- 45 minutes ago
Welcome to Persian Drama - your ultimate premium destination for the hottest trending short dramas and the newest viral drama shorts in stunning HD quality!Immerse yourself in powerful stories that deliver full emotional journeys in just minutes. From heart-pounding revenge plots, passionate romances, emotional family sagas to billionaire twists and thrilling betrayals – every short drama is crafted to keep you hooked from the very first second.We bring you the most talked-about and newest short dramas from around the world, updated daily with the freshest viral hits. With seamless multi-language support (English, Spanish, Arabic and more), you can enjoy every moment without language barriers.Perfect for your busy schedule or when you need a quick, powerful emotional escape. Join millions of viewers who start and end their day with the best short dramas on the platform.Turn on notifications now so you never miss the latest viral sensation!
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:08I was one of the nation's elite plastic surgeons, a man who traded in perfection.
00:14Then, my wife asked me to trade it all in for her.
00:20I earn enough for both of us.
00:22Put down the scalpel and take care of our home.
00:27For five years, I buried eight years of medical training under laundry and home-cooked meals.
00:31I became the invisible husband.
00:34But Serafina was an icy wife.
00:36Love is not about the fiery passion, Adrian.
00:40It's the mutual respect.
00:47For five years, she was a statue in my bed, a ghost in my arms.
00:51For five years, same position, same stoic reaction like she wasn't here.
00:56But on our fifth anniversary, the icy Serafina finally showed some heat, just not for me.
01:07But still, it was our fifth anniversary.
01:10I took the afternoon off from the hospital to prepare a surprise candlelight dinner.
01:14I spent hours in the kitchen, orchestrating a symphony of flavors, feeling a rare surge of hope.
01:19I snapped a photo of the feast and called her.
01:25What?
01:25Hey, when are you coming home? I made a massive dinner for us.
01:28Should I come pick you up?
01:30Don't bother. I'm working late, and I have to leave for a business trip tonight.
01:34Don't wait up.
01:36The line went dead before I could mention the anniversary.
01:39The disappointment was heavy, but I buried it under the excuse of her career.
01:42Then, the hospital called.
01:44An emergency transfer was coming in a male patient with a delicate traumatic injury.
01:48I rushed to the ER, ignoring my empty stomach.
01:58I spent five grueling hours in the operating theater, meticulously saving the patient's dignity.
02:03By 1 a.m., I was exhausted.
02:05As I stepped into the lobby, a nurse called out to the waiting area.
02:15Family for Julian White? Is anyone here for Julian White?
02:18A woman awoke from deep sleep.
02:21Despite her mask, I knew that silhouette better than my own.
02:24Here. I'm with Julian.
02:26I froze.
02:27My wife, who was supposed to be miles away on a business trip, was standing ten feet from me,
02:32her eyes brimming with a terror she had never shown for me.
02:37She was still wearing the beige mid-dress she had left in that morning.
02:41Her hair was still perfect.
02:43The gold bracelet I gave her gleaming on her wrist.
02:48The business trip was a fiction.
02:50The overtime was a lie.
02:53I watched, paralyzed, as Julian was wheeled out on a gurney.
02:57Selafina rushed to his side, her hands trembling as she reached for him.
03:01As they passed me, I finally saw his face.
03:04Julian White.
03:04The white moonlight.
03:06Her first love.
03:07The man whose ghost had haunted the corners of our marriage for five years.
03:12The world tilted.
03:14The five-hour surgery.
03:16The hunger.
03:17And the sudden, violent realization of her betrayal crashed over me.
03:21My knees buckled.
03:23Adrian!
03:24Are you okay?
03:26I'm fine.
03:28Just a bit of low blood sugar.
03:30Selafina didn't even look at me.
03:32I was just another masked surgeon in a hallway full of them.
03:34She was too busy whispering to Julian as they boarded the elevator.
03:37I sat in the lobby for an eternity, staring at the floor until my eyes burned.
03:42Eventually, I found myself outside Julian's recovery room.
03:47Through the glass, I saw her.
03:49She was fussing over his pillows, her movements filled with a desperate, aching tenderness.
03:54My wife, the woman who claimed intimacy was unnecessary, was currently holding another man's hand with a devotion that bordered
04:00on worship.
04:01Business trip.
04:02Over time.
04:03Julian.
04:05I whispered the words to the empty hallway.
04:08The irony was a poison.
04:10I had spent five hours saving the very man who had just destroyed my life.
04:16I had used my skills to ensure he could return to her arms.
04:21I sat there until the silence became unbearable.
04:25Realizing that for five years, I hadn't been a husband.
04:28I had been a placeholder.
04:32I turned to leave, my body feeling like lead.
04:36Suddenly, the door to the room swung open.
04:38Doctor, help!
04:39She nearly ran into me, her face pale with panic.
04:42I lowered my head, my mask still firmly in place.
04:45She didn't recognize me.
04:47She sprinted past me toward the nurse's station, returning seconds later with the resident on duty.
04:52Please, you have to check him.
04:54Julian says he's in pain, and he can't feel his legs.
04:57Please, save him!
04:59She brushed past me again, her frantic energy filling the room.
05:02She didn't look at my eyes.
05:04She didn't notice the way I stood.
05:06To her, I was a ghost.
05:07I walked to the locker room, stripped off the scrubs that smelled of antiseptic and lies, and drove home in
05:13a trance.
05:24The house was a tomb.
05:26I lay in the dark, the silence ringing in my ears.
05:30I opened our chat and typed a thousand words of fury and grief, but I couldn't press send.
05:35Instead, I sent a lie of my own.
05:37Hey, honey, I just got back from a late call.
05:40How's the trip going?
05:41Hope you're resting well.
05:42I waited.
05:43The minutes turned into an hour.
05:45The read receipt never appeared.
05:47I finally fell into a shallow sleep, haunted by images of them together.
05:51When I woke, the sun was blinding.
05:53My phone was still silent.
05:57No reply.
05:58No explanation.
06:00Just the cold, hard vacuum of her absence.
06:03I realized then that I wasn't waiting for her to come home.
06:05I was waiting for the strength to let go.
06:08Five years of devotion had been built on a foundation of sand, and the tide had finally come in.
06:14I was washing my face when I heard the front door open.
06:17My heart hammered against my ribs as I stepped into the living room.
06:21Serafina was there.
06:22Beside her stood two massive suitcases.
06:25She was still in the beige dress, her expression returning to its usual mask of icy indifference.
06:30You're back from your trip early.
06:32Yes.
06:33She didn't offer a lie.
06:34She didn't offer an apology.
06:36She just looked at me as if I were an intruder in my own home.
06:38I waited for the truth, for a shred of honesty that might save a piece of my soul.
06:43Those suitcases belong to a friend.
06:45He just had surgery and has no one to look after him.
06:49I'm bringing him here to recover this afternoon.
06:51The last flicker of hope died.
06:53Okay.
06:54I said it so quietly, I wasn't sure she heard me.
06:57She looked at me then, a flicker of surprise crossing her face at my lack of resistance.
07:01But the fight had left me.
07:03I walked into the bathroom, let the cold water numb my skin, and left for the hospital without looking back.
07:09The afternoon shift was a blur of static.
07:11I moved through the wards like a machine.
07:13I was a man without a home, a husband without a wife.
07:16Just before my shift ended, there was a knock on my office door.
07:18It was the dean's assistant.
07:24Dr. Adrian, Dean Sterling needs to see you immediately.
07:27I stood up, my mind racing.
07:30Had I made a mistake?
07:31Had she complained about me?
07:32I walked to the dean's office, feeling like a condemned man.
07:38Dean Sterling was staring at a news report.
07:40His face was a map of grim lines.
07:42I sat.
07:43He turned off the monitor and leaned forward.
07:45Have you seen the news?
07:46The chemical plant explosion in the North District?
07:49No, I've been busy.
07:52It's a catastrophe.
07:54Toxic radians have been released into the atmosphere and the water table.
07:58The local hospitals are overwhelmed, and the medical staff are dropping like flies.
08:03It's an airborne neurotoxin.
08:05High risk, high mortality.
08:07He paused, studying my face.
08:09The government is calling for an elite volunteer team to man the field hospitals.
08:13It's a dangerous mission, Adrian.
08:16Possibly a one-way trip.
08:18But if you go, and you come back, the department head position is yours.
08:24I thought of the suitcases in my living room.
08:26I thought of the man currently taking my place in my bed.
08:29I thought of the five years I had spent begging for a love that was never mine to begin with.
08:33I'll go.
08:35Adrian, think about it.
08:36Talk to your wife.
08:37It's a high exposure zone.
08:39You might not make it back.
08:40I don't need to talk to her.
08:42I'm ready to leave tonight.
08:43I saw the shock in the Dean's eyes, but I didn't care.
08:47I didn't want the promotion.
08:48I didn't want the glory.
08:49I just wanted a place where the poison outside matched the poison in my heart.
08:53If I was going to die, I wanted it to mean something.
08:56I wanted to be somewhere where the pain had a purpose.
09:04Dean Sterling's words about the suicide mission echoed in my ears.
09:07They felt like a lifeline rather than a threat.
09:09The drive back was a blur of neon lights and hollow silence.
09:12I needed to leave.
09:14I needed to be somewhere where the stakes were life and death.
09:18Because my life here had already died.
09:20When I pushed open the front door, the air in the apartment felt different, suffocating.
09:24I froze at the entrance.
09:25There, reclined on my sofa in a silk robe, was a man.
09:29He looked up with a lazy, proprietary gaze.
09:32Julian.
09:33He was leaner than in his photos.
09:35His face pale with a fragile, tragic beauty that seemed designed to elicit pity.
09:40Julian, I poured the soup for you.
09:42Her voice drifted from the kitchen, uncharacteristically soft,
09:46humming a tune I hadn't heard in years.
09:48She stepped out, holding a delicate porcelain bowl of steaming broth.
09:51When her eyes met mine, her smile didn't just fade, it vanished.
09:55A flicker of guilt crossed her face, replaced instantly by a defensive coldness.
10:00You're home.
10:01This is my friend, Julia.
10:03He's weak after his surgery and has no one else.
10:05He'll be staying in the guest suite, well, for a while.
10:08I looked at the table.
10:09She had prepared a four-course meal.
10:11In five years of marriage, she had never cooked for me.
10:14Not once.
10:15I didn't even know she knew how to make soup.
10:18Adrian, right?
10:20Sarah tells me you're a brilliant surgeon.
10:23Truly impressive.
10:24I've heard so much about you.
10:26He called her Sarah, a nickname I was never allowed to use.
10:29He looked at me not with gratitude, but with the quiet triumph of a conqueror returning to his throne.
10:36Adrian.
10:37Julian greeted you.
10:39Don't be rude.
10:39I looked at her, then at him.
10:41The rage I expected didn't come.
10:44It was replaced by a profound sense of absurdity.
10:47I'm tired.
10:48I turned toward our bedroom, wanting only to close the door and vanish.
10:52But when I turned the handle, the sight inside stopped my breath.
10:56My linens were gone.
10:57My pillows, my books, the clothes I usually left draped over the chair all gone.
11:02The room had been scrubbed clean of my existence.
11:04In the corner stood a solitary, packed suitcase.
11:08My suitcase.
11:09Julian needs a proper bed to recover.
11:12You're always at the hospital anyway.
11:14I've booked you a suite at the Hilton on Spring Road for the week.
11:17Your ID is at the front desk.
11:19You're kicking me out of my own bedroom?
11:22For him?
11:23It's temporary, Adrian.
11:25Don't be so dramatic.
11:26Suddenly, Julian appeared in the doorway, leaning heavily against the frame, clutching his abdomen.
11:31Sarah.
11:32Sarah, please, don't fight.
11:37It's my fault.
11:38I'll go.
11:39I'll go sleep in a hotel.
11:42I don't want to come between a husband and wife.
11:46He began to cough a wet theatrical sound.
11:49Serafina moved instantly, catching him with an agonizing maternal protectiveness.
11:53No.
11:53You're not going anywhere.
11:54You're too weak.
11:57Look at what you're doing to him, Adrian!
11:59Adrian, just leave.
12:02Give us some peace.
12:05The night air was biting as I rolled my suitcase through the lobby of the Hilton.
12:09The receptionist handed me my ID with a look of pity I couldn't stand.
12:13I sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, staring at the sterile walls.
12:17My life was packed into a single polyester bag.
12:20I unzipped the side compartment to find my toothbrush, but my hand brushed against something hard and square.
12:25It was a black, leather-bound notebook.
12:30I frowned.
12:31It wasn't my medical log.
12:33It had an old-fashioned brass latch.
12:35On a whim, I tried the combination of Serafina's birthday.
12:38It opened.
12:39The handwriting inside was elegant, slanted, and unmistakably hers.
12:44She must have packed it by mistake, confusing it with my journals.
12:47August 12th.
12:48He left today.
12:49The airport felt like a tomb.
12:51Why didn't he look back?
12:52My heart flew away with that plane.
12:54I felt sick.
12:56I flipped through the pages.
12:58Years of entries.
12:59All addressed to a hymn.
13:01July 15th.
13:02Your birthday.
13:03I bought a cake and ate it alone in the dark.
13:06Julian, are you cold over there?
13:08Do you miss me at all?
13:12I kept reading.
13:14The dates crawling closer to the present.
13:16My own name finally appeared near the end.
13:19October 27th.
13:20My parents like Adrian.
13:22He's stable.
13:23He's a doctor.
13:24We're getting married next month.
13:26But, Julian, if you ever came back, what would I do?
13:29I'll never forget you.
13:31Never.
13:32The diary ended there.
13:34Five years of marriage, and I was nothing more than a stable placeholder.
13:38A ghost in my own house.
13:42I didn't sleep.
13:43I spent the night staring at the city lights.
13:46The diary opened on the nightstand like an open wound.
13:49I didn't feel like crying.
13:50I felt like a prisoner who had finally been shown the key to his cell.
13:54She didn't love me.
13:57She didn't love me.
13:57She never had.
13:58She had used my stability to fund a life while she waited for her moonlight to return.
14:05I pulled a sheet of hotel stationery from the desk.
14:09My hand was steady as I wrote the words that had been five years in the making.
14:13Serafina, let's end this.
14:14The divorce papers will follow.
14:16I tucked you a note into the notebook and placed it back in the suitcase.
14:20I wouldn't be staying at the Hilton.
14:22I wouldn't be returning to the apartment.
14:24I called Dean Sterling at 6 a.m.
14:26I'm ready.
14:27When does the transport leave for the disaster zone?
14:30Known, Adrian.
14:32Are you sure?
14:33You sound...
14:34different.
14:35I've never been more certain of anything in my life.
14:38I left the suitcase at the hotel front desk, addressed to her.
14:41Let her find her past and her future in that bag.
14:44I was heading into the gray fog of the chemical clouds,
14:46where the only thing that mattered was the pulse under my fingers.
14:52The medical transport bus was filled with grim-faced doctors and nurses.
14:56Most were silent, staring at photos of their children or texting their spouses one last,
15:00I love you.
15:01I sat in the back, watching the city skyline shrink in the rearview mirror.
15:07When we crossed the border into the neighboring city,
15:09the sky turned to sickly bruised yellow.
15:12The air smelled of burnt rubber and bitter almonds.
15:15We stepped off the bus and were immediately ushered into a massive,
15:18echoing warehouse that had been converted into a triage center.
15:21It was a vision of hell.
15:23Row upon row of cots were filled with people coughing up dark fluid,
15:27their skin covered in angry, weeping chemical burns.
15:31The sound was a low, constant moan, punctuated by the screams of the dying.
15:35Dr. Adrian, over here.
15:38Tracy in level one.
15:39We have a male 30s acute pulmonary endema.
15:42He's cratching.
15:43I pulled on my respirator and goggles.
15:45My world narrowed down to the patient in front of me.
15:48For the next 72 hours, I didn't think of Serafina.
15:51I didn't think of Julian.
15:53I only thought of oxygen levels, heart rates,
15:56and the desperate struggle to keep the reaper at bay.
15:58I worked until my hands went numb.
16:00I worked until the sweat inside my suit made my skin raw.
16:04I was a machine, fueled by a strange, cold peace.
16:08If I died here, I would die saving lives.
16:11It was a far better fate than living as a shadow in a home that wasn't mine.
16:17The air inside the field hospital was a thick, invisible poison.
16:21Every breath I took through the respirator felt heavy, like inhaling wet sand.
16:24I spent days in a state of clinical detachment.
16:27I wasn't Adrian, the man whose wife had replaced him.
16:30I was a biological machine designed to stabilize failing lungs.
16:32I saw thousands of faces, all blurred into a single mask of agony.
16:37My world was the size of a patient's chest, rising and falling in desperate, ragged rhythms.
16:50By the end of the first week, the ice goddess and her moonlight were nothing but fading ghosts.
16:55But the body has limits that the spirit refuses to acknowledge.
16:58The constant exposure, the lack of sleep, and the sheer psychological weight finally took their toll.
17:04During a night shift, while adjusting a ventilator for a young woman, the world suddenly tilted.
17:09The rhythmic hiss-click of the machine surged into a deafening roar.
17:13The floor rose up to meet me.
17:28Dr. Adrian! Someone help! He's down!
17:32The last thing I saw was the sickly yellow glare of the overhead lights before the darkness swallowed me whole.
17:37I felt a strange sense of relief as I fell.
17:40Perhaps this was the exit I had been looking for.
17:42A clean break from a world that had no room for me.
17:48I woke up in the back of an ambulance, the siren wailing a mournful tune.
17:52I wasn't infected, the tests were clear, but I was a shell.
17:56My lungs were strained from the chemical irritants, and my heart was skipping beats from sheer exhaustion.
18:07Back at our city's main hospital, Dean Sterling stood over my bed.
18:11You're a hero, Adrian, but you're a hero who's about to break.
18:14I'm keeping you here for observation.
18:16You've done enough for three lifetimes.
18:20He stepped into the hallway and dialed the only family contact on my file.
18:25Serafina was in her office.
18:26Her mind occupied by corporate fires.
18:29And the delicate task of nursing Julian back to health.
18:32When her phone rang,
18:35she answered with her usual cold efficiency.
18:38This is Dean Sterling.
18:40Your husband, Adrian, has collapsed at the front lines.
18:43We've transported him back.
18:44He needs immediate care and a family advocate.
18:47Can you come?
18:48Collapsed?
18:49Is he...
18:49Is he going to be okay?
18:51He's stable for now, but his vitals are erratic.
18:54We need you here.
18:54Serafina hesitated.
18:56She had just promised to make Julian a special dinner
18:58to celebrate his first day of walking without a cane.
19:01But the Dean's voice was stern,
19:03leaving no room for excuses.
19:05He'll be there.
19:07Give me an hour.
19:17Serafina hung up and immediately turned to Julian,
19:20who was watching her from the recliner with an expectant look.
19:22Julian, I'm so sorry.
19:24I have to go to the hospital.
19:26Adrian, something happened at the disaster zone.
19:30Adrian?
19:32But Sarah, I saw this recipe for honey-glazed ribs.
19:35I was so looking forward to it.
19:37My stomach has been so unsettled.
19:39I don't think I can eat anything else.
19:41Julian, he collapsed.
19:42The Dean sounded serious.
19:44I have to go.
19:45Sarah, he's a doctor.
19:46He's surrounded by the best medical minds in the city.
19:49What can you do that they can't?
19:50I just feel so alone when you're gone.
19:52My incision, it's throbbing again.
19:55The pull of her moonlight was a physical force.
19:58Serafina looked at the car keys,
20:00then at Julian's pained expression.
20:02She saw the fragile beauty she had spent years mourning,
20:04and the choice became clear.
20:06You're right.
20:07He's in a hospital.
20:08It's the safest place he could be.
20:10I'll order the ribs from that bistro you like
20:12and stay until you fall asleep.
20:13I'll check on him in the morning.
20:15He's probably just exhausted.
20:17She spent the evening in the kitchen,
20:19her hands busy with plating food for the man she adored.
20:22While miles away, I lay in a darkened ward
20:24with an oxygen mask strapped to my face.
20:26She chose a meal over the man who had nearly died to escape her.
20:32At the hospital, my friend and colleague, Dr. Liam,
20:34kept checking the door of my private room.
20:37Where the hell is she?
20:38It's been seven hours since Sterling called.
20:40Does she think immediate means whenever I feel like it?
20:42I was awake now, though my voice was a mere rasp.
20:49Don't bother, Liam.
20:50She's not coming.
20:51Don't say that.
20:52You almost died out there.
20:54Even a stranger would show up for this.
20:55She's not a stranger.
20:57She's someone who made a choice a long time ago.
21:02I'm just finally seeing the bill.
21:04Across town, Serafina sat at the dinner table.
21:07Julian was eating with gusto,
21:09praising her taste between bites.
21:11But for the first time,
21:12the praise felt hollow.
21:14She looked at the empty seat where I used to sit,
21:16the man who never asked for praise,
21:18only for a glance.
21:19I should go.
21:20I feel uneasy.
21:24Now?
21:25But it's late,
21:26and I think I'm getting a fever.
21:29Stay with me?
21:30Just until the morning?
21:32Fine.
21:33I'll take you with me tomorrow.
21:35We'll do your checkup and see Adrian at the same time.
21:37It's more efficient that way.
21:40Efficiency.
21:41Even her concern was a matter of logistics.
21:45The hospital corridors were quiet at 10 p.m.
21:48I had managed to get out of bed,
21:50leaning heavily on an IV pole,
21:52trying to walk to the cafeteria for some water.
21:54I didn't want to call the nurses.
21:56They were already stretched thin.
21:57As I rounded the corner near the stairs,
21:59I stopped dead.
22:04Serafina was there.
22:05She was radiant.
22:06Her arm linked tightly with Julian's.
22:08She was guiding him with a tenderness that looked like worship.
22:11Her eyes fixed on his face as if he were made of glass.
22:15Slowly, Julian.
22:16Don't strain yourself.
22:17We're almost at the clinic.
22:19I stood in the shadows,
22:20my hospital gown fluttering in the draft.
22:23The contrast was a physical blow.
22:25I was the husband who had returned from a chemical wasteland,
22:28standing alone with a plastic tube in my arm.
22:30He was the lover who had received a minor scratch
22:32and was being treated like a king.
22:34Adrian?
22:35He had spotted me.
22:36Serafina looked up,
22:37and the shock in her eyes was quickly replaced
22:39by a sharp, stinging judgment.
22:41She saw me standing, mobile,
22:43and her guilt turned instantly into resentment.
22:45You look fine to me.
22:47The Dean made it sound like you were on your deathbed.
22:50I've been worried sick,
22:51and here you are, wandering the halls.
22:55I looked at her, really looked at her,
22:57and realized the woman I loved never existed.
22:59I'm sorry my existence disappointed you, Serafina.
23:03Please, don't let me interrupt your date.
23:08Serafina's words were a cold slap,
23:10more jarring than the physical exhaustion racking my frame.
23:12I stood there, leaning into the IV pole,
23:15feeling the sharp bite of the needle in my arm.
23:17The sting of her dismissal was a familiar ache.
23:20But tonight, it carried a finality
23:22that silenced my urge to defend myself.
23:25Julian was the one who went through agony, Adrian.
23:28Yet here you are,
23:29playing the martyr,
23:31because you stayed up late.
23:34It's pathetic.
23:35I looked at her, then at Julian.
23:38He was watching us.
23:39His face a carefully constructed mask of fragile suffering,
23:41though his eyes betrayed a flicker of predatory triumph.
23:44I'm sorry my collapse was inconvenient for your evening, Serafina.
23:48Don't start with the sarcasm.
23:50Julian came here to settle his nerves
23:52and get a proper checkup.
23:54And since you're clearly well enough to wander the halls,
23:57you can at least be useful.
24:07Serafina's expression softened instantly as she turned to him,
24:10her voice dropping into that melodic,
24:12nurturing tone I had spent five years craving.
24:14It's okay, Julian.
24:16I'm here.
24:18She turned back to me,
24:19her eyes hardening into flint.
24:21He needs his dressing changed
24:22and a professional assessment.
24:25Since you're the brilliant surgeon,
24:27you're going to do it.
24:30Now.
24:35The irony was a bitter pill I was forced to swallow.
24:37I was being ordered to tend to the man
24:39who had systematically dismantled my life.
24:41I led them into a private examination room,
24:43my head swimming with every step.
24:45I went through the motions of a doctor sanitizing my hands,
24:48donning gloves while my own lungs burned with every breath.
24:51Julian sat on the table,
24:52watching me with a glint of pure malice.
24:54When Serafina stepped out to take a critical work call,
24:57the mask dropped instantly.
25:02You look like a ghost, Adrian.
25:04Sarah doesn't see a hero when she looks at you.
25:07She sees a boring, dutiful shadow,
25:10even with tubes in your arm, still losing.
25:13I didn't give him the satisfaction of a response.
25:16I finished the dressing in silence and stepped back.
25:18You're healing perfectly.
25:20There is no medical reason for you to be here.
25:23As Serafina walked back in,
25:24Julian's demeanor shifted with terrifying speed.
25:27He lunged forward, grabbing my wrist with surprising strength.
25:32Adrian, wait.
25:33I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.
25:35Before I could pull away,
25:36he threw himself backward off the table.
25:38He hit the floor with a sickening thud,
25:40letting out a piercing, theatrical shriek of pain.
25:46Julian!
25:47She rushed into the room,
25:48finding him curled in a ball on the floor.
25:50She looked up at me,
25:51her face a mask of primal fury.
25:53He pushed me, Sarah.
25:56I was just trying to thank him,
25:57and he just snapped.
26:02Adrian!
26:05How could you?
26:06Her voice was a scream that echoed through the sterile ward.
26:10She knelt beside Julian,
26:11cradling his head against her chest
26:12with a devotion that felt like a physical blow to my chest.
26:17I knew you were jealous.
26:20But this?
26:22You're a monster.
26:23You're a danger to your patients.
26:28I didn't touch him, Serafina.
26:31He threw himself off the table.
26:35Liar!
26:37I saw your hand on him!
26:39The commotion brought Dr. Liam
26:40and the night supervisor, Dr. Vance,
26:43rushing into the room.
26:45Julian was quickly hoisted onto a gurney,
26:47sobbing into Serafina's sleeve.
26:50His incision has reopened.
26:52He needs an immediate restitch to prevent infection.
26:56Adrian, what the hell happened?
26:57He attacked him!
26:59I want him off this floor!
27:00I want him reported to the board!
27:03We need a surgeon.
27:05Vance is tied up in teriyaj with the new arrivals.
27:08Adrian is the only one available
27:09who knows the specifics of Julian's initial trauma.
27:12Serafina turned to me.
27:13Her face contorted with hatred.
27:16Fine.
27:16You did this, so you fix it.
27:19I want you on that table, Adrian.
27:21I want you to look at the damage
27:23your petty jealousy caused.
27:25If he isn't perfect when he comes out,
27:27I will destroy your career.
27:31I looked at Liam.
27:33He saw my shaking hands,
27:35the sweat on my brow,
27:36and the hollow look in my eyes.
27:38He knew I was in no condition to operate,
27:40but the ultimatum was clear.
27:44I stood over Julian in the operating theater,
27:46the overhead lights blindingly bright.
27:48Liam stood across from me as my assistant,
27:50his eyes filled with a quiet, simmering worry.
27:53Adrian, I can take over.
27:54Your heart rate is through the roof.
27:56No.
27:58I started this.
28:00I'm finishing it.
28:02The procedure was simple,
28:03a basic re-suturing,
28:04but for a man whose lungs were failing,
28:06it was an ascent of Everest.
28:07Every stitch required a monumental effort of will.
28:10Sweat poured down my face,
28:12stinging my eyes beneath my goggles.
28:14My heart hammered a frantic, irregular rhythm.
28:17I wasn't just sewing skin.
28:19I was sewing the shroud of my marriage.
28:21With every pass of the needle,
28:22I let go of a memory.
28:23The day we met.
28:24The day she said I do,
28:25with a voice as cold as the ring.
28:27Five years of quiet, lonely hope.
28:30When the last knot was tied,
28:31I dropped the forceps.
28:33The metallic clatter echoed in the silent room.
28:35He's stable.
28:36I reached into the pocket of my scrubs
28:38and pulled out a crumpled envelope
28:40that signed divorce papers
28:41I had been carrying since the hotel.
28:42I handed them to Liam without looking at him.
28:44Give these to Serafina.
28:46Tell her the debt is paid in full.
28:48I didn't wait for a response.
28:50My legs finally gave out,
28:51and I collapsed into the arms of the nursing staff
28:53as the world turned to grey.
29:00I drifted in and out of consciousness
29:01for the next 24 hours.
29:03When I finally fully awoke,
29:04the room was quiet.
29:05I was back on high-flow oxygen,
29:07but the crushing weighed on.
29:09My chest had eased into a dull thrum.
29:11Liam was sitting in the chair by the window,
29:12watching the sunrise.
29:16You're awake.
29:17You had us worried, man.
29:19Your lungs took a massive hit
29:20from the stress and the toxins,
29:22but the specialists say you'll recover.
29:23You just need months of absolute rest.
29:26And the papers?
29:28Liam sighed.
29:29A look of grim satisfaction crossing his face.
29:32I gave them to her.
29:34She was sitting by Julian's bed,
29:35feeding him.
29:36When she read them,
29:37she didn't even cry.
29:38She just looked at me and said,
29:39Finally, he's being realistic.
29:42I closed my eyes and let out a long,
29:44shuddering breath.
29:45It didn't hurt.
29:46For the first time in half a decade,
29:48I felt light.
29:49Where is she now?
29:51She left this morning.
29:53The hospital board reviewed the incident.
29:56Julian tried to keep up the pushing story,
29:58but the security cameras in the hallway
29:59saw him walk into that room perfectly fine
30:02and caught his little shadow comment
30:03through the open door.
30:04He's been banned from the premises.
30:06I nodded slowly.
30:08It didn't matter.
30:09Whether they stayed together
30:10or burned down in a blaze of their own drama
30:11was no longer my concern.
30:13I was a doctor who had saved his last patient,
30:16even the one who didn't deserve it.
30:17I looked out the window at the morning sun.
30:19I was free.
30:23The silence of the recovery suite
30:25was heavier than the noise of the triage center.
30:27I lay there,
30:28watching the dust moats dance
30:29in a stray beam of sunlight,
30:31feeling like a ghost inhabiting a borrowed body.
30:33The divorce papers were gone,
30:35delivered into the hands of a woman
30:36who viewed my departure as a realistic outcome.
30:39I expected to feel a vacuum,
30:41a hollow ache where five years of devotion had been.
30:43Instead, there was only a cool, antiseptic clarity.
30:47Dr. Liam walked in, his face tight.
30:49He wasn't carrying a chart.
30:51He was carrying a heavy cream-colored envelope.
30:53He dropped it on my lap like it was radioactive.
30:56Her lawyer moved fast.
30:57They want you to sign the supplemental property division
30:59by the end of the day.
31:00She's keeping the apartment, Adrian,
31:02and the car, and the savings.
31:05Letter.
31:06Are you insane?
31:07You paid for 80% of that life.
31:08You worked double shifts
31:09while she was building her career
31:10and chasing shadows.
31:11I'm not paying for furniture, Liam.
31:13I'm paying for the exit.
31:15Tell them I'll sign everything on one condition.
31:17She never steps foot in this hospital again.
31:19Not as a visitor, not as a spouse.
31:21I picked up the pen.
31:23My hand didn't shake.
31:24The ink bled into the expensive paper,
31:26severing the last threads of a life
31:28I had mistakenly called mine.
31:29I wasn't just signing away a home.
31:31I was signing away the permission for her
31:33to ever hurt me again.
31:36Three days later, I was discharged.
31:39I had no home to return to,
31:41so I took a room at a small boutique hotel
31:43near the university,
31:45a place Serafina would never visit
31:47because it lacked the prestige she required.
31:51I was sitting in the small garden,
31:53breathing in air that didn't smell
31:54like chemicals or betrayal.
31:56When my phone buzzed,
31:57it was an unknown number.
31:59Against my better judgment, I answered.
32:04Adrian.
32:05Her voice was as sharp as a diamond,
32:07devoid of the guilt I thought
32:08might finally surface.
32:10We have nothing to talk about, Serafina.
32:12The papers are signed.
32:13Julian had a relapse this morning.
32:16Internal bleeding.
32:17The surgeons here are incompetent.
32:19They're suggesting a second bypass.
32:21I want you to come back
32:22and look at his scans.
32:23I almost laughed.
32:25The sheer, breathtaking arrogance of it
32:27was a marvel.
32:28I am on medical leave.
32:29And even if I weren't,
32:30I wouldn't touch him
32:31with a ten-foot pole.
32:33You're a doctor, Adrian.
32:35You took an oath.
32:37You're going to let a man suffer
32:39because of your petty, fragile ego?
32:42I'll report you for professional misconduct.
32:45I'll make sure you never practice
32:46in this state again.
32:48Do it.
32:50Tell the board I refused to treat your lover
32:53while I was recovering from the lung damage
32:55I sustained saving a thousand strangers.
32:58I'd love to see that transcript.
33:00I hung up.
33:01The silence that followed
33:02was the sweetest sound
33:03I had heard in years.
33:08The threat manifested an hour later.
33:10My phone erupted with messages
33:12not from Serafina,
33:13but from her mother, Evelyn.
33:17Adrian, how could you be so cruel?
33:20Serafina is in tears.
33:21We treated you like a son.
33:23After everything we did
33:24to welcome you into this family,
33:26you're going to abandon her
33:27in her time of need?
33:29Julian is family to us.
33:30I stared at the screen.
33:32Family.
33:33Julian, the man who had vanished
33:34when things got difficult,
33:35was family.
33:37I, the man who had paid their mortgages
33:39and handled their crises
33:40for half a decade,
33:41was a villain
33:42because I refused to be a servant
33:43to my replacement.
33:44I began to type a reply,
33:46my heart racing,
33:47but then I stopped.
33:48I deleted the draft.
33:49I blocked the number.
33:51I walked to the hotel bathroom
33:52and looked at myself in the mirror.
33:54I looked older.
33:55There were lines around my eyes
33:56that hadn't been there a month ago,
33:58but the desperate pleading look
34:00in my pupils,
34:00the one that always searched
34:01for Serafina's approval,
34:03was gone.
34:04The door to the hotel room knocked.
34:05I expected a process server
34:07or a furious mother-in-law.
34:08Instead,
34:09I found Dean Sterling standing there,
34:11holding a bottle of aged scotch
34:12in a file folder.
34:13I heard about the phone calls.
34:15I figured you could use a drink
34:16and a new perspective.
34:21Am I being fired, Dean?
34:23Fired?
34:24Adrian,
34:26I'm here to offer you
34:27the chief of surgery position
34:28at our sister branch in Seattle.
34:30It's 3,000 miles away
34:32from this circus.
34:36Seattle,
34:36a city of rain
34:37and evergreen trees,
34:38a city where no one knew
34:40the name Serafina
34:41or the white moonlight
34:42of Julian White.
34:43Take the night
34:44to think about it.
34:46But honestly,
34:48looking at you now,
34:49I think you've already left.
34:51Your body just hasn't caught up
34:53with your mind yet.
34:54I took the scotch.
34:56After he left,
34:57I sat on the balcony,
34:58watching the sunset
34:59bleed into the horizon.
35:00For the first time,
35:01I didn't feel like
35:02I was running away.
35:03I felt like I was
35:05moving towards something.
35:09My phone buzzed again.
35:10A notification from
35:11a social media app
35:12I had forgotten to delete.
35:13It was a photo posted
35:14by one of Serafina's friends.
35:16It was a picture of a hospital room
35:18filled with lilies.
35:19Serafina was leaning
35:20over Julian,
35:21pressing a kiss
35:21to his forehead.
35:22The caption read,
35:23True love finds a way.
35:25Through every storm,
35:27they stayed together.
35:28The comments were
35:29a chorus of heart emojis
35:31and praise
35:31for their eternal bond.
35:33I felt a sudden,
35:34sharp pang.
35:35But it wasn't jealousy.
35:36It was pity.
35:37They were trapped
35:38in a narrative
35:38of their own making,
35:39a drama of tragedy
35:40and rescue.
35:41They needed the pain
35:42to feel the love.
35:43I didn't.
35:44I just wanted peace.
35:45I deleted the app,
35:46factory reset the phone
35:47and packed my single suitcase.
35:51I arrived at the airport
35:52at dawn.
35:53The terminal was a cathedral
35:54of glass and transit,
35:56filled with people
35:56heading toward new beginnings.
35:58I was checking my bag
35:59when a familiar,
36:01frantic voice
36:01cut through the ambient noise.
36:03Adrian!
36:05Stop!
36:05I turned.
36:06She was sprinting
36:07through the terminal,
36:08her expensive coat
36:09flapping behind her,
36:10her face flushed
36:10and disheveled.
36:11It was the most undone
36:13I had ever seen her.
36:14You can't just leave.
36:15The lawyer said
36:16you're transferring
36:17your license out of state.
36:18You're trying to disappear.
36:20I'm not trying,
36:21Serafina.
36:22I am.
36:25What about us?
36:27Five years,
36:29Adrian!
36:30You're just
36:31gonna throw it all away
36:33because of one mistake?
36:35Because I wanted
36:36to help a friend?
36:38You didn't make a mistake.
36:39You made a choice.
36:42You chose a ghost
36:43over a living man
36:45every single day
36:45for five years.
36:47I'm just finally
36:48respecting that choice.
36:53You're being selfish!
36:55I'm your wife!
36:57No.
36:58You're a woman
36:59who needs a martyr
36:59and I've resigned
37:00from the position.
37:01I turned my back on her
37:03and walked toward
37:04the security gate.
37:05She screamed my name,
37:06a sound of pure,
37:07entitled rage
37:08that turned heads
37:09across the terminal.
37:10But I didn't look back.
37:11As I stepped
37:12through the metal detector,
37:13I felt the last
37:14of the ice break away.
37:16The air in front of me
37:17was clear.
37:18The flight was boarding.
37:19And,
37:20for the first time
37:21in my life,
37:22I was the one
37:23in control
37:23of the destination.
37:27The Seattle rain
37:28was a constant,
37:29rhythmic drumming
37:30against the floor-to-ceiling
37:31windows of my new office.
37:33It was a cleansing sound.
37:35Three months had passed
37:36since I walked
37:36through that airport terminal
37:37and in that time,
37:39I had become a stranger
37:40to my own past.
37:41My hands,
37:42once shaky and strained,
37:43were now precise instruments
37:44of healing again.
37:46I was finishing
37:47a late-night consultation
37:48when a courier arrived
37:49with a thick,
37:50legal-sized envelope.
37:51It wasn't from a lawyer
37:52this time.
37:53It was a personal parcel,
37:55forwarded through
37:55three different addresses.
37:57Inside was a single,
37:58charred photograph
37:58of our wedding day
37:59and a letter on stationery
38:01that smelled faintly
38:01of the perfume
38:02Serafina used to wear.
38:03Julian is gone, Adrian.
38:05He left the moment
38:06the hospital bills
38:07started piling up
38:08and the glamour
38:09of his recovery faded.
38:10He took the last
38:11of the settlement money
38:12you gave me
38:13and disappeared to Europe
38:14with someone else.
38:15I am sitting
38:16in this empty apartment,
38:17surrounded by the things
38:18you paid for,
38:19realizing that I traded
38:20a mountain for a mirage.
38:22I stared at the words,
38:23waiting for the surge
38:24of vindictive joy
38:25or the sting
38:25of old grief.
38:26Neither came.
38:27It was like reading
38:28a report on a patient
38:29I had never treated.
38:30Her misery was no longer
38:31my responsibility.
38:33I didn't finish the letter.
38:34I walked to the shredder
38:35and watched the expensive paper
38:37turn into confetti.
38:42The promotion
38:43to chief of surgery
38:44brought a new level
38:45of scrutiny
38:46and a relentless schedule.
38:47I welcomed it.
38:49I was no longer Adrian,
38:51the neglected husband.
38:53I was Dr. Miller,
38:55the man who handled
38:56the cases no one else
38:57would touch.
38:58One Tuesday afternoon,
39:00my administrative assistant
39:01buzzed me
39:02with an unusual urgency.
39:04Dr. Miller,
39:05there's a woman
39:05in the lobby.
39:06She doesn't have an appointment,
39:07but she says she's traveled
39:08across the country
39:08to see you.
39:09She says it's a matter
39:10of life and death.
39:11I felt a cold prickle
39:12at the back of my neck.
39:14I knew before I even looked
39:16at the security feed.
39:18Serafina.
39:19She was sitting on the edge
39:20of a designer chair,
39:22looking fragile
39:22and diminished.
39:24The ice goddess
39:25had cracked.
39:26Her designer suit
39:27was wrinkled,
39:28and the predator of confidence
39:30that once defined her
39:31had been replaced
39:32by a hollow,
39:33haunted desperation.
39:40I walked down to the lobby,
39:42not as a former lover,
39:44but as a sovereign
39:45in my own kingdom.
39:47Adrian,
39:49thank God.
39:50You look so different.
39:54You shouldn't have come here,
39:55Serafina.
39:56We have nothing left
39:57to discuss.
39:58I'm sick, Adrian.
40:02Real sickness this time
40:05not a play for attention.
40:07They found a mass.
40:09I went to three specialists
40:11back home,
40:12and they all said
40:12the same thing.
40:13It's too close to the artery.
40:15They said only one man
40:16has the technique
40:17to recept it.
40:19You.
40:22I looked at the scans
40:23she pulled from her bag.
40:24My professional instinct
40:26took over,
40:27momentarily pushing aside
40:28the history of our shared war.
40:29She wasn't lying.
40:30It was a complex,
40:32aggressive growth
40:33tangled around the caractose.
40:34It was a surgical nightmare.
40:37They were right.
40:38It's a high-risk procedure.
40:40Please.
40:41I know I don't deserve it.
40:43I know I was a monster to you.
40:47But I'm terrified, Adrian.
40:49I don't want to die alone
40:50in that apartment.
40:52She reached out to touch my hand,
40:54her fingers cold and trembling.
40:58I pulled back intinctively.
41:00The contact felt like a breach
41:01of a border
41:02I had spent months fortifying.
41:04If I do this,
41:05it is as a surgeon,
41:06not a husband.
41:08You will be treated
41:09like any other patient
41:10on my list.
41:11You will sign a waiver
41:12acknowledging our history.
41:14And the moment you are discharged,
41:16you will leave this city
41:17and never contact me again.
41:19Anything.
41:23I'll do anything.
41:26Just
41:28don't let me slip away.
41:31I looked into her eyes
41:32and saw the same terror
41:33I had seen
41:34in a thousand strangers.
41:35The power dynamic
41:36had shifted completely.
41:38Once,
41:38I had begged
41:39for a crumb
41:40of her affection.
41:41Now,
41:42she was begging
41:42for a second
41:43of my expertise.
41:44I felt no triumph,
41:46only a profound,
41:47weary sadness
41:48for the man
41:49I used to be.
41:52The surgery lasted
41:5312 hours.
41:54It was the most difficult
41:55procedure of my career.
41:56Every time
41:57my heart rate spiked,
41:58I forced myself
41:59to visualize the rain
42:00in Seattle,
42:01the quiet of my new life
42:02and the distance
42:03I had put between us.
42:05I wasn't saving
42:06the woman who broke me.
42:07I was conquering
42:07the challenge
42:08she represented.
42:09When I finally
42:10stepped out of the theater,
42:11my back aching
42:12and my eyes burning,
42:14I found Evelyn,
42:14her mother,
42:15waiting in the hall.
42:17Adrian,
42:19is she...
42:19She's in recovery.
42:20The resection
42:21was successful.
42:22She'll live
42:23a long,
42:23healthy life.
42:24Oh, thank God.
42:26Adrian,
42:26we've been so wrong.
42:27Seeing you now,
42:28the way you carry yourself,
42:30we realize too late
42:31what we lost.
42:31We want to make it up to you.
42:33Come to dinner tonight?
42:34Let us be a family again.
42:36I looked at her,
42:36the woman who had called me
42:37a villain and a coward
42:38when I left.
42:39Her realization
42:40was as hollow
42:41as Seraphina's love.
42:42It was based on my utility,
42:43not my humanity.
42:44I have a family, Evelyn.
42:46They're waiting for me
42:46at the hospital's
42:47charity gala tonight.
42:48They're the colleagues
42:48who supported me
42:49and the patients
42:49who trust me.
42:50You are just a ghost
42:51from a previous life.
42:52I walked past her
42:53without waiting
42:54for a reply.
42:55The debt wasn't just paid.
42:56The account was closed.
43:01A week later,
43:02I stood by Seraphina's bed
43:03for the final discharge.
43:04She was sitting up,
43:05the color returning
43:06to her cheeks.
43:07She looked beautiful again,
43:08but the beauty
43:09no longer had
43:09any power over me.
43:10It was just
43:11a well-maintained exterior.
43:12I'm leaving this afternoon.
43:14My flight is at four.
43:16Good.
43:17I've arranged for a car
43:18to take you to the airport.
43:20Adrian,
43:22is there really no chance
43:24I've changed?
43:25This brush with death,
43:26it made me see everything.
43:28I love you.
43:30I finally know
43:31what that means.
43:31I looked at her
43:32and for the first time
43:33I felt truly at peace.
43:35The anger was gone.
43:36The longing was gone.
43:37Even the pity
43:37had faded into a mild
43:39distant curiosity.
43:40You don't love me,
43:41Seraphina.
43:42You love the fact
43:42that I saved you.
43:43You love the security
43:44I represent.
43:45But you never loved
43:46the man who sat
43:47at that dinner table
43:48five years ago.
43:50And that man is dead.
43:52I killed him
43:53so this man could live.
43:57I turned
43:58and walked toward the door.
44:00Will I ever see you again?
44:02No.
44:03I didn't look back.
44:05I stepped out of the hospital
44:06and into the bright,
44:07crisp Seattle afternoon.
44:09My phone buzzed.
44:11A text from a friend
44:12asking if I wanted
44:13to grab coffee
44:14before my next shift.
44:15I smiled,
44:16tucked the phone
44:17into my pocket
44:18and walked toward the light.
44:20I was no longer a shadow
44:21in someone else's story.
44:23I was the author of my own.
44:27My belly felt like a furnace
44:29and hit 45 degrees Celsius.
44:31He said what I was carrying
44:32wasn't a baby.
44:33The doctor's hands shook.
44:34He said I wasn't carrying
44:35a baby but magma.
44:37To stay alive,
44:38I soaked myself in icy water
44:39for three full days
44:41until I heard a crack.
44:42My water broke
44:43and what flowed out
44:44was boiling black liquid.
44:45The hospital alarms went off.
44:46I knew I was giving birth.
44:49It's done.
44:50It's a creature
44:51covered in scales.
44:53It didn't sound like human.
44:54The expected newborn cry
44:55was replaced by a hiss.
44:56I lay on the operating table,
44:58half conscious,
44:58only feeling the tearing pain
45:00in my abdomen.
45:01Suddenly get swallowed
45:01by an icy cold.
45:02Dr. Hank's hands
45:03trembled so badly,
45:04he dropped his metal clamp
45:05with a clang.
45:06He didn't even dare approach it.
45:08I forced my head up
45:09and through blurred vision,
45:10I saw them.
45:11Two creatures
45:11in translucent fluid.
45:12Their bodies were covered
45:13in red and black scales.
45:15They even had small,
45:16fleshy horns on their heads.
45:18They're dragons?
45:19Then I passed out completely.
45:21When I woke up,
45:22the room was silent.
45:23No nurses or flowers.
45:24Meanwhile,
45:25the two creatures
45:25were curled together.
45:26Every breath from the red one
45:27sparked tiny embers
45:28from its nostrils.
45:29Then I thought of Leonard Hill.
45:31He was from a hidden powerhouse
45:32at the top of the capital.
45:34They were rumored
45:34to carry the divine bloodline.
45:36He once threw me
45:36an obsidian card
45:37with an outrageous limit,
45:38saying he wanted
45:39a perfect heir.
45:39If he found out
45:40I gave birth to two monsters,
45:42he would tear me
45:42and them apart
45:43without hesitation.
45:44Dr. Hanks.
45:45I pressed the call button.
45:46Dr. Hanks walked in,
45:48face pale as a sheet.
45:49I slapped the obsidian card
45:50onto the bedside table.
45:51The babies died at birth.
45:53Both of them.
45:54Do you understand?
45:55He looked at the card,
45:56then at the box,
45:57where the two creatures
45:58slowly opened their golden eyes.
45:59Soon,
46:00greed prevailed.
46:01I understand.
46:02The babies didn't survive.
46:04I'll report it.
46:05Also,
46:06I pointed at the glass box.
46:08Give me a portable case.
46:09I'm leaving the hospital now.
46:11In the pouring rain at night,
46:13I drove like I'd lost my mind,
46:15racing toward the forest
46:16on the outskirts of the city.
46:17Scratching sounds kept coming
46:18from the suitcase
46:19in the passenger seat.
46:20They stabbed my heart,
46:21but I didn't dare listen
46:22or stop the car.
46:22An hour later,
46:23I pulled over
46:24at the pitch black face
46:25of the mountain.
46:25I walked into the woods
46:26with the case.
46:27I was totally soaked
46:29and my wounds burned.
46:30I found a cave
46:31and opened the case
46:32with trembling hands.
46:33Go back to where you belong.
46:35Don't blame me.
46:36If you stay with the Hill family,
46:37you'll die.
46:38The two baby dragons
46:39seemed to understand.
46:40They pressed their foreheads
46:41gently against my palm.
46:42It felt cold,
46:43but faintly warm.
46:44My heart ached,
46:45like something had been
46:46ripped out of me.
46:47I forced myself
46:48to push them away
46:49and ran.
46:50Stay there,
46:50never come back.
46:51I gripped the steering wheel
46:53and cried.
46:54How did my life
46:54end up like this?
46:55I drove away
46:56and went back
46:57to my apartment.
46:58I took a bath,
46:59but it couldn't ease
47:00my despair.
47:01The next morning,
47:02I woke up
47:02to a strange warmth.
47:04I reached for the bed sheet
47:05and felt something
47:06smooth and hard.
47:07A scream lodged
47:08in my throat.
47:09The red one
47:10was coiled around my neck,
47:12breathing softly,
47:13even puffing out
47:13a tiny ring of smoke
47:14like it was content.
47:15The black one
47:16crouched by the bedroom door,
47:18watching the living room
47:19with its golden eyes
47:20like a guard.
47:20I couldn't believe
47:21they came back
47:22on their own.
47:22It was the 28th floor.
47:24Then my phone
47:25on the coffee table
47:26started vibrating.
47:27It was Leonard's
47:28assistant calling.
47:29When I answered,
47:30a cold female voice
47:31came through.
47:32Mr. Hill returned early.
47:33He'll arrive at your apartment
47:35in one hour.
47:36Leonard will be here
47:38in an hour?
47:39My heart started
47:39racing instantly.
47:41I looked at Noctis
47:41and Ember,
47:42now curiously inspecting
47:43the water dispenser,
47:44and I felt my blood
47:45run cold.
47:46Leonard was incredibly sharp.
47:48My lies wouldn't fool him.
47:50I needed a decoy.
47:51I grabbed my phone
47:52and instantly dialed
47:54the number.
47:54I need two newborn boys now.
47:56Send them to Moonlight
47:57apartment within an hour.
47:58Ms. Quinn,
47:59this is illegal.
47:59I've sent you
48:00$1,000,000.
48:01There's another 10
48:02when it's done.
48:03The next 40 minutes
48:04were the longest
48:04of my life.
48:06I dragged Noctis
48:07and Ember
48:07into the wardrobe
48:08safe room.
48:08It was soundproof,
48:10originally built
48:10for valuables.
48:11Ember got agitated,
48:13snorting sparks
48:13and nearly burning
48:15my silk scarf.
48:16Please behave
48:16and stay hidden.
48:17If you make a sound,
48:18I'll be in trouble.
48:19Noctis pressed
48:20its tiny claw
48:21against my hand.
48:22Then it grabbed Ember
48:23and slipped
48:24into the ceiling vent.
48:25It was reassuring me
48:26everything would be okay.
48:28Soon,
48:28someone knocked on the door.
48:30The middleman
48:30rushed in
48:31with two babies.
48:32These are abandoned newborns.
48:34Nothing's wrong with them.
48:36Pay me
48:36and I'm gone.
48:37I transferred
48:38the rest of the payment
48:39and looked at the two
48:40sleeping babies
48:41on the couch.
48:41I felt no love,
48:43only endless fear.
48:45Soon,
48:45I heard a deep engine roar.
48:47Limited edition Maybach.
48:49Leonard is here.
48:51The moment the door opened,
48:53a suffocating pressure
48:54filled the room.
48:55Leonard Hill wore
48:56a dark gray coat,
48:57his presence towering
48:59and overwhelming.
49:00Rainwater dripped
49:00from his clothes
49:01and puddled
49:02onto the floor.
49:03His darkened eyes
49:04swept across the room
49:05and landed
49:06on the swaddle babies.
49:08He didn't look at them
49:09like a father,
49:10but like a ruthless king.
49:11My palms were slick
49:12with sweat
49:13and I forced
49:14a weak smile.
49:15You're back.
49:16I'm still weak,
49:17so I didn't go
49:18to the airport.
49:19Leonard ignored me.
49:20He walked straight
49:21to the couch
49:22and lifted a corner
49:23of the swaddle.
49:24The air seemed to freeze.
49:26He stared
49:26at the two human babies.
49:28Just when I thought
49:28I was about to be exposed,
49:30he let out
49:30a cold laugh.
49:32These are the airs
49:33you gave me?
49:34My heart clenched.
49:35Yeah.
49:36Yes.
49:36They look like you,
49:37don't they?
49:38Nervous.
Comments