Cutting the Cord Reborn as My Mom_s High School Frenemy Billionaire Romance

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00:00:021996, Texas. I suddenly jerk up from the sink, gasping for air. Water drips from my thick blonde hair. I

00:00:08stare at the mirror in shock. The face staring back at me is vibrant, beautiful, full of life. Vintage, smoky

00:00:13eye makeup framing a chalky teenage face. 18. You young, healthy, cancer-free.

00:00:17I've been thrown back into the dead-end Texas high school years my mom spent her entire life clawing her

00:00:23way out of. Suddenly, the bathroom door swings open. A familiar grapefruit perfume hits me instantly. It's Valerie, my 18

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

00:00:35tam-top straight out of a 90s teen magazine.

00:00:37Come on, the pep lolly's about to start. She yanks me forward hard enough to make me stumble. But instead

00:00:42of following her, I freeze. Stare at the young face in front of me. Untouched by wealth. Untouched by surgery.

00:00:48Untouched by the years that twisted her into a monster.

00:00:50Valerie, we're... friends? Uh, duh, we're best friends. Why are you being so weird today? Come on! She turns and

00:00:57keeps pulling me towards the door. Half a step behind her, I stare at her back. The confusion in my

00:01:02eyes vanishes instantly, replaced by something cold, something vicious.

00:01:05The school's public address system drones on from the loudspeaker's overhead, buzzing with the daily lunch menu.

00:01:11Pizza slices, tater tots, and chocolate milk.

00:01:14Valerie pulls me through the crowded hallway, her hand warm and dry in mine. And then it hits me again.

00:01:20That sharp grapefruit perfume. The scent wraps around me so suddenly my breath catches. It was the smell I knew

00:01:26best as a child.

00:01:28Before I turned five, she used to hold me in her arms, humming old country songs and asking if I

00:01:33loved her.

00:01:34But after she ditched me to chase her high school sweetheart to the big city, that scent only ever showed

00:01:39up in my nightmares.

00:01:41Scarlet, you've been acting weird all day.

00:01:43Scarlet? God, even this body's name sucks.

00:01:46Carefully, I slip my hand out of hers. My eyes swamp across the hallway. The dented locker numbers, the faded

00:01:52football team pictures, the bulletin board plastered with fall semester 1996.

00:01:57Cheerleaders rush past us, ponytails flying, while some varsity asshole has a scrawny kid pinned against a logger, shaking him

00:02:03down for lunch money.

00:02:04This isn't a dream. I'm really back in the 90s.

00:02:08That's when a tall, lanky guy with glasses started walking toward us.

00:02:11Hector, my mother's first love. The man who ruined all our lives.

00:02:15Hey, this is my Scarlet. She just transferred it in.

00:02:18Scarlet, meet Hector. Straight A student, total teacher's pet, basically tutoring half the school.

00:02:22Hey, I'm Hector. Welcome to East Ridge.

00:02:26The second I hear his name, my stomach turns.

00:02:29I ignore his hand completely and scan the noisy hallway for the one person who should have been here.

00:02:35Where's my dad? Austin should be at this school, too.

00:02:38Wait! Austin's not in your class? Austin? There's no Austin in this entire school.

00:02:45Austin Walker, my dad! He's not- he's not here?

00:02:51Your dad?

00:02:53Just as I'm scrambling for an excuse, a roar erupts from the end of the hallway and saves me.

00:02:58The pep rally's starting.

00:02:59You coming or what?

00:03:01Sunlight spills across her shoulders.

00:03:03For a second, she looks nothing like the woman who would one day watch me die without blinking.

00:03:07The gym is loud, humilded, packed wall to wall.

00:03:11Football players in red jerseys charge onto the court while cheerleaders shake palm balls under the flashing lights.

00:03:16The bleachers thunder with stomping feet and screaming students.

00:03:20This Friday, let's show East Ridge who really runs this town!

00:03:24The crowd explodes.

00:03:26She's radiant up there.

00:03:28Beside me, Hector adjusts his glasses, eyes fixed on her.

00:03:31She's gonna get out of this town someday.

00:03:33He says it like he already knows the future.

00:03:36I don't answer.

00:03:37I just stare at Valerie beneath the spotlight.

00:03:39After the rally, students pour out of the gym.

00:03:43The halls fill with slamming lockers and overlapping conversations again.

00:03:48People argue about Friday's game.

00:03:50Girls debate who's gonna win prom queen.

00:03:52Last period is study hall.

00:03:54Valerie sits one row ahead of me by the window.

00:03:57Her notes neat enough to look typed.

00:03:59As she flips a page, something slips out from between her books.

00:04:03A pale green application packet.

00:04:05Harvard University.

00:04:07My breathing catches.

00:04:08She actually got an application.

00:04:10But later in life, she always says Harvard was never an option for someone like her.

00:04:14So that was a lie too.

00:04:15Valerie, your future turns out cheap and pathetic anyway.

00:04:18So why are you out here pretend to be some gifted golden girl right now?

00:04:21It makes me sick.

00:04:22I rise from my seat.

00:04:23Then, with one sharp shove of my elbow, I knock over the black coffee on her desk.

00:04:28The dark liquid spills perfectly across the application packet,

00:04:31soaking through the giant Harvard crest until the ink begins to bleed.

00:04:35I stare at her coldly, waiting for her to snap.

00:04:38Waiting for the mask to fall off.

00:04:39Waiting to finally see the real Valerie underneath all that fake sweetness.

00:04:43But her reaction throws me completely off.

00:04:49Oh god, Scarlet, are you okay?

00:04:51She grabs a stack of napkins and immediately starts swiping coffee off my hand.

00:04:54There's real concern in her eyes.

00:04:56No anger.

00:04:57No blame.

00:04:57Not even irritation.

00:04:58It's wrong.

00:04:59She's too nice.

00:05:01So nice it scares me.

00:05:03Nice enough to make me wonder if the woman I remember was ever the real Valerie at all.

00:05:07Just then, the classroom door swings open.

00:05:09A Latino teacher steps inside and walks over to Valerie's desk.

00:05:13Hey Valerie.

00:05:14Something came up with Scarlet's family.

00:05:17Kind of an emergency.

00:05:18Your parents called and asked if you could bring her home with you after school.

00:05:21An emergency?

00:05:23What the hell happened?

00:05:24What the hell happened?

00:05:24By the time school lets out, the Texas sunset looks like the whole sky's on fire.

00:05:29Stadium lights flicker on one by one around the football field.

00:05:31The cheer squad is still practicing while snippets of 90s pop songs crack through the loudspears.

00:05:36Valerie walks a few steps ahead of me, her ponytail swaying softly behind her.

00:05:40She suddenly stops and turns to me gently.

00:05:42I heard about your parents.

00:05:43Scarlet, don't be scared, okay?

00:05:45You've still got me.

00:05:46We're best friends.

00:05:46Then she pulls me into a hug.

00:05:48I'm sorry for what happened.

00:05:49If you need a shoulder to cry on, I'll always be here.

00:05:51That faint grapefruit scent wraps around me again.

00:05:54And just like that, I break.

00:05:55In my last life, there were countless nights when I would have given anything for this exact embrace.

00:05:59As I sob into her shoulder, I deliberately smears and snot all over her pretty shirt.

00:06:04Petty revenge.

00:06:05Pathetic, tiny revenge.

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

00:06:10So how the hell did someone like this become the woman who wouldn't even save my life?

00:06:15A bicycle bell rings behind us.

00:06:16Hector catches up, pushing an old bike with a paper box of cupcakes sitting in the basket.

00:06:20He adjusts his glasses awkwardly.

00:06:22Sugar helps.

00:06:23A little, anyway.

00:06:25I watch the two of them walking side by side beneath the football field lights,

00:06:28and something bitter twists in my chest.

00:06:29What, Hector?

00:06:31You gonna pick her up like this every day?

00:06:33Keep her stuck in this town and make her your wife someday?

00:06:35Hector stops walking.

00:06:36But when he looks at me, his expression is completely open and sincere.

00:06:40Valerie's meant for bigger things than this place.

00:06:42She's too talented to spend her life shrinking herself for some guy.

00:06:47That'd be... wrong.

00:06:49I freeze.

00:06:50Because I never imagined Hector would say something like that.

00:06:55I'm not getting stuck married with kids at 18.

00:06:58I want to see what's out there first.

00:07:00But you did have me at 18.

00:07:01You ended up trapped in a rotting trailer park full of violence and screaming and broken walls.

00:07:06Valerie, did your dreams betray you?

00:07:08The whole walk there, something about this timeline feels off in a way I can't explain.

00:07:14And then Valerie opens the front door.

00:07:17The smell of home-cooked food hits me instantly.

00:07:21So you're Scarlet, huh?

00:07:24Hi, Mr. Wyatt.

00:07:25Thanks for letting me stay over.

00:07:28He bursts out laughing and pulls me inside before I can even finish.

00:07:32The house is warm, spotless, lived in.

00:07:35There's a brand new pair of slippers waiting for me by the entryway,

00:07:38along with folded pajamas set out they'd been expecting me for days.

00:07:41The living room walls are lined with plaques, commendations, and framed Federal Service Award.

00:07:44On the TV, a local news station is covering a major drug trafficking case near the Texas border.

00:07:49A photo flashes on screen of two fallen narcotics agents.

00:07:53Your parents were good people, kiddo.

00:07:55Best partners I ever had.

00:07:56Real heroes.

00:07:58And from now on, this house is yours, too.

00:08:00You hear me?

00:08:00That's when it finally hits me.

00:08:02The parents belonging to this body are already dead.

00:08:05Dinner is loud and warm and painfully alive.

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

00:08:10Grandma laughs at everything.

00:08:11A dog nudges against my legs beneath the table.

00:08:13The kitchen light glows so warmly it almost hurts to look at.

00:08:16And across from me sits Valerie, laughing freely while her parents dole on her like she's the center of their

00:08:20universe.

00:08:21My chest tightens so hard it feels unbearable.

00:08:24This is insane.

00:08:25Like some cruel cosmic joke.

00:08:27She grew up surrounded by this much love.

00:08:29So how the hell did she become someone who could watch me die without a single shred of kindness?

00:08:34Late that night, Valerie and I lay side by side in the dark.

00:08:38There's been this huge cartel case near the border lately.

00:08:41I keep having nightmares something's gonna happen to my parents.

00:08:45At 18, she looks so young.

00:08:47So fragile.

00:08:48Before sunrise, I wake to the sound of movement in the living room.

00:08:52Grandpa is sitting by the door, pulling on his police boots.

00:08:54I run out barefoot and grab onto his sleeve before he can leave.

00:08:57Mr. Wyatt, please be careful out there.

00:09:00He smiles and ruffles my hair.

00:09:01I will, kiddo.

00:09:02Promise I'll come home safe.

00:09:04Then he and Grandma disappear together into the pale border fog of early morning.

00:09:08And the dread in my chest only grows heavier.

00:09:14Valerie stumbles out of bed half asleep the next morning and stands in front of the mirror,

00:09:18completely lost trying to fix her ponytail.

00:09:21God, she's hopeless.

00:09:22I walk over and quietly redo her hair for her.

00:09:26It's the first time in both my lives that I've ever been this close to her.

00:09:29Scarlett, how are you so good at this?

00:09:31And suddenly I remember how, when I was little, she always hacked my hair off into awful tomboy cuts.

00:09:37Maybe it wasn't coldness after all.

00:09:38Maybe 18-year-old Valerie just barely knew how to take care of herself.

00:09:42A bicycle bell rings outside the yard.

00:09:44Hector, right on schedule.

00:09:45He hands me an ice-cold soda, then stares at my face for a little too long.

00:09:50Scarlett, is it just me or are you starting to look more and more like Valerie?

00:09:54A chill shoots straight through me.

00:09:56Right before I died in my last life, I was barely recognizable.

00:09:59Skin and bones from the cancer.

00:10:00But the last time I looked in a mirror, I realized something horrifying.

00:10:03I hadn't taken over someone else's body.

00:10:05I came back wearing my own 18-year-old face.

00:10:08Pretty girls always kind of look alike, right?

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

00:10:13It gets harder and harder to connect this version of Valini to the woman from my last life.

00:10:17This girl is kind, bright, alive.

00:10:20I finally begin to understand why my dad, Austin, spent his whole life loving her even when she never truly

00:10:25loved him back.

00:10:25Part of me even starts thinking that when I finally meet him in this timeline,

00:10:28maybe I should tell him to fall for somebody else.

00:10:31But I never imagined that just as I started letting my guard down, hell was already opening its doors.

00:10:36School lets out early that day.

00:10:39Hector and I stop by a taco truck on the corner.

00:10:42Valerie says she's tired and asks us to grab her a baked potato before heading home ahead of us.

00:10:47We're almost at her house when an old pickup truck with no plates suddenly comes flying backward out of the

00:10:53driveway.

00:10:54Several tattooed men in masks jump into the bed of the truck.

00:10:58Then a scream tears through the air.

00:11:01It's Valerie.

00:11:05Hector and I sprint toward the house so fast my lungs feel like they're tearing apart.

00:11:10The front door hangs crooked on its hinges, creaking heavily as it swings loosely against the broken frame.

00:11:16The second we step inside, the smell hits me.

00:11:18Blood, sweat, whiskey.

00:11:20The living room looks like a battlefield.

00:11:21Furniture overturned.

00:11:22Glass shattered everywhere.

00:11:23Family photos ripped from the walls.

00:11:25Blood smeared across the wooden floorboards in long streaks like someone had been dragged.

00:11:28Grandpa and Grandma lie motionless on the ground.

00:11:31And in the middle of the room, Valerie, covered in blood, curled up on the floor.

00:11:36A tattooed man stands nearby, calmly fixing his belt like nothing happened.

00:11:42Hector roars and charges at him, only to get kicked hard across the room.

00:11:46The stranger turns toward me slowly.

00:11:48Then he grabs my collar and jerks me forward so violently my feet leave the ground.

00:11:52Hector!

00:11:54The stench of blood and cigarettes floods my nose so hard I nearly gag.

00:11:59Well, damn.

00:12:00If it isn't Officer Miller's kid.

00:12:02Lucky day for you, sweetheart.

00:12:04Boss already told us to pull out.

00:12:06Otherwise, you'd have been a lot of fun, too.

00:12:09He spits onto the floor beside me and turns to leave.

00:12:12Behind him, Valerie curls tighter into herself, desperately clutching the ripped fabric over her chest.

00:12:18A broken sound escapes her throat.

00:12:20Something inside me snaps.

00:12:22I throw myself forward and grab the man's pant leg with both hands.

00:12:25Moonlight spills through the shattered window, sliding across the side of his face.

00:12:29That jawline.

00:12:30That scar near his mouth.

00:12:31That voice.

00:12:32My entire body freezes.

00:12:34The world goes completely silent around me.

00:12:37Because he isn't some random cartel thug.

00:12:39He's Austin.

00:12:41My father.

00:12:46Hector scrambles to the wall and grabs the landline.

00:12:49But the phone cord has already been cut.

00:12:53You brought this on yourself, you little bitch!

00:12:56He lunges at me and starts ripping at my clothes, yanking violently at my collar.

00:13:01Trying to save me, Hector throws himself at Austin again, without a second thought.

00:13:06In the chaos, I catch a flash of murder in Austin's eyes.

00:13:09He suddenly pulls a hunting knife from the back of his waist hand.

00:13:12And in that instant, I completely lose it.

00:13:15Without thinking, I grab the blade with my bare hand.

00:13:18My dad.

00:13:19How could this be my dad?

00:13:21Tears crash into the growing pool of blood beneath me.

00:13:24The man I loved most growing up.

00:13:26The father who raised me in that trailer park with nothing.

00:13:29How could it be you?

00:13:30You're a rapist now.

00:13:32A murderer.

00:13:33I can't take it.

00:13:34I feel like I'm losing my mind.

00:13:35But the sharp pain slicing through my palm and Valier's desperate sobbing remind me this is real.

00:13:41I clamp down on the knife with everything I have and scream hysterically at Hector.

00:13:47Hector, run!

00:13:48Go get help!

00:13:49Go!

00:13:50Now!

00:13:51Blood streams down Hector's face as he staggers toward the door and bolts outside.

00:13:56And the second he's gone, Austin completely snaps.

00:14:00With a vicious twist of his wrist, he jerks the knife free and points the blade straight at

00:14:05my throat.

00:14:08But just then, my grandmother, who had been lying motionless in a pool of blood, somehow

00:14:14forces herself back up with the last bit of strength she has left.

00:14:18Austin turns, ready to stab the next.

00:14:23No!

00:14:24I slam into him with everything I have.

00:14:26The blade plunges straight into my stomach.

00:14:29Warmth explodes through my body.

00:14:30Then comes the pain.

00:14:32Endless, crushing pain.

00:14:33I press both hands against the wound, holding onto the knife with everything I've got so

00:14:38Austin can't pull it back out.

00:14:40You can't kill them.

00:14:42You can't.

00:14:44I'm crying, choking as blood pours from my mouth in heavy bursts.

00:14:49But Austin just twists the knife cruelly inside me.

00:14:53The agony sends me collapsing to my knees in the blood.

00:14:56That's when Grandma suddenly wraps both arms around Austin's neck from behind and drags

00:15:01him to the floor with every ounce of strength she has left.

00:15:03My grandfather, already covered in blood, grabs onto Austin's leg and refuses to let go.

00:15:09Realizing he's about to get caught, Austin curses violently, kicks himself free from them and climbs out the window, disappearing

00:15:15into the darkness near the border.

00:15:17Scarlet!

00:15:19Scarlet!

00:15:19Scarlet, stay with me!

00:15:20Please, don't close your eyes!

00:15:23Through my fading vision, I feel Valerie pulling me into her arms.

00:15:27My consciousness is already slipping away, sobbing controllably, with tears and blood all over my face.

00:15:33I still try to take off my jacket and cover her with it, but I'm too weak.

00:15:37My arm barely lifts halfway before it drops limply into the blood.

00:15:40In the distance, sirens scream through the night.

00:15:43I hear Hector crying as he rushes back inside with the police.

00:15:46Then everything goes dark.

00:15:48Somewhere far away, voices echo around me as I'm lifted onto a stretcher.

00:15:53She's flatlining! Move! Get the defibrillator, now!

00:15:58When I finally open my eyes again, all I see is the pale white ceiling of a hospital room.

00:16:02Sitting beside my bed is Hector.

00:16:04When he ran for help, Austin's men caught him and beat him half to death.

00:16:06The second he sees me awake, arrogant genius, completely falls apart.

00:16:09He wipes his eyes while gripping to entail Sotanli.

00:16:12You were the last one to wake up.

00:16:13Do you have any idea how close you came to dying?

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

00:16:18He's crying so hard, it's a complete mess.

00:16:19Tears, snot, everything.

00:16:20At one point, he even spits on my face while talking.

00:16:22I let out a weak laugh.

00:16:24The anesthesia still hasn't fully worn over.

00:16:25I can't really feel pain yet, just a heavy numbness all over my body.

00:16:28I look at him anxiously.

00:16:29Valerie's parents and Valerie, are they okay?

00:16:32Her folks made it to the hospital just in time.

00:16:35If that knife had hit either of them, any worse.

00:16:38I struggle to sit up, desperate to see her,

00:16:40but before I can move, the hospital room door slowly opens.

00:16:43Valerie is standing there.

00:16:44Her eyes look hollow.

00:16:46And when she looks at me, there's something shattered in them I can't even begin to explain.

00:16:50I say her name softly.

00:16:51She nods faintly and walks over.

00:16:53Her cold fingers are mostly on my shoulder.

00:16:54Does it hurt?

00:16:56I shake my head.

00:16:57Looking at her red-rimmed eyes, I force a small smile.

00:17:00Have you been crying?

00:17:02She doesn't answer.

00:17:03She just holds my hand tighter and gently squeezes my cheek like she's afraid I'll disappear.

00:17:07And suddenly, she lowers her head and tears drip onto the back of my hand.

00:17:10Thank you, Scarlet.

00:17:11If it weren't for you, I would have lost my parents.

00:17:15I look at the 18-year-old version of my mother standing in front of me,

00:17:18her fate already completely changed because of me.

00:17:21I sniff hard, holding back tears.

00:17:23I don't say a single word.

00:17:24I just let her tears soak into my skin,

00:17:26before slowly lifting my free hand and placing it softly over the trembling hand resting on my shoulder.

00:17:34Valerie looks down at my hand covering hers,

00:17:37as if she understands the comfort in my eyes.

00:17:39She takes a deep breath.

00:17:43Tears still cling to her lashes,

00:17:44but for the first time in forever,

00:17:46her voice carries a little relief.

00:17:49I've got good news.

00:17:50The case is over.

00:17:51The cartel operation finally got busted.

00:17:53Every single person involved in the attack was caught near the border.

00:17:57My parents can finally rest for a while.

00:17:59The moment I hear Austin and the traffickers were all arrested,

00:18:02my entire mind goes blank.

00:18:04Relief crashes over me so hard,

00:18:06I almost shoot upright in the hospital bed.

00:18:07Wait, seriously?

00:18:08They caught all of them?

00:18:11Yes, seriously.

00:18:12Now stop moving before you rip your stitches open.

00:18:15The crushing weight that haunted me through both lifetimes

00:18:17finally disappears at that moment.

00:18:19Meanwhile, Hector,

00:18:20who has been sitting nearby this entire time,

00:18:22calmly peels a banana like nothing's happening.

00:18:24Doctor said you should eat this.

00:18:26You've already woken up a few times these past couple days.

00:18:28You've managed to pass gas,

00:18:29so now they're just waiting to see if you can finally have a bowel movement.

00:18:33Coming from someone usually this serious,

00:18:35it's so absurd I completely lose it.

00:18:36Unfortunately, the second I laugh,

00:18:38pain rips through the stitches in my abdomen.

00:18:39I immediately hiss in pain, clutching my stomach.

00:18:41Valerie starts laughing too,

00:18:43but after a few seconds, her laughter fades.

00:18:45Tears suddenly begin falling again without warning.

00:18:47She tries to cry quietly.

00:18:48She doesn't want either of us to notice.

00:18:50Hector's smile slowly disappears too.

00:18:53I wrap both arms tightly around this 18-year-old girl.

00:18:56At that moment, through my chest,

00:18:58is no longer the hatred I carried in my previous life.

00:19:00Mom, if I had known my biologed father

00:19:03was the monster who destroyed your entire family,

00:19:05how could I ever have hated you?

00:19:07I would have only hated myself for ever being born,

00:19:10since fate gave me another chance.

00:19:12Then this time, I'll set you free.

00:19:18After surviving the nightmare,

00:19:19the little Texas town slowly comes back to life.

00:19:21Once I'm discharged from the hospital,

00:19:23my grandparents take me home.

00:19:24Grandpa proudly hands me a limited edition Barbie doll

00:19:26he brought back from New York.

00:19:27In my previous life,

00:19:28it was the only toy my mother had ever given me,

00:19:31but this time, somehow, it heals me first.

00:19:33Then Grandma completely hijacks

00:19:34what was supposed to be an emotional family dinner

00:19:36with giant sizzling Texas steaks,

00:19:38oversized cowboy hats and boots

00:19:39that look straight out of a Hollywood audition,

00:19:41and enough chaos to turn the whole night upside down.

00:19:43Even Hector, who normally acts way too composed for his age,

00:19:46finally laughs without holding back.

00:19:50But beneath the warm yellow glow of the dinner lights,

00:19:52the conversation eventually turns to goodbye.

00:19:54Hector's mother lifts her wine glass,

00:19:56eyes red and swollen,

00:19:57and quietly announces that they're moving back to Boston

00:19:59before Thanksgiving.

00:20:00She can't handle the danger near the border anymore.

00:20:02And in that moment,

00:20:03a misunderstanding from both my lifetimes

00:20:05finally unravels.

00:20:07In my previous life,

00:20:08Hector never left

00:20:09because he looked down on my mother's reputation.

00:20:11His mother had simply watched her son nearly die.

00:20:14Any parent would have wanted to run from this place after that.

00:20:17As an old country song crackles through the radio in the background,

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

00:20:22Valerie asks where I want to go to school someday.

00:20:25I look at her,

00:20:26the girl whose entire future was crushed fate in my previous life.

00:20:29An answer without hesitation.

00:20:31Harvard.

00:20:32Under the endless Texas night sky,

00:20:34with the Milky Way stretched above her like a dream,

00:20:35I finally understand the suffocating pain she carried in her previous life.

00:20:38I turn my head slightly and whisper so softly that only I can hear it.

00:20:41Mom,

00:20:42this time go live your life.

00:20:43Chase your dreams.

00:20:44Be yourself again.

00:20:45As for me,

00:20:45I'll stay behind in the darkness of this timeline.

00:20:47The day Hector leaves,

00:20:49the boy who has always been calm and restrained

00:20:51completely breaks down the moment he steps onto the bus.

00:20:53Clinging to the window,

00:20:54he cries so hard he can barely breathe.

00:20:56And then the bus slowly pulls away,

00:20:58kicking up clouds of Texas dust

00:20:59before disappearing at the end of the highway.

00:21:01Watching the bus vanish into the distance,

00:21:03I think life might finally return to normal.

00:21:06But fate still isn't done with me yet.

00:21:08Something happened to Valerie.

00:21:12After seeing Hector off,

00:21:14we head home through the bitter Texas winter wind.

00:21:16I cling tightly to Valerie's arm,

00:21:17trying my best to keep the mood light

00:21:18while talking excitedly about Christmas dinner plans.

00:21:20Mr. Wyatt's risk it has to be there.

00:21:21And Mr. Wyatt's smoked pulled pork too.

00:21:23No argument.

00:21:23This year, we are eating like royalty.

00:21:25I'm still rambling happily

00:21:26when Valerie's expression suddenly changes.

00:21:28Without warning,

00:21:29she jerks her arm out of my grasp.

00:21:30Like a frightened deer,

00:21:31she stumbles towards a trash can

00:21:33on the side of the road,

00:21:34bends over,

00:21:35and starts violently throwing up.

00:21:36She vomits so hard,

00:21:37there's eventually nothing left

00:21:38except bitter dry humps.

00:21:40By the end,

00:21:41she can barely stay standing.

00:21:42She grips a freezing telephone pole for support,

00:21:45her whole body trembling violently,

00:21:47her face drained completely white.

00:21:49My mind goes blank.

00:21:50The smile freezes on my face.

00:21:53Watching her clutch her stomach

00:21:55and reek in pain,

00:21:56a terrifying cold realization

00:21:59crawls slowly up my spine

00:22:00like ice water.

00:22:03Those symptoms.

00:22:05No.

00:22:06No way.

00:22:11You...

00:22:12You're pregnant?

00:22:16Valerie instinctively places a hand

00:22:18over her stomach.

00:22:19Her eyes are filled with the kind of panic

00:22:21and confusion

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

00:22:23should ever have to carry.

00:22:24What happened that night

00:22:26may have been stopped halfway through,

00:22:28but some nightmares

00:22:29had already rerouted themselves

00:22:30deep in the dark.

00:22:32She looks at me helplessly,

00:22:34tears trembling in her eyes.

00:22:37I...

00:22:37I don't know, Scarlet.

00:22:39I thought maybe it was just

00:22:41stress lately.

00:22:43I haven't had much appetite

00:22:44and I kept feeling nauseous.

00:22:47Come on.

00:22:48We're going to the clinic.

00:22:49Now.

00:22:49I don't even let her finish speaking.

00:22:51I grab her hand

00:22:52and practically drag her down the street

00:22:54toward the town's

00:22:55small community clinic.

00:22:58The doctor on duty

00:22:59is an elderly Cuban-American woman

00:23:01with silver hair,

00:23:02Dr. Ramirez.

00:23:03She isn't just the only general practitioner

00:23:05in town.

00:23:06She's also one of Grandma Wyatt's

00:23:08oldest friends

00:23:08and her child's alongside her years ago.

00:23:10The second Dr. Romero

00:23:12sees Valerie's face

00:23:13and the sheer panic in my eyes.

00:23:15Her sharp, battle-worned gaze

00:23:16immediately narrow.

00:23:17Wasting another second,

00:23:19she starts ushering

00:23:20every remaining patient

00:23:21out of the clinic.

00:23:22The entire room

00:23:23falls into suffocating silence.

00:23:28Tell me what's going on.

00:23:29My scalp precles with dread

00:23:31as I quickly explain

00:23:32Valerie's nausea and vomiting.

00:23:34The old doctor says

00:23:35nothing after hearing me out,

00:23:37but a deep, piercing sorrow

00:23:38flashes through her eyes.

00:23:40She quietly takes Valerie

00:23:41into the examination room

00:23:42in the back.

00:23:44The moment the door closes,

00:23:45all the strength drains out of me.

00:23:47I collapse into the cold metal chair

00:23:49outside the office,

00:23:50shoving both hands deep

00:23:51into my hair.

00:23:52More than anyone else,

00:23:53I know exactly where I came from.

00:23:55And because of that,

00:23:56a horrifying truth

00:23:56finally pieces itself together

00:23:58in my mind.

00:23:58In my previous life,

00:23:59Austin, the man who raised me

00:24:01after storing Valerie's life,

00:24:02was actually released

00:24:03from prison early.

00:24:04After committing crimes like that,

00:24:05he still got out

00:24:06in less than 20 years.

00:24:07Back then,

00:24:08when the case went to court,

00:24:09Valerie must have stayed silent.

00:24:11Maybe to hide the shame

00:24:12of being pregnant

00:24:12as a teenager.

00:24:13Maybe to protect

00:24:14the Wyatt family's reputation.

00:24:16Whatever the reason,

00:24:17her silence

00:24:17helped set a monster free.

00:24:19The guilt of my own existence

00:24:20tears through me

00:24:21like a dull blade.

00:24:22This nightmare

00:24:22destroyed a brilliant girl

00:24:23who was supposed

00:24:24to go to Harvard.

00:24:24And the one thing

00:24:25it gave back to the world

00:24:26was a demon.

00:24:29Half an hour later,

00:24:30the exam room door

00:24:31slowly creaks open.

00:24:32Dr. Ramirez steps outside

00:24:34looking exhausted.

00:24:35She gently pats my shoulder.

00:24:38Scarlet,

00:24:40go get Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt

00:24:41for me.

00:24:44The moment the truth comes out,

00:24:46the house,

00:24:47which had barely survived

00:24:49one nightmare already,

00:24:50falls into dead silence

00:24:52all over again.

00:25:02Grandpa sits heavily

00:25:03on the couch.

00:25:04This massive,

00:25:06hard-nosed cop

00:25:07who once stared down

00:25:08cartel gunfires

00:25:09now looks hollowed out

00:25:10like a man aging

00:25:12ten years

00:25:12in a single night.

00:25:16He buries his rough,

00:25:18califafed hands

00:25:18over his face

00:25:19and says nothing.

00:25:22Meanwhile,

00:25:24Grandma holds

00:25:2418-year-old Valerie

00:25:25tightly in her arms,

00:25:27sobbing so hard

00:25:28she can barely breathe.

00:25:30We're packing tonight.

00:25:33We'll go straight to Boston

00:25:35and stay with Hector

00:25:36and his mother.

00:25:38I won't let that

00:25:39monster's family

00:25:41lay a finger on you

00:25:42ever again.

00:25:45Valerie stays curled up

00:25:46in the corner of the bed

00:25:47the entire time,

00:25:48silent as a porcelain doll.

00:25:50She doesn't say a word.

00:25:52She just keeps staring at me

00:25:53with those shattered,

00:25:54empty eyes.

00:25:55But somewhere inside them

00:25:57is still this helpless instinct

00:25:58begging for someone

00:25:59to save her.

00:26:00The sight tears me apart inside.

00:26:03I lower my head immediately,

00:26:06too ashamed to even look

00:26:07my own mother in the eye.

00:26:09And then things somehow

00:26:11get even worse.

00:26:13Austin's trashy parents,

00:26:14the grandparents I had

00:26:16in my previous life,

00:26:17somehow hear about

00:26:18Valerie's pregnancy.

00:26:19Right after the attack,

00:26:20those two cowards

00:26:21vanished completely

00:26:22to avoid being dragged

00:26:23into the police investigation.

00:26:24But the second they hear

00:26:25Valerie is carrying

00:26:26Austin's child,

00:26:27they swoop in like

00:26:27vultures smelling blood.

00:26:29To them,

00:26:29this pregnancy is leverage,

00:26:31the perfect weapon

00:26:32to destroy the Wyatt family.

00:26:34We barely made it back home

00:26:35before the two of them

00:26:36show up outside the house

00:26:37with some sleazy lawyer

00:26:39they hired.

00:26:41The smell of cheap cigarettes

00:26:43and stale alcohol

00:26:44hits before they even

00:26:46step into the yard.

00:26:50My former grandfather,

00:26:51Silas Walker,

00:26:52doesn't show even

00:26:53a trace of shame.

00:26:55No guilt.

00:26:56No apology.

00:26:59Just this disgusting,

00:27:00smug arrogance.

00:27:05Standing in the yard,

00:27:06he bellows toward the house

00:27:07like he owns the place.

00:27:08Officer Wyatt,

00:27:10don't hide in there.

00:27:11My son Austin

00:27:12may be in prison,

00:27:13but he still has

00:27:14parental rights.

00:27:15That maybe is part

00:27:16of our family,

00:27:17and you're not taking

00:27:18our grandchild anywhere.

00:27:20The sleazy lawyer beside him

00:27:22adjusts his glasses

00:27:23and smirks coldly.

00:27:27If Ms. Yight refuses

00:27:28to drop the charges,

00:27:29we're fully prepared

00:27:30to drag this

00:27:31through family court

00:27:31for years.

00:27:32And trust me,

00:27:33once the media

00:27:34gets involved,

00:27:35everybody in Texas

00:27:36is going to know

00:27:36exactly what happened

00:27:37to your daughter.

00:27:41Then Mayabelle Walker,

00:27:43my former grandmother,

00:27:44blows out a stream

00:27:45of cigarette smoke

00:27:46and starts screeching

00:27:47at the house.

00:27:49You go testify

00:27:50in federal court,

00:27:51and we'll swear

00:27:52Valerie wanted it!

00:27:54We'll tell everyone

00:27:55you cops framed our son!

00:27:59We'll make damn sure

00:28:01every police department

00:28:02in Texas knows

00:28:03what kind of girl

00:28:04your daughter really is!

00:28:06You think those badges

00:28:07are going to survive this?

00:28:10We'll ruin your whole family!

00:28:16The police had kept

00:28:17the details of that night

00:28:19sealed tightly.

00:28:20Nobody in town knew

00:28:21what Valerie had actually

00:28:23suffered in the dark.

00:28:24But now,

00:28:24these two shameless monsters

00:28:26are ripping open

00:28:26her deepest traumata

00:28:27in public

00:28:28just to save their

00:28:29worthless son

00:28:29from federal prison.

00:28:30They stand outside

00:28:31with a damn megaphone,

00:28:33turning a survivor's

00:28:34private nightmare

00:28:35into some sick

00:28:36public spectacle

00:28:36about protecting

00:28:37the family bloodline.

00:28:38Before long,

00:28:39the whole town knows.

00:28:40But they don't actually

00:28:42want the baby.

00:28:43That's never been the point.

00:28:44What they want

00:28:45is pressure.

00:28:47They want to weaponize

00:28:48this conservative

00:28:49little town,

00:28:50the gossip,

00:28:51the judgment,

00:28:52the victim blaming

00:28:53until the Wyatts

00:28:54have nowhere left to run.

00:28:55And their terms

00:28:56are crystal clear.

00:28:57They want Valerie

00:28:58to change her testimony

00:28:59in federal court.

00:29:01They want her to claim

00:29:02Austin was just the driver

00:29:03and knew nothing

00:29:05about the attack.

00:29:06In exchange,

00:29:07the walkers will stop

00:29:08harassing the family

00:29:09and leave them alone.

00:29:10Hearing the whispers

00:29:12rising outside the fence,

00:29:13seeing neighbors stare

00:29:15with that fake sympathy

00:29:16hiding disgust underneath.

00:29:20Everything suddenly clicks

00:29:21into place inside my head.

00:29:24Now I understand

00:29:25exactly how Austin

00:29:26got that early release

00:29:27in my previous life.

00:29:29There had been a deal.

00:29:31And Valerie had been

00:29:32crushed into accepting it.

00:29:33Looking at those

00:29:34two smug bastards

00:29:35standing outside our home

00:29:36acting righteous.

00:29:37Every ounce of humiliation

00:29:38from my previous life

00:29:39and every drop of rage

00:29:40from this one

00:29:41finally explodes inside me.

00:29:43To hell with staying calm.

00:29:44I grab Grandpa's

00:29:45Louisville slugger

00:29:46from behind the front door

00:29:47and storm outside,

00:29:48gripping the bat so hard

00:29:49my knuckles go white.

00:29:50By then,

00:29:50all I can see is red.

00:30:07Right in front of everyone,

00:30:09I swing the bat.

00:30:10Crack, crack.

00:30:11The heavy end

00:30:11of the Louisville slugger

00:30:12smashes straight into Silas

00:30:14and Maybean's faces

00:30:15without a shred of hesitation.

00:30:16The sound of teeth breaking

00:30:17mixes with their screams

00:30:18as both of them stumble backward,

00:30:20clutching their bloody mouths

00:30:21before collapsing into the dirt.

00:30:22Your son is a convicted rapist!

00:30:25I point the bat

00:30:26directly at the two of them,

00:30:27shaking with rage.

00:30:28Where the hell

00:30:29was the talk about the La La

00:30:30when your psycho son

00:30:31was pointing a gun

00:30:32at federal officers?

00:30:33And now you want to come here

00:30:35and black rail cops?

00:30:38Gripping the bat

00:30:38with both hands,

00:30:39I swing as hard as I can

00:30:40into the lawyer's sedan

00:30:41parked by the curb.

00:30:42The windshield explodes

00:30:44instantly into a spider web

00:30:45of shattered glass.

00:30:46Then I whip around

00:30:47towards the neighbors

00:30:48gathering outside the fence,

00:30:49all of them whispering

00:30:50and staring.

00:30:51What are you all looking at?

00:30:53Anybody else wants to stand here

00:30:54screaming at a victim

00:30:55with these two pieces of trash?

00:30:57I raise the broken bat,

00:30:59splintered wood

00:30:59jouting from the barrel.

00:31:01I swear to God,

00:31:02the next swing

00:31:02straight goes through your skull!

00:31:04Get the hell away

00:31:05from the Wyatt house!

00:31:06All of you!

00:31:07Move!

00:31:07The hot border wind

00:31:09tears through the street.

00:31:10One look at the shattered bat

00:31:11in my hands is enough.

00:31:13The neighbors pale instantly

00:31:14and start backing away in fear.

00:31:16And then suddenly,

00:31:17Silas runges at me

00:31:18with a rusty switchblade

00:31:19in his hand.

00:31:20Drop the charges

00:31:21or I'll kill

00:31:21every last one of you!

00:31:26The gunshot detonates

00:31:28like thunder.

00:31:29The bullet slices

00:31:30past Silas's ear

00:31:31and blasts apart

00:31:32one of the wooden fence posts

00:31:33behind him.

00:31:34Everyone freezes.

00:31:35Grandpa Rick stands there

00:31:36gripping a cold python revolver.

00:31:38The barrel pressed directly

00:31:39against Silas's forehead.

00:31:41His voice is low and deadly.

00:31:42Officer Miller's daughter

00:31:43took a knife from my family.

00:31:45You touch her again

00:31:46and see what happens.

00:31:48The ringing echo

00:31:49from the gunshot

00:31:50leaves everyone stunned.

00:31:52Silas drops the knife immediately.

00:31:54It clatters onto the dirt

00:31:55beside him

00:31:56as he collapses in terror.

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

00:32:02The cops are trying to murder us!

00:32:04But before she can say

00:32:05another word,

00:32:05another figure comes

00:32:06flying down the porch steps.

00:32:08Grandma.

00:32:10She moves like lightning.

00:32:11Grabbing a fistful

00:32:12of Maybella's brittle yellow hair,

00:32:14she yanks her sideways

00:32:15so hard the old woman

00:32:16nearly falls.

00:32:17Slap!

00:32:19Grandma backhands her

00:32:20across the face

00:32:20hard enough to send her

00:32:21crashing into the dirt,

00:32:22then plants a boot

00:32:24against her chest.

00:32:25Her eyes are pure steel.

00:32:27You think you can threaten

00:32:28my daughter's name?

00:32:29I'll go to prison smiling

00:32:30before I let your family

00:32:31destroy her life.

00:32:32Now get the hell

00:32:33off my property

00:32:34before I bury all of you

00:32:36out in the desert myself.

00:32:37Rick cocks the revolver once,

00:32:39never taking his eyes

00:32:40off Silas.

00:32:41You assaulted my family.

00:32:43As a police officer,

00:32:44I have every right

00:32:45to arrest you right now.

00:32:46Next time,

00:32:47you won't walk away

00:32:48this lucky.

00:32:49Now get out.

00:32:50The sheer violence radiating

00:32:52off the two retired

00:32:53narcotics officers

00:32:54terrifies everyone

00:32:55into Silas.

00:32:56The gossipy neighbors

00:32:57scatter immediately.

00:32:58Silas and Maybella

00:32:59scramble to their feet

00:33:00and flee down the road

00:33:01like stray dogs.

00:33:03But then suddenly,

00:33:04Grandpa Rick doubles over

00:33:06coughing violently.

00:33:07Fresh blood begins

00:33:08soaking through the white

00:33:09bandages wrapped

00:33:10around his torso.

00:33:17Grandpa's stitches tear

00:33:18open again,

00:33:18so Grandma rushes

00:33:19him back to the hospital.

00:33:20I stay behind

00:33:21to take care of Valerie.

00:33:22Standing outside

00:33:22her bedroom door,

00:33:23I force myself to breathe

00:33:24through the panic

00:33:24crushing my chest.

00:33:25I wipe the tears

00:33:26and blood off my face

00:33:26over and over

00:33:27with my sleeve

00:33:27until my skin burns raw.

00:33:29I can't let Valerie

00:33:29see me falling apart.

00:33:30Right now,

00:33:31I have to be strong for her.

00:33:32I shove the bedroom door

00:33:33open and lock it

00:33:34tightly behind me,

00:33:35shutting out the chaos

00:33:36outside.

00:33:37Then I walk straight

00:33:38towards her bed.

00:33:39The second I see her

00:33:40sitting there,

00:33:42pale, hollow, motionless,

00:33:45something inside me

00:33:45finally breaks completely.

00:33:49Valerie, let's leave.

00:33:51We can start over

00:33:52somewhere else.

00:33:53New York, California,

00:33:55anywhere.

00:33:55Please, just pack a bag

00:33:57and come with me, okay?

00:33:58I almost sound desperate.

00:34:00I grab her shoulders gently,

00:34:02trying to pull strength

00:34:03from the girl who,

00:34:04in another lifetime,

00:34:05would become my mother

00:34:0619 years later.

00:34:08But Valerie never says a word.

00:34:10She just stays curled

00:34:11in the corner of the bed.

00:34:13The fading sunset

00:34:14filters through the blinds,

00:34:16strip by strip,

00:34:17dying slowly across her face.

00:34:19Then she finally lifts her head.

00:34:21And once again,

00:34:21she looks at me

00:34:22with those same shattered eyes.

00:34:24Empty, helpless,

00:34:26but still quietly begging

00:34:27someone to save me.

00:34:29Sight crushes my chest.

00:34:30For my entire previous life,

00:34:31I thought I had been born unwanted.

00:34:33But now I finally understand

00:34:34the truth.

00:34:34My birth was never love.

00:34:36It was a chain,

00:34:37a weapon crafted by a monster

00:34:38to trap my mother

00:34:39and destroy her family forever.

00:34:41I have never hated myself

00:34:42more than I do right now.

00:34:46Valerie, listen to me.

00:34:48This baby!

00:34:49Before I can finish,

00:34:50Valerie suddenly covers

00:34:51my mouth with her hand.

00:34:55I look up at her

00:34:58and suddenly the dam inside me

00:35:00completely breaks.

00:35:02Tears pour down my face

00:35:03as I collapse to my knees

00:35:05beside the bed.

00:35:06I pull her hand away

00:35:07from my mouth

00:35:08and finally scream out

00:35:09the truth that destroyed me

00:35:11for an entire lifetime.

00:35:13This baby is a stain

00:35:15that monster left on your life!

00:35:18You'll hate it forever!

00:35:20Every time you look at it,

00:35:22you'll remember him!

00:35:24You'll wish it had never been born!

00:35:27My voice cracks apart completely.

00:35:30It's better to end this now

00:35:32than let that child grow up

00:35:33trapped in pain and misery!

00:35:36I can barely breathe

00:35:37through the sobbing.

00:35:39No one can calmly beg

00:35:40their own mother

00:35:41to erase them from existence.

00:35:43But at that exact moment,

00:35:44Valerie,

00:35:45who has been sitting there

00:35:46lifeless and hollow

00:35:47this whole,

00:35:47whole time,

00:35:48suddenly trembles violently.

00:35:50It's like something inside her

00:35:52finally snaps awake.

00:35:53She bolts upright from the bed

00:35:55and throws her arms around me

00:35:56without warning,

00:35:57crushing me against her chest.

00:35:59She holds me so tightly

00:36:00her fingers dig painfully

00:36:02into my back.

00:36:03Hot tears spill onto my neck,

00:36:05burning against my skin.

00:36:06And then she completely breaks down.

00:36:09I never wanted you dead!

00:36:11Nora!

00:36:13Her voice is raw

00:36:15and shattered from crying.

00:36:17Not once!

00:36:19Not for a single second

00:36:21did I ever wish you were dead!

00:36:27That single sentence

00:36:28crashes through the room

00:36:29with the weight

00:36:30of two lifetimes behind it.

00:36:32Every ounce of pain,

00:36:34resentment,

00:36:35anger,

00:36:36and loneliness

00:36:36I carried inside me

00:36:37shatters instantly into dust.

00:36:40Because she called me Nora.

00:36:42Not Scarlet.

00:36:44Nora.

00:36:45In this timeline,

00:36:46nobody knows that name.

00:36:48Nobody except my mother

00:36:49from my previous life.

00:36:51I freeze in her arms,

00:36:52my mind going completely blank.

00:36:55She isn't just the 18-year-old Valerie

00:36:57who knows nothing about the future.

00:36:59She remembers, too.

00:37:01In this broken,

00:37:03twisted timeline,

00:37:04and near my find,

00:37:06my mother was reborn

00:37:07alongside me.

00:37:10I know.

00:37:11My entire body shakes

00:37:13as I cling to her shoulder

00:37:15her shoulder

00:37:15like a lost child.

00:37:19I know I was never

00:37:20supposed to be born.

00:37:22You had every reason

00:37:24to hate me

00:37:24because of that monster.

00:37:26Valerie suddenly grabs

00:37:28my face with both hands

00:37:29and forces me to look at her

00:37:30through her tears.

00:37:31How could a mother

00:37:32ever hate her child?

00:37:33After two lifetimes,

00:37:35inside this old Texas house

00:37:37in 1996,

00:37:38she finally tears open

00:37:39the truth she buried

00:37:40for decades.

00:37:41And through uncontrollable sobbing,

00:37:43my mother finally tells me

00:37:45why she stood beside

00:37:46my hospital bed

00:37:47and watched me die

00:37:47in my previous life.

00:37:52The reason I couldn't donate

00:37:54bone marrow

00:37:54was because I had

00:37:56terminal cancer, too.

00:37:58I wasn't eligible to donate.

00:38:00I wasn't abandoning you, Nora.

00:38:03How could I ever

00:38:04abandon my own daughter?

00:38:07Outside,

00:38:08the winter wind screams

00:38:09across the Texas borderlands.

00:38:11But inside this cold

00:38:13little room,

00:38:14a mother and daughter

00:38:15separated by two lifetimes

00:38:17finally find each other again

00:38:19in the ruins

00:38:20of everything they lost.

00:38:22Valerie clutches me

00:38:23so tightly,

00:38:24she's shaking.

00:38:24I never gave on you, Nora.

00:38:27I begged everyone

00:38:28I could for help.

00:38:29I borrowed money

00:38:30from anybody willing

00:38:31to listen

00:38:31because I wanted

00:38:32to save you.

00:38:33Every word tears

00:38:34out of her throat

00:38:35like it physically

00:38:35hurts to say it.

00:38:37Your bastard father

00:38:38wouldn't pay

00:38:38a single dime.

00:38:39The ICU bills

00:38:40kept piling up

00:38:41every single day.

00:38:42The hospital

00:38:42kept mailing notices

00:38:43until my bowel box

00:38:44was overflowing.

00:38:45In the end,

00:38:46I sold every apartment

00:38:47and every piece of property

00:38:48I owned in Boston

00:38:49just to barely cover

00:38:50your medical bills.

00:38:51Then her breathing

00:38:52completely falls apart.

00:38:53And Austin,

00:38:54that monster wanted

00:38:55to pull your ventilator

00:38:56out himself

00:38:57back at the trailer park.

00:38:58He lied to you.

00:38:59He actually convinced you

00:39:00that I was the one

00:39:01who abandoned you.

00:39:02She cries so hard

00:39:03she can barely breathe anymore.

00:39:05Decades of humiliation

00:39:06and buried motherhood

00:39:06finally exploding out

00:39:08all at once.

00:39:09Back then,

00:39:09I left with Hector's mother

00:39:10to work in the city

00:39:11because I needed money.

00:39:12I was trying to build

00:39:13enough of a life

00:39:13to come back

00:39:14and take you away

00:39:15from that rotting border town.

00:39:17But the second I left,

00:39:18Austin cut off

00:39:19every possible way

00:39:20for me to contact you.

00:39:21He guarded the trailer park

00:39:22with a gun

00:39:22and wouldn't even

00:39:23let me get near you.

00:39:24The only thing

00:39:26I could do...

00:39:28Her voice breaks

00:39:29completely.

00:39:31Was stand outside

00:39:32your school

00:39:33at the beginning

00:39:33of every semester

00:39:34and watch you

00:39:35from across the street.

00:39:40I bite down so hard

00:39:42on my little lip

00:39:43I taste blood.

00:39:44My vision is

00:39:46completely blurred

00:39:47by tears.

00:39:48And finally,

00:39:50I understand everything.

00:39:52Back then,

00:39:53she was only 18.

00:39:55A girl who had survived

00:39:56something horrific

00:39:57whose mind was already

00:39:58hanging by a thread.

00:40:00There was no way

00:40:01she could go back

00:40:01to that monster.

00:40:02For her,

00:40:04every step towards

00:40:05that trailer crant

00:40:06was like walking

00:40:06back into hell itself.

00:40:07But fate has always

00:40:09been cruel.

00:40:09By the time mom

00:40:10finally saved enough money

00:40:12and came back

00:40:12to fight for custody of me,

00:40:14Austin had already

00:40:15sensed something was coming.

00:40:16He grabbed me

00:40:17in the middle of the night

00:40:18and disappeared.

00:40:19And in the 1990s,

00:40:20before cell phones,

00:40:22databases,

00:40:23and internet tracking

00:40:24connected the world,

00:40:25we vanished

00:40:25into countless

00:40:26forgotten trailer parks

00:40:27scattered across America.

00:40:29She never found us again.

00:40:32Valerie cups my face

00:40:33with trembling hands.

00:40:38When you turned 18,

00:40:40you finally tracked down

00:40:41my private number.

00:40:42Her voice cracks apart.

00:40:44But by then,

00:40:47I'd already been diagnosed

00:40:48with terminal cancer.

00:40:51I didn't have much time

00:40:53left, Nora.

00:40:56Her tears mix with mine

00:40:58as they stream down

00:40:58our faces together.

00:40:59My body was falling apart

00:41:01day by day.

00:41:02I didn't want to drag you

00:41:03into that.

00:41:04I couldn't bear the thought

00:41:05of you watching me die

00:41:06in a hospital bed

00:41:07or inheriting all my debt

00:41:09after I was gone.

00:41:10That's why I acted cold

00:41:12on the phone.

00:41:13That's why I pretended

00:41:14I didn't know you.

00:41:15Everything inside my head

00:41:16goes completely blank.

00:41:21The mother I spent

00:41:22my whole life hating

00:41:23never abandoned me.

00:41:25Not once.

00:41:26With a body and soul

00:41:27shattered by a monster,

00:41:29she still fought

00:41:30through the filled

00:41:30and hopelessness

00:41:31of the 1990s

00:41:32with everything she had left

00:41:33just to keep loving me.

00:41:35We cling to each other

00:41:36in that dark little room

00:41:37and cry until there

00:41:38are no tears left.

00:41:40Finally,

00:41:41I wipe my face hard

00:41:43and force myself

00:41:43to look straight

00:41:44into her eyes.

00:41:45Mom,

00:41:47if we've really both

00:41:48been given another chance,

00:41:50then don't let me

00:41:51become your chance

00:41:51all over again.

00:41:53We can still fix this.

00:41:54We'll go to the hospital.

00:41:56Without me,

00:41:56you can finally

00:41:57live your own life.

00:41:58Valerie instantly

00:41:59shakes her head in panic.

00:42:01Stop!

00:42:01Don't say that!

00:42:02I can't do it!

00:42:03Nora,

00:42:04you are part of me!

00:42:05I will never let you go!

00:42:08She covers her face,

00:42:10crying uncontrollably,

00:42:11and seeing the pain

00:42:12and determination

00:42:13in her eyes,

00:42:14I can't force her anymore.

00:42:15The sunset over the Texas border

00:42:17paints the entire sky

00:42:18blood red.

00:42:20Hot wind rolls through the yard

00:42:21carrying dust and dry heat

00:42:23that makes my chest

00:42:24tighten with unease.

00:42:25Grandpa fires up the smoker

00:42:27in the backyard

00:42:27using a stash of oak wood

00:42:29he's been saving for years.

00:42:30Before long,

00:42:31the air fills with the smell

00:42:32of smoked brisket and ribs.

00:42:34Grandma and I spend

00:42:34the entire afternoon

00:42:35preparing dinner,

00:42:36wanting to give Mom,

00:42:37the girl who suffered so much

00:42:38in this timeline,

00:42:39the happiest 18th birthday possible.

00:42:40But just as Grandma

00:42:41wipes her hands clean

00:42:42and starts heading inside

00:42:43to call Valerie at a dinner.

00:42:53Officer Wyatt,

00:42:54we've got a problem.

00:42:56Austin escaped

00:42:56during transport

00:42:57to federal prison.

00:42:58He killed two federal marshals

00:43:00and stole a shotgun.

00:43:01Dispatch intercepted

00:43:02a report ten minutes ago.

00:43:03He's heading straight for town

00:43:04in a stolen pickup truck.

00:43:05The second I hear

00:43:06Austin's name,

00:43:07rage destinates

00:43:08inside my body.

00:43:09Every ounce of blood

00:43:10in my veins

00:43:11feels like it catches fire.

00:43:13He's coming here

00:43:14for revenge!

00:43:20That monster

00:43:21ruined my mother

00:43:22once already.

00:43:23Why the hell

00:43:24should he get another chance

00:43:25to destroy her life?

00:43:32While Grandpa and Grandma

00:43:33rush back inside

00:43:34in Scotch

00:43:35to grab their

00:43:36Remingston shoe duns,

00:43:37I move first.

00:43:45Without hesitation,

00:43:46I snatch up

00:43:47the heavy cleaver

00:43:48sitting beside

00:43:49the cutting board

00:43:49in the kitchen.

00:43:59I don't even look back

00:44:01at the house.

00:44:02Eyes burning red

00:44:03with hatred,

00:44:04I run straight

00:44:04into the blood-colored

00:44:06Texas dusk.

00:44:07Austin.

00:44:08Even if this drags

00:44:09my soul straight

00:44:10into hell,

00:44:10this time,

00:44:12I'm going to kill you myself.

00:44:17Night falls fast

00:44:19near the border.

00:44:20Freezing wind

00:44:21filled with sand

00:44:22cuts across my face

00:44:23like blades.

00:44:26I crouch silently

00:44:27in the shadows

00:44:28near the edge

00:44:28of the neighborhood,

00:44:29my palms slick

00:44:30with sweat

00:44:31around the handle

00:44:31of the clemver.

00:44:34But no matter

00:44:35how long I wait,

00:44:37Austin never appears.

00:44:38Then around midnight,

00:44:39a horrible instinct

00:44:40suddenly clenches

00:44:41around my heart.

00:44:43Valerie should have returned

00:44:44from the clinic

00:44:45hours ago,

00:44:46but she still

00:44:47isn't home.

00:44:47Headlights suddenly

00:44:48tear through the darkness.

00:44:50Grandpa's old

00:44:51pickup truck

00:44:52skids to a stop

00:44:52beside me.

00:44:53Scarlett, get in!

00:45:00Grandma and Grandpa

00:45:01both look pale

00:45:02with fear,

00:45:03gripping loaded

00:45:03Remington shoot guns

00:45:04tightly in their hands.

00:45:06We immediately

00:45:07start tracking tire marks

00:45:08and crushed brush

00:45:09along the bide side.

00:45:13Following every sign

00:45:14we can find,

00:45:15the search leads us

00:45:16all the way

00:45:16to the edge of town.

00:45:18Then the pickup engine dies.

00:45:19Silence.

00:45:20Nothing but cold

00:45:21desert wind

00:45:22and darkness.

00:45:23In front of us

00:45:24sits an abandoned

00:45:24trailer park

00:45:25that's been empty

00:45:26for years.

00:45:26We split up

00:45:27to search for Valerie.

00:45:28Let go of me!

00:45:29You're insane!

00:45:30Let me go!

00:45:33Let go of me!

00:45:34You're insane!

00:45:36Let me go!

00:45:38My mind goes blank.

00:45:40I know instantly

00:45:41there's no time

00:45:42to turn back

00:45:42for Grandpa.

00:45:45So I run

00:45:46toward Valerie's screams

00:45:47alone

00:45:49but somewhere

00:45:50during those few

00:45:51desperate seconds

00:45:52hearing my mother

00:45:53crying inside

00:45:54that trailer.

00:45:57Something strange

00:45:58happens.

00:45:59The panic inside

00:46:01my head

00:46:01suddenly disappears.

00:46:03Something strange

00:46:04happens.

00:46:04The panic inside

00:46:05my head

00:46:06suddenly disappears.

00:46:07Completely.

00:46:08As I sprint

00:46:09through the freezing dark

00:46:10I grip the heavy

00:46:11meat clever hidden

00:46:11beneath my coat

00:46:12so tightly

00:46:13my hand aches

00:46:14my palm

00:46:14is slipped

00:46:15with sweat

00:46:15but my eyes

00:46:17hold no fear

00:46:17anymore

00:46:18only calm

00:46:19and certainty.

00:46:21In that moment

00:46:22I finally understand

00:46:23why I came back

00:46:24to this world.

00:46:24I wasn't reborn

00:46:25to keep living

00:46:26as that monster's

00:46:27unwanted child.

00:46:28I crossed 28 years

00:46:29of time

00:46:30for one reason only

00:46:31to set my mother

00:46:32free

00:46:33even if it cost

00:46:34the life

00:46:34I was never supposed

00:46:35to have

00:46:35in the first place.

00:46:37I stare

00:46:38at the battered

00:46:39trailer door

00:46:39glowing faintly

00:46:40under the moonlight

00:46:41and I never

00:46:42slow down

00:46:43for even

00:46:43a second.

00:46:45You sick

00:46:46bastard!

00:46:47Die!

00:46:51Without hesitation

00:46:53I slam my foot

00:46:54into the flimsy

00:46:55aluminum trailer

00:46:56door.

00:46:57Using the momentum

00:46:58I throw myself

00:46:59straight at Austin

00:47:00from behind.

00:47:02Under the pale

00:47:03moonlight

00:47:03I raise the heavy

00:47:04cleaver high over

00:47:05my head

00:47:06and bring it down

00:47:07with every ounce

00:47:07of hatred

00:47:08from both lifetimes

00:47:09behind it.

00:47:11Austin lets out

00:47:12an animalistic scream

00:47:14but I underestimated

00:47:15what kind of monster

00:47:16he really is.

00:47:20I'm gonna rip you apart!

00:47:21A man who survived

00:47:23years of cartel violence

00:47:25along the border

00:47:25doesn't go down easily.

00:47:28The pain only drives

00:47:29him insane

00:47:30but before I can swing

00:47:32again

00:47:32agony shoots through

00:47:33my arm

00:47:33like the bone

00:47:34is about to snap.

00:47:36I'm gonna kill you!

00:47:39The clever

00:47:40is ripped out

00:47:40of my hands

00:47:41instantly.

00:47:42Clang!

00:47:43The weapon

00:47:43crashes to the floor

00:47:44as Austin slams me

00:47:45hard against the ground

00:47:46inside the trailer.

00:47:51Under the dim

00:47:52moonlight leaking

00:47:52through the broken

00:47:53trailer walls

00:47:54Austin finally

00:47:55sees my face

00:47:56clearly.

00:48:00You little

00:48:01bitch again.

00:48:02You just keep ruining

00:48:04everything!

00:48:05He roars hysterically

00:48:06and raises the

00:48:07clember over his head.

00:48:08Then it comes down.

00:48:10Again.

00:48:11And again.

00:48:12The blade

00:48:13flashes silver

00:48:14through the cramped trailer.

00:48:16Each strike

00:48:17tears violently

00:48:18into my stomach

00:48:18and chest

00:48:19without mercy.

00:48:25Warm blood

00:48:26immediately floods

00:48:26from my mouth

00:48:27soaking my clothes.

00:48:31Strangely

00:48:33I keep

00:48:34feeling pain

00:48:35anymore.

00:48:38My mind

00:48:39is terrifyingly

00:48:40clear.

00:48:41Only one thought

00:48:42keeps screaming

00:48:42inside my head.

00:48:44Don't let him go.

00:48:45Don't let him

00:48:46get to Valerie.

00:48:46No!

00:48:48Please!

00:48:48Stop!

00:48:49Let her go!

00:48:53No!

00:48:56Please!

00:48:57Stop!

00:49:04And the second

00:49:05I see him turning

00:49:06toward my mother again

00:49:08something inside me

00:49:09snaps.

00:49:10Using every last

00:49:11ounce of strength

00:49:12from both my lives.

00:49:14I throw myself

00:49:15onto him

00:49:15from behind.

00:49:16and lock my arms

00:49:17around his body

00:49:18like a steel trap.

00:49:28No matter how

00:49:29violently he punches

00:49:30me.

00:49:32No matter how

00:49:33many times

00:49:33the blade

00:49:34carves into my flesh.

00:49:35I grit my teeth

00:49:37so hard I taste blood

00:49:38and hold on anyway.

00:49:40Even as blood

00:49:41pours from my mouth

00:49:42I use my dying

00:49:44body weight

00:49:44to keep him

00:49:45pinned in place.

00:49:46You want to hurt her?

00:49:49Then you'll have to

00:49:50cut me into pieces

00:49:51first.

00:49:52Then you'll have to

00:49:53cut me into pieces

00:49:54first.

00:49:56A deafening shotgun

00:49:58blast erupts

00:49:58through the trailer.

00:50:00Austin!

00:50:01Blinding police

00:50:02spotlights flood the darkness

00:50:04flood the darkness

00:50:04as grandpa storms

00:50:05inside roaring.

00:50:07The blast tears

00:50:08straight through

00:50:09Austin's skull.

00:50:10The impact stops

00:50:11the monster cold.

00:50:12His body jerks

00:50:14violently before

00:50:14collapsing to the floor

00:50:16like dead weight.

00:50:17Scarlet!

00:50:18Finally,

00:50:19the demon falls silent

00:50:20and with the last bit

00:50:21of life draining

00:50:22from my body

00:50:23I collapse into

00:50:24the blood beside him.

00:50:30Scarlet!

00:50:31Scarlet!

00:50:35Scarlet, wake up!

00:50:37Please!

00:50:39Mom's begging you

00:50:40please wake up!

00:50:42My mother's screams

00:50:44tear through

00:50:44the freezing

00:50:45Texas night.

00:50:46Raw.

00:50:47Desperate.

00:50:48Sharp enough

00:50:48to rip the sky apart.

00:50:50I want to lift my hand.

00:50:53Wipe the blood

00:50:54off her face

00:50:54like I always do.

00:50:56Pull her into my arms

00:50:57one last time.

00:50:58But my arm feels

00:50:59filled with concrete.

00:51:00My body is getting

00:51:01colder by the second

00:51:01and the voices around me

00:51:03sound farther

00:51:03and farther away

00:51:04like they're trapped

00:51:05beneath deep water.

00:51:06The whole world

00:51:07is slowly drifting

00:51:07out of reach.

00:51:08I lie there

00:51:09helplessly

00:51:09in the cold

00:51:10moldy blood

00:51:11pooling across

00:51:11the floor

00:51:12of the abandoned trailer.

00:51:13I see grandpa

00:51:14and grandma

00:51:14rushing toward me.

00:51:17Grandpa's hands

00:51:18the same steady hands

00:51:19that held a gun

00:51:20his entire life

00:51:21without trembling once.

00:51:22He presses so hard

00:51:24his knuckles

00:51:24turn white

00:51:25but the blood

00:51:26still keeps pouring

00:51:27through his fingers.

00:51:29Grandma collapses

00:51:30beside me

00:51:31covering her mouth

00:51:32as sobs

00:51:33wreck her body.

00:51:35The whole world

00:51:36is slowly drifting

00:51:37out of reach.

00:51:39I know then

00:51:41I'm never gonna

00:51:42wake up again.

00:51:46That monster

00:51:47who haunts

00:51:47both of my lives

00:51:48like a curse

00:51:49carved into my bones.

00:51:53Austin Walker

00:51:53is finally killed

00:51:54that night

00:51:55by grandpa's shotgun.

00:51:57The blast tears

00:51:58straight through his head.

00:51:59His blood,

00:52:00his violence,

00:52:01his evil.

00:52:02All of it

00:52:03splatter across

00:52:03the rusted trailer walls

00:52:05and sinks into the mud

00:52:06of the Texas borderlands.

00:52:07Justice comes late.

00:52:08The law never even

00:52:09gets the chance

00:52:10to put him on death row.

00:52:12Fate beats it to the punch.

00:52:13Brutal, bloody

00:52:14and absolute.

00:52:15After two lifetimes

00:52:16of suffering

00:52:17the debt

00:52:18is finally paid.

00:52:19But the devil's death

00:52:20doesn't bring life

00:52:21back to our family.

00:52:22A few days later

00:52:23an unusual storm

00:52:24rolls across the border.

00:52:25Cold rain mixes

00:52:26with sand and dirt

00:52:27turning the whole town

00:52:28gray, muddy

00:52:29and bitterly cold

00:52:30as if the sky itself

00:52:31is mourning everything

00:52:32we've lost.

00:52:32The Wyatt House

00:52:33falls silent.

00:52:34The kitchen

00:52:34that once smells

00:52:35of barbecue

00:52:35and fresh coffee

00:52:36never lights up again.

00:52:38Valerie becomes a ghost.

00:52:40She barely speaks.

00:52:41Barely moves.

00:52:43Like someone

00:52:43winds her up once

00:52:44and then forgets

00:52:45to do it again.

00:52:46Late one night

00:52:47after the rain

00:52:48finally stops

00:52:49she stumbles

00:52:50into my room alone.

00:52:51Dust has already

00:52:52settled across

00:52:53everything I leave behind.

00:52:55With trembling hands

00:52:56she folds

00:52:56my faded jeans,

00:52:57picks up

00:52:58my unfinished notebooks,

00:53:00smooths out the wrinkles

00:53:00and the blanket

00:53:01on my bed.

00:53:02And the moment

00:53:03her fingers touch

00:53:04those cold sheets

00:53:05the ones that will

00:53:06never hold my warmth again

00:53:07something inside her

00:53:08finally breaks.

00:53:09Tears hit the hardwood floor

00:53:11one after another

00:53:12soft, heavy.

00:53:14Nora?

00:53:15Can mom come find you

00:53:17in heaven?

00:53:21Valerie drops

00:53:22to her knees

00:53:22beside the bed.

00:53:24She buries her pale face

00:53:25deep into my old pillow

00:53:26the one I never

00:53:28get around to washing.

00:53:29There's still the faint smell

00:53:31of cheap shampoo

00:53:32lingering in the fabric

00:53:33the last trace

00:53:34of her daughter

00:53:34left in this world.

00:53:36She clutches the sheets

00:53:38so tightly

00:53:38her fingers cramp

00:53:39crying like a child

00:53:40who loses everything

00:53:42in the middle

00:53:42of the desert.

00:53:45The news of the border

00:53:47shooting reaches

00:53:47Boston overnight.

00:53:49Hector and his mother

00:53:51immediately cancel everything

00:53:52and drive back to Texas.

00:53:55Neither of them

00:53:56asks questions.

00:53:58They simply stay beside

00:54:00my grandparents

00:54:00and help them hold

00:54:01themselves together

00:54:02long enough to bury me.

00:54:05The funeral is held

00:54:07in the little cemetery

00:54:08outside town.

00:54:10For once

00:54:11there is no sandstorm.

00:54:13White roses cover

00:54:15my grave.

00:54:16Hector stands

00:54:16at the very back

00:54:17of the crowd.

00:54:18The boy who once

00:54:20looked so calm

00:54:21and untouchable

00:54:22now has eyes

00:54:23darkened with grief

00:54:25and rage.

00:54:25He stares at the photo

00:54:27on my headstone

00:54:28my 18-year-old smile

00:54:30frozen forever in time

00:54:31and clenches his fists

00:54:33so hard

00:54:34his knuckles

00:54:34turn pale.

00:54:38After the funeral

00:54:39the atmosphere

00:54:40inside the Wyatt house

00:54:42feels suffocating.

00:54:43Grandpa and Grandma

00:54:45sit silently

00:54:45at the dinner table

00:54:46exhaustion and grief

00:54:48etched into every line

00:54:50on their faces.

00:54:51Hector sits alone

00:54:52on the old bench

00:54:53near the living room window

00:54:54staring out at the empty

00:54:55Texas highway.

00:54:56He struggles with himself

00:54:57for a long time

00:54:58before finally standing

00:54:59and walking over to Valerie.

00:55:01He crouches down

00:55:02in front of her carefully

00:55:03like he's afraid

00:55:04she might shitter

00:55:05if he moves too fast.

00:55:11Valerie, come with us.

00:55:12Leave this place behind.

00:55:14We can start over

00:55:16somewhere else.

00:55:17Okay?

00:55:18His voice is barely

00:55:19above a whisper.

00:55:20He doesn't even dare

00:55:21touch her.

00:55:22He just looks at her

00:55:23with quiet heartbreak

00:55:24in his eyes.

00:55:25Valerie doesn't answer.

00:55:27She sits there

00:55:28in the shadows

00:55:28clutching my faded

00:55:30denim jacket

00:55:30against her chest

00:55:31like it's the last oxygen

00:55:33left in the world.

00:55:36That night

00:55:36after everyone

00:55:38finally falls asleep

00:55:39from sheer exhaustion

00:55:40the old house

00:55:41sinks into silence.

00:55:48and Valerie wanders

00:55:50back into my room

00:55:51again.

00:56:07She doesn't turn

00:56:08on the lights

00:56:08in a room

00:56:10without me

00:56:10even the light

00:56:11feels like a mockery.

00:56:17She kneels alone

00:56:18on the cold floor

00:56:19organizing my belongings

00:56:21one piece at a time

00:56:22under the pale moonlight

00:56:23coming through the window.

00:56:32my textbooks

00:56:33full of notes

00:56:37my erasers

00:56:38worn down

00:56:39to almost nothing

00:56:40then finally

00:56:43my old backpack

00:56:44the cheap one

00:56:45with frayed edges

00:56:46and fading fabric

00:56:47she pulls it

00:56:49into her arms

00:56:49and buries her face

00:56:50against it

00:56:51breathing in

00:56:52what little remains

00:56:53of my scent

00:56:58then her hand

00:56:59brushes against

00:57:00something hidden

00:57:00deep inside

00:57:01the torn inner lining

00:57:11paper

00:57:12a folded envelope

00:57:13slips loose

00:57:14and falls softly

00:57:15into her lap

00:57:16on the front

00:57:17is only one word

00:57:20those are the words

00:57:21I want to say

00:57:22across two lifetimes

00:57:24the words

00:57:25I never managed

00:57:25to say out loud

00:57:26before I die

00:57:35Valerie freezes

00:57:36her whole body

00:57:38stiffens

00:57:38as her trembling fingers

00:57:39slowly tear

00:57:40the envelope open

00:57:43she's shaking

00:57:43so badly

00:57:44her fingernail

00:57:45slices the edge

00:57:46of the paper

00:57:47and draws blood

00:57:48but she doesn't

00:57:49even notice

00:57:50then she sees

00:57:51the first line

00:57:53and the moment

00:57:54she reads

00:57:54the name buried

00:57:55deepest inside

00:57:56her heart

00:58:01her breathing

00:58:02stops

00:58:09mom

00:58:10mom

00:58:12if you're reading this

00:58:14I'm probably

00:58:14already gone

00:58:21don't cry for me

00:58:24from the first day

00:58:26I came back

00:58:26to this timeline

00:58:27I already make up

00:58:30I already make up my mind

00:58:30I'm going to trade my life

00:58:33for your freedom

00:58:36under the moonlight

00:58:38Valerie's eyes

00:58:39instantly turn red

00:58:41she covers her mouth

00:58:42tightly

00:58:43to stop herself

00:58:45from sobbing out loud

00:58:46and keeps reading

00:58:49during those 28 filthy years

00:58:51in my first life

00:58:54I hated you so much

00:58:56sometimes

00:58:56living in that moldy trailer park

00:58:58I wonder every day

00:58:59why everyone else

00:59:00has a loving mom

00:59:01except me

00:59:02why you left me alone

00:59:04in hell

00:59:04but in this life

00:59:05I finally learned the truth

00:59:07my mother loves me

00:59:08more than anyone ever could

00:59:10you burn your whole life away

00:59:12trying to protect me

00:59:13and honestly mom

00:59:15being loved by you like that

00:59:17is already enough

00:59:17you're brilliant

00:59:19beautiful

00:59:21grandpa and grandma

00:59:23love you so much

00:59:25Hector's mom once says

00:59:26you're meant to soar

00:59:27high above the clouds

00:59:28not rot away

00:59:29in border town dirt

00:59:30because some rapist

00:59:31destroys your life

00:59:33please let me go mom

00:59:34don't give birth to me again

00:59:35as long as the name

00:59:37Nora exists

00:59:38Austin Walker's shadow

00:59:39will always haunt you

00:59:40this time don't look back

00:59:42promise me

00:59:43go somewhere cleaner

00:59:44higher

00:59:44better

00:59:45go live the life

00:59:47you're supposed to have

00:59:48be free

00:59:49by the end of the letter

00:59:51Valerie has completely

00:59:52collapsed onto the floor

00:59:53she presses those pages

00:59:55against her chest

00:59:55like they're the last pieces

00:59:56of my heartbeat

00:59:57left in the world

00:59:58and cries so hard

00:59:59she can barely breathe

01:00:00curled up beside the bed

01:00:02in the darkness

01:00:02she breaks apart completely

01:00:05and in that winter night

01:00:06of 1996

01:00:08in a world without her daughter

01:00:11my mother lets out

01:00:12the most shattered

01:00:13guilt-raden

01:00:14heartbroken sobs

01:00:16of both our lifetimes

01:00:21that night

01:00:22the Texas winter wind

01:00:23howls so hard

01:00:24it nearly tears

01:00:25the old wooden house

01:00:26apart

01:00:28Valerie clutches my letter

01:00:30against her chest

01:00:31and cries until her voice

01:00:33gives up

01:00:36in that letter

01:00:37I beg her to let me go

01:00:38beg her not to look back

01:00:40beg her to chase her dreams

01:00:42and finally become the free person

01:00:44she deserves to be

01:00:46but staring into my empty room

01:00:48something reignites in her hollow

01:00:50lifeless eyes

01:00:54a fire

01:00:56a stubbornness

01:00:57stronger than grief itself

01:01:00Valerie whispers

01:01:02hoskily into the darkness

01:01:05you silly girl

01:01:07how could a mother

01:01:08ever stop loving her child

01:01:10she can't do what I ask

01:01:14because she had already

01:01:15told me once before

01:01:18I will never let you go

01:01:22you are part of my body

01:01:24part of my life

01:01:29a few days later

01:01:30Hector and his mother

01:01:31help my exhausted grandparents

01:01:35finish arranging everything

01:01:44then carrying unbearable grief

01:01:47with them

01:01:48the entire family

01:01:49leaves Texas

01:01:50for Boston

01:01:57the day the bus

01:01:58pulls away

01:01:59kicking up yellow dust

01:02:01behind it

01:02:03Valerie stands

01:02:04by the window

01:02:05and takes a deep breath

01:02:07of cold New England air

01:02:11this time

01:02:12she isn't running

01:02:13as a victim

01:02:14buried under shame

01:02:16this time

01:02:17she's a mother

01:02:18determined to rewrite fate itself

01:02:20and bring her daughter

01:02:22back into the world

01:02:23with every ounce of love

01:02:25she has

01:02:28time moves quickly

01:02:30beneath Boston's blue skies

01:02:34Valerie throws every ounce

01:02:36of grief and pain

01:02:37into study

01:02:40fueled by the determination

01:02:42of two lifetimes

01:02:43she works through

01:02:45endless nights

01:02:45until she's accepted

01:02:48into Harvard

01:02:48with near perfect

01:02:50scores

01:02:52and Hector

01:02:53the boy who once cries for me

01:02:55at that Texas bus station

01:02:58finally achieved

01:02:59his own dream too

01:03:02earning a place

01:03:03at one of the country's

01:03:04top medical schools

01:03:07textbooks become

01:03:08Valerie's shelter

01:03:09and the child

01:03:10growing inside her

01:03:11the child once used

01:03:13by monsters

01:03:14as black man

01:03:15is finally being nurtured

01:03:17in warmth

01:03:17and love

01:03:19the following autumn

01:03:20beneath golden maple leaves

01:03:23and the bright lights

01:03:24of a Boston maternity room

01:03:26a baby girl

01:03:27enters the world

01:03:28with a loud

01:03:29healthy cry

01:03:31Valerie lies exhausted

01:03:33against the hospital bed

01:03:34tears blurring her vision

01:03:35as she smiles wider

01:03:36than she ever has before

01:03:37with trembling arms

01:03:39she holds the tiny newborn

01:03:41against her chest

01:03:42and kisses her forehead gently

01:03:48this time

01:03:49there's no moldy trailer park

01:03:51no violence

01:03:52no shadow left behind

01:03:54by monsters

01:03:55sunlight pours

01:03:56through the hospital windows

01:03:57onto a warm nursery crib

01:03:58grandpa and grandma

01:04:00show up crying

01:04:00and carrying brand new

01:04:02Barbie dolls

01:04:02Hector adjusts his glasses

01:04:05and smiles softly

01:04:06beside him

01:04:07and this version of Nora

01:04:09is finally born into love

01:04:13after that

01:04:14life slowly finds its way

01:04:16onto the right path

01:04:17without the suffering

01:04:19and burdens

01:04:19of the first timeline

01:04:20Valerie and Hector

01:04:22both reach the futures

01:04:23they are always meant to have

01:04:24Hector becomes

01:04:26one of the country's

01:04:27leading surgeons

01:04:28saving countless lives

01:04:29Valerie becomes

01:04:31a legendary attorney

01:04:33known across America

01:04:35dedicating her career

01:04:36to protecting women

01:04:37and children

01:04:38through civil rights law

01:04:39and the new Nora

01:04:41grows up

01:04:42beneath Harvard's

01:04:43golden autumn trees

01:04:44surrounded by love

01:04:45instead of fear

01:04:46she is bright

01:04:48confident

01:04:50happy

01:04:52the cancer that once

01:04:54destroys my body

01:04:56never appears in hers

01:05:01as little Nora grows up

01:05:03she watches Valerie

01:05:05and Hector

01:05:06eventually fall in love

01:05:07and build a quiet

01:05:08beautiful family together

01:05:10their life isn't glamorous

01:05:12but the love they give her

01:05:14overflows far beyond

01:05:15what most families

01:05:17could ever offer

01:05:17and somewhere inside

01:05:19the golden evening light

01:05:20the version of me

01:05:22that crosses time itself

01:05:23the wandering soul

01:05:25carried away by the wind

01:05:27finally smiles

01:05:28at the end of her autobiography

01:05:30my mother writes

01:05:31one final dedication

01:05:34every achievement

01:05:35and honor in my life

01:05:36belongs to a girl

01:05:37named Nora

01:05:38my daughter once

01:05:39tears open the darkness

01:05:41with her own life

01:05:42and I spend the rest of mine

01:05:43bringing her back

01:05:44into the light

01:05:45I lean quietly

01:05:46against my mother's knee

01:05:47in that final memory

01:05:49and whisper softly

01:05:50in my heart

01:05:52mom

01:05:54this time

01:05:55you get everything right

01:05:56and at last

01:05:57those two wounded souls

01:05:59walk hand in hand

01:06:00towards the endless stars

01:06:01waiting beyond the clouds

01:06:05my boyfriend burns

01:06:06the admission letter

01:06:07I just got

01:06:08and hasn't opened yet

01:06:09he says

01:06:10one of us should go to college

01:06:11while the other covers

01:06:12the tuition fee

01:06:13he calls it teamwork

01:06:15I smile and nod

01:06:16the admission letter

01:06:18he burned

01:06:18is his own

01:06:19I'm more than happy

01:06:20if he's going to cover

01:06:21my tuition fee

01:06:23Finn

01:06:24did you see an admission letter

01:06:25on the table?

01:06:26when I come home

01:06:27with a bunch of bags

01:06:28I notice my boyfriend

01:06:29is already there

01:06:30we live next to each other

01:06:32we grew up together

01:06:33and started dating

01:06:34when we're older

01:06:35my parents are away

01:06:36all the time

01:06:37and Finn's divorced parents

01:06:38ignores him

01:06:39feeling heartbroken for him

01:06:41I gave him a copy

01:06:42of my house key

01:06:43so he could come over

01:06:44anytime he wanted

01:06:45right now

01:06:46he's sitting on the sofa

01:06:47and eating takeout

01:06:48as he fiddles

01:06:49with his lighter

01:06:50Finn looks very calm

01:06:52something's off

01:06:53he should have read

01:06:54the admission letter

01:06:55by now

01:06:55the letter belongs to him

01:06:57out of respect

01:06:58when it was delivered

01:06:59this morning

01:07:00I didn't open it

01:07:01I left it in plain sight

01:07:03on the table

01:07:04as a surprise for him

01:07:05Finn's admission letter

01:07:06came early

01:07:07and he aced the SAT

01:07:09with flying colors

01:07:10I think he got into

01:07:12an elite college

01:07:13I want to celebrate

01:07:14his success

01:07:15yes I usually watch my spending

01:07:17but I went out

01:07:18and bought some nice food

01:07:19and a small cake

01:07:21so we could celebrate together

01:07:22no I didn't see it

01:07:24surprisingly

01:07:25Finn shakes his head

01:07:27thing is

01:07:28I know I left it on the table

01:07:30before I went out

01:07:30I have a good memory

01:07:32I know I'm right

01:07:33it can't be

01:07:34I left an admission letter

01:07:36before going out

01:07:38I'm very confused

01:07:39I'm about to search

01:07:40when he speak

01:07:41I remember now

01:07:42Finn suddenly grabs my hand

01:07:44and says with unease

01:07:45I burned it

01:07:46he points at the kitchen trash can

01:07:48still smoking

01:07:49what?

01:07:51why would you burn

01:07:52an admission letter?

01:07:53I rush into the kitchen

01:07:55and reach out to salvage

01:07:56the burning letter

01:07:57half of it is scorched

01:07:58but I have to do what I can

01:08:00Finn studied long and hard

01:08:02to get this

01:08:03I can't let it go up in flames

01:08:04I just can't

01:08:06it's already ruined

01:08:07don't hurt yourself

01:08:08I'll be worried

01:08:10acting concerned

01:08:11Finn grabs my burned hand

01:08:13and drags me to the couch

01:08:14despite my protests

01:08:15the fire in the kitchen

01:08:17trash can dies down

01:08:18the black smoke

01:08:20thinning

01:08:20why Finn?

01:08:22why did you do that?

01:08:23I'm utterly confused

01:08:24he's always said

01:08:26he had a lousy family

01:08:27and he needed to get into a college

01:08:29to change his life

01:08:30for the better

01:08:31why would he burn

01:08:32his admission letter?

01:08:34one of us going to college

01:08:35is enough

01:08:36after I keep pressuring him

01:08:38he finally tells me

01:08:39what he really thinks

01:08:40he must have realized

01:08:41how despicable he had been

01:08:43after all

01:08:44he doesn't dare

01:08:45to meet my gaze

01:08:45what do you mean?

01:08:47I think I heard it wrong

01:08:48what does he mean by that?

01:08:50what about me then?

01:08:52we aced the SAT

01:08:53we can attend college

01:08:55instead of working

01:08:56that's stupid

01:08:57why doesn't he take

01:08:59the easy way?

01:09:01he didn't burn his own

01:09:02admission letter

01:09:03just to go to work

01:09:04did he?

01:09:04has he got a screw loose?

01:09:06I just don't get it

01:09:07I just told you

01:09:09college costs a lot

01:09:10one of us should keep

01:09:12studying for a bright future

01:09:13while the other

01:09:14covers the tuition fee

01:09:15it's teamwork

01:09:16are you cool with that?

01:09:18Flushed Finn makes

01:09:19a cruel request

01:09:20eager to go to college

01:09:22when his parents

01:09:23divorced

01:09:24he chose independence

01:09:25then

01:09:26he got an old house

01:09:27and $50,000

01:09:29from them

01:09:29now

01:09:30the money

01:09:31is nearly gone

01:09:33he doesn't have money

01:09:35and he doesn't want

01:09:36to be shamed

01:09:37for working

01:09:37while in college

01:09:38college

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