free.

00:59:31By the

00:59:31end of the

00:59:32letter Valerie

00:59:32has completely

00:59:33collapsed onto

00:59:34the floor.

00:59:35She presses

00:59:35those pages

00:59:36against her

00:59:37chest like

00:59:37they're the

00:59:37last pieces

00:59:38of my

00:59:38heartbeat

00:59:39left in

00:59:39the world

00:59:39and cries

00:59:40so hard

00:59:41she can

00:59:41barely breathe.

00:59:42Curled up

00:59:43beside the

00:59:43bed in

00:59:43the darkness

00:59:44she breaks

00:59:45apart

00:59:45completely.

00:59:46And in

00:59:47that winter

00:59:48night of

00:59:481996

00:59:50in a world

00:59:51without her

00:59:51daughter

00:59:53my mother

00:59:53lets out

00:59:54the most

00:59:54shattered

00:59:55guilt

00:59:55hardened

00:59:56heartbroken

00:59:57sobs of

00:59:57both our

00:59:58lifetimes.

01:00:02That night

01:00:03the Texas

01:00:03winter wind

01:00:04howls so

01:00:05hard it

01:00:05nearly tears

01:00:06the old

01:00:07wooden house

01:00:07apart.

01:00:09Valerie

01:00:10clutches my

01:00:10letter against

01:00:11her chest

01:00:12and cries

01:00:13until her

01:00:13voice gives

01:00:14up.

01:00:17In that

01:00:18letter I

01:00:18beg her to

01:00:19let me go

01:00:19beg her not

01:00:20to look

01:00:21back beg her

01:00:22to chase her

01:00:23dreams and

01:00:23finally become

01:00:24the free

01:00:24person she

01:00:25deserves to

01:00:26be.

01:00:27But staring

01:00:28into my

01:00:28empty room

01:00:29something

01:00:30reignites in

01:00:30her hollow

01:00:31lifeless eyes.

01:00:35A fire.

01:00:37A stubbornness

01:00:38stronger than

01:00:39grief itself.

01:00:41Valerie whispers

01:00:42hoskily into

01:00:43the darkness.

01:00:45You silly girl.

01:00:48How could a

01:00:49mother ever

01:00:49stop loving

01:00:50her child.

01:00:51She can't do

01:00:52what I ask

01:00:55because she

01:00:56had already

01:00:56told me once

01:00:57before.

01:00:59I will never

01:01:00let you go.

01:01:03You are part

01:01:04of my body.

01:01:05Part of my

01:01:06life.

01:01:10A few days

01:01:11later Hector

01:01:12and his mother

01:01:12help my

01:01:13exhausted

01:01:14grandparents

01:01:16finish arranging

01:01:17everything.

01:01:25Then carrying

01:01:26unbearable grief

01:01:27with them

01:01:28the entire

01:01:30family leaves

01:01:31Texas for

01:01:31Boston.

01:01:38The day

01:01:39the bus

01:01:39pulls away

01:01:40kicking up

01:01:41yellow dust

01:01:42behind it

01:01:44Valerie

01:01:45stands by

01:01:46the window

01:01:46and takes

01:01:47a deep

01:01:47breath

01:01:48of cold

01:01:48New England

01:01:49air.

01:01:52This time

01:01:53she isn't

01:01:54running as

01:01:54a victim

01:01:55buried under

01:01:55shame.

01:01:57This time

01:01:58she's a

01:01:59mother determined

01:02:00to rewrite

01:02:01fate itself

01:02:01and bring

01:02:02her daughter

01:02:03back into

01:02:03the world

01:02:04with every

01:02:05ounce of

01:02:05love

01:02:06she has.

01:02:09Time moves

01:02:10quickly beneath

01:02:11Boston's blue

01:02:12skies.

01:02:14Valerie

01:02:15throws every

01:02:16ounce of

01:02:16grief and

01:02:17pain into

01:02:17studying.

01:02:21Fueled by

01:02:22the determination

01:02:22of two

01:02:23lifetimes

01:02:24she works

01:02:25through endless

01:02:25nights

01:02:26until she's

01:02:28accepted into

01:02:28Harvard with

01:02:30near perfect

01:02:30scores.

01:02:33And Hector

01:02:33the boy who

01:02:35once cries for

01:02:35me at that

01:02:36Texas bus

01:02:36station

01:02:38finally achieved

01:02:39his own dream

01:02:40too.

01:02:42Earning a place

01:02:43at one of the

01:02:44country's top

01:02:45medical schools.

01:02:47textbooks become

01:02:49Valerie's

01:02:49shelter and

01:02:50the child

01:02:51growing inside

01:02:51her.

01:02:52The child

01:02:53once used

01:02:54by monsters

01:02:55as black

01:02:55mail is

01:02:56finally being

01:02:57nurtured in

01:02:57warmth and

01:02:58love.

01:03:00The following

01:03:01autumn beneath

01:03:02golden maple

01:03:03leaves and the

01:03:04bright lights of

01:03:05a Boston

01:03:05maternity room

01:03:06a baby girl

01:03:07enters the

01:03:08world with a

01:03:09loud healthy

01:03:10cry.

01:03:11Valerie lies

01:03:13exhausted against

01:03:13the hospital bed

01:03:14tears blurring her

01:03:15vision as she

01:03:16smiles wider than

01:03:17she ever has

01:03:17before.

01:03:18With trembling

01:03:19arms she holds

01:03:21the tiny newborn

01:03:21against her chest

01:03:22and kisses her

01:03:23forehead gently.

01:03:25Noma, welcome

01:03:27to the world

01:03:28baby.

01:03:29This time there's

01:03:30no moldy trailer

01:03:31park, no

01:03:32violence, no

01:03:33shadow left

01:03:34behind by monsters.

01:03:35Sunlight pours

01:03:36through the hospital

01:03:37windows onto a

01:03:38warm nursery crib.

01:03:39Grandpa and

01:03:40grandma show up

01:03:40crying and carrying

01:03:41brand new Barbie

01:03:42dolls.

01:03:44Hector adjusts

01:03:45his glasses and

01:03:46smiles softly

01:03:47beside him.

01:03:47And this version

01:03:49of Nora is

01:03:50finally born into

01:03:51life.

01:03:53After that, life

01:03:55slowly finds its

01:03:56way onto the

01:03:56right path.

01:03:58Without the

01:03:58suffering and

01:03:59burdens of the

01:03:59first timeline,

01:04:01Valerie and

01:04:01Hector both reach

01:04:02the futures they

01:04:03are always meant

01:04:04to have.

01:04:05Hector becomes

01:04:06one of the

01:04:06country's leading

01:04:07surgeons, saving

01:04:09countless lives.

01:04:10Valor becomes a

01:04:12legendary attorney

01:04:13known across

01:04:14America, dedicating

01:04:16her career to

01:04:17protecting women

01:04:17and children

01:04:18through civil

01:04:19rights law.

01:04:20And the new

01:04:21Nora grows up

01:04:22in Harvard's

01:04:23golden autumn

01:04:23trees, surrounded

01:04:25by love instead

01:04:26of fear.

01:04:27She is bright,

01:04:28confident,

01:04:30happy.

01:04:32The cancer that

01:04:34once destroys my

01:04:35body never appears

01:04:37in hers.

01:04:42As little Nora grows

01:04:43up, she watches

01:04:45Valerie and Hector

01:04:46eventually fall in

01:04:47love and build a

01:04:48quiet, beautiful

01:04:48family together.

01:04:50Their life isn't

01:04:51glamorous, but the

01:04:53love they give her

01:04:54overflows far beyond

01:04:55what most families

01:04:57could ever offer.

01:04:58And somewhere inside

01:04:59the golden evening

01:05:00light, the version

01:05:02of me that crosses

01:05:02time itself, the

01:05:04wandering soul carried

01:05:06away by the wind,

01:05:07finally smiles.

01:05:09At the end of her

01:05:10autobiography, my

01:05:11mother writes one

01:05:12final dedication.

01:05:14Every achievement

01:05:15and honor in my life

01:05:16belongs to a girl

01:05:17named Nora.

01:05:18My daughter once

01:05:19tears open the

01:05:20darkness with her

01:05:21own life, and I

01:05:22spend the rest of

01:05:23mine bringing her

01:05:24back into the light.

01:05:25I lean quietly

01:05:26against my mother's

01:05:27knee in that final

01:05:28memory and whisper

01:05:29softly in my heart,

01:05:33Mom, this time

01:05:35you get everything

01:05:36right.

01:05:36And at last, those

01:05:38two wounded souls

01:05:39walk hand in hand

01:05:40towards the endless

01:05:40stars waiting

01:05:41beyond the clouds.

01:05:42events.

01:05:42Try the clouds

01:05:44and besides

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

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