A powerful full drama movie filled with love, secrets, and unexpected twists.
Follow a powerful story where relationships are tested, hidden truths are revealed, and lives change forever. From romantic moments to shocking surprises, this drama keeps you engaged from beginning to end.
Featuring stories about CEO, billionaire lifestyles, family connections, and life-changing decisions, this movie delivers strong emotions and unforgettable scenes.
Watch the full movie and discover what happens in the end.
New full drama movies uploaded regularly. Stay tuned for more captivating and trending stories.
#drama #fullmovie #lovestory #dramatic #billionaire #ceo #family #relationships #movie #story
Follow a powerful story where relationships are tested, hidden truths are revealed, and lives change forever. From romantic moments to shocking surprises, this drama keeps you engaged from beginning to end.
Featuring stories about CEO, billionaire lifestyles, family connections, and life-changing decisions, this movie delivers strong emotions and unforgettable scenes.
Watch the full movie and discover what happens in the end.
New full drama movies uploaded regularly. Stay tuned for more captivating and trending stories.
#drama #fullmovie #lovestory #dramatic #billionaire #ceo #family #relationships #movie #story
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AmusantTranscription
00:00I cast the Bloodthrall curse on Adrien, binding his body to mine.
00:03For that, he hates me for five long years.
00:05Before he dies, he refuses to even glance at our child.
00:08The curse bond ends here.
00:10I open my eyes again.
00:11I found a way to break the Bloodthrall.
00:13Blood.
00:13The blood of the one your heart truly beats for.
00:16Adrien's heart beats for Vivienne.
00:18Vivienne won't marry him.
00:19I will.
00:20This time, Ben scoffs, like he has just heard a cruel joke.
00:24You'd do that out of the goodness of your heart?
00:26What is this, another scheme?
00:27You'll have her.
00:28I cast the Bloodthrall curse on Adrien, binding his body to mine.
00:31For that, he hates me for five long years.
00:34By day, he cuts me down with cruel words.
00:36Yet at night, he comes to my bed like an addict, lost in me.
00:40Later, I am pregnant.
00:41On the day of my deadly labor, he forces a witch to cast a spell.
00:45Before he dies, he refuses to even glance at our child.
00:47This cursed bond ends here.
00:49Next life, let me be with her.
00:52I'm begging you, please.
00:54Tears run down my face as I nod.
00:56Satisfied at last, he closes his eyes.
00:58The Wren family hates me and casts me out.
01:00I hate myself, too.
01:02If I had only let him be with my sister, Vivienne, none of this would have happened.
01:05The agonizing pain of the Mother Curse tears through my heart.
01:09I don't resist.
01:10I let it carry me after Adrien into death.
01:12I open my eyes again.
01:14Adrien pins me against the wall, crushing my throat.
01:16His eyes blood-red.
01:20The bloodthrall is acting up.
01:22His breath is heavy.
01:23His body aches to get near me, but his will resists.
01:26How dare you!
01:27Just to keep me from marrying Vivienne.
01:29You cursed me with the bloodthrost?
01:31Five years I couldn't sleep without crawling to your door.
01:34My own body betrayed everything I am.
01:36Vivienne.
01:37She's your sister.
01:38You'd watch her walk into her own grave by marrying that...
01:41That thing?
01:41The man Vivienne is meant to marry is the Duke of Ravenhollow Lord Cassian Vyre.
01:45The true power behind the bloodthrall.
01:47His three human brides all died on their wedding notes.
01:50Whispers say he drained them dry.
01:52Two centuries ago, the great war between humans and vampires ended with the Accord.
01:56It decreed vampires may not feed on humans at will.
01:59Any who do would be put to death by the bloodcourt.
02:01The human crown recognizes the bloodcourt's political authority and may not refuse its marriage decrees.
02:06Countless hunters died for this peace.
02:08The greatest sacrifice came from the oldest hunter bloodline.
02:12My family, the Ashvords.
02:13For two centuries, humans and vampire lords have ruled side by side under your core.
02:18Over the years the vampires have recovered their strength.
02:21While the hunter families have steadily declined under restraint.
02:24Now the Duke of Ravenhollow asks our family for a bride.
02:26It is a pure calculated insult.
02:28But if we refuse, humanity can't bear his wrath.
02:31Nor can we bear the price of breaking the treaty first.
02:34Father and mother have no power to fight, only to agree.
02:36But he named no specific daughter.
02:38Any Ashford girl may wed him.
02:40In my past life, I cast the bloodthrall on Adrian.
02:43What I had done could not be undone.
02:45That left only Vivienne to marry the Duke.
02:47Right now, I calmly pull my wrist from his grip.
02:50Vivienne won't marry him.
02:52I will.
02:53This time, I will give you what you want.
02:58Adrian freezes, then scoffs, like he has just heard a cruel joke.
03:02You?
03:04What nonsense.
03:04Do you even hear yourself?
03:06The Duke is a 600-year-old vampire.
03:08He killed his three wives and countless hunters.
03:11All of Ravenhollow fears him.
03:13Every family with a daughter prays to stay out of his sight.
03:16I keep my word.
03:17Seeing how sure I am, Adrian looks away in disgust.
03:20Break this damn curse.
03:21Vivienne is none of your concern.
03:22I will break the bloodthrall and marry the Duke in Vivienne's place.
03:26Adrian laughs again, sharp with mockery.
03:28He taps my shoulder and jerks his hand back in revulsion.
03:31You'd do that out of the goodness of your heart?
03:33What is this, another scheme?
03:35Some new way to torment her?
03:36Scorn fills his face.
03:38Poison laces his voice.
03:39He is all barbs, refusing to let me near.
03:42A sharp pain hits my chest, stealing my breath.
03:44I bury the last trace of my love for him in my eyes, looking straight at him.
03:48You'll have her.
03:49Just wait.
03:50Only seven days left until the Duke's wedding.
03:53By then, the bloodthrall inside us will reach its peak.
03:55The thrall surge will shatter both our miles.
03:58I need to act fast.
04:02I track down the hidden shop beneath gallows.
04:04Lena Black Rose hangs over the door.
04:06It never withers.
04:07Madame Voss sits behind the counter.
04:09She is the witch who helped me cast the spell.
04:11Her single eye gleams in the candlelight.
04:13Another Ashfield girl.
04:15She doesn't even look up.
04:16You hunters always end up at my door eventually.
04:19I tell her what I need.
04:20She pulls a dark red flower from a glass cloche, veins running through its petals like living
04:25flesh, the oblivion bloom.
04:26It can devour the power of the bloodthross.
04:28Madame Voss twirls the stem.
04:30But I only have one.
04:31It breaks the bond for one person.
04:33The other suffers double the backlash.
04:36It doesn't matter.
04:37Tell me how to use it.
04:38Heart's blood.
04:39The blood of the one your heart truly beats for.
04:42Feed it to the flower.
04:44Watch the petals turn from black to red.
04:46Then eat it.
04:48The curse will break.
04:49My heart beats for Adrian.
04:50Adrian's heart beats for Vivienne.
04:52If I hurt Vivienne for her blood, Adrian will probably kill me.
04:55My head pounds with exhaustion.
04:57Yet I don't stop to rest.
04:59Getting on my horse, I ride alone across the moors back to Raven Hollow.
05:02I return to Ashford House.
05:04Adrian is already there.
05:05At once, I hold the oblivion bloom out before him.
05:08I found a way to break the bloodthrall.
05:09Feed this flower with your heart's blood and Vivienne's.
05:12Before I can finish, Adrian strikes my hand away.
05:14The obsidian box hits the ground.
05:16The oblivion bloom rolls out.
05:17It falls into the thick bushes of the black rose garden.
05:22Are you quite finished?
05:24Heart's blood!
05:25Only you could conceive of something so twisted.
05:28You might as well just ask for our lives.
05:32We are the ones under the bloodthrall.
05:34Why do you need Vivienne's blood?
05:37You can't even make your lies sound convincing.
05:39I feel a sudden lurch, like stepping off a cliff.
05:41My throat goes tight and I swallow hard.
05:43My hands drop to my sides.
05:46The bloom drinks from the one your heart beats for.
05:49And yours beats for Vivienne.
05:51I give up trying to explain.
05:53I throw myself into the black rose bushes searching for the oblivion bloom.
05:56Thorns slash my arms and cheek.
05:58The sting comes again and again.
06:00Seeing me bleed, Adrian jumps in after me.
06:03He hauls me to my feet and locks his arms around my waist.
06:05What are you doing?
06:06You've lost your mind.
06:08Every time he touches me, I mistake it for love.
06:10Then Vivienne appears.
06:11And every mistake shatters.
06:13I wrench free of his arms.
06:15As I fall to the ground, my palm lands upon the missing flower.
06:18A soft whimper escapes my throat.
06:20Is it joy or pain?
06:21I can't tell.
06:22Adrian thinks I am insane.
06:24He turns and leaves without a backward glance.
06:26So I have to go to Vivienne first.
06:30The bloodthrall is acting up.
06:32His breath is heavy.
06:33His body aches to get near me, but his will resists.
06:36How dare you!
06:37Just to keep me from marrying Vivienne.
06:39You cursed me with the bloodthrust?
06:41Five years I couldn't sleep without crawling to your door.
06:44My own body betrayed everything I am.
06:46Vivienne.
06:47She's your sister.
06:48You'd watch her walk into her own grave by marrying that… that thing?
06:51The man Vivienne is meant to marry is the Duke of Ravenhollow Lord Cassian Vyre,
06:55the true power behind the blood pool.
06:57His three human brides all died on their wedding notes.
07:00Whispers say he drained them dry.
07:02Two centuries ago, the great war between humans and vampires ended with the Accord.
07:06It decreed vampires may not feed on humans at will.
07:09Any who do would be put to death by the blood court.
07:11The human crown recognizes the blood court's political authority
07:14and may not refuse its marriage decrees.
07:16Countless hunters died for this peace.
07:18The greatest sacrifice came from the oldest hunter bloodline.
07:21My family, the Ashfords.
07:23For two centuries, humans and vampire lords have ruled side by side under your core.
07:28Over the years, the vampires have recovered their strength.
07:31While the hunter families have steadily declined under restraint,
07:33now the Duke of Ravenhollow asks our family for a bride.
07:36It is a pure, calculated insult.
07:38But if we refuse, humanity can't bear his wrath.
07:41Nor can we bear the price of breaking the treaty first.
07:43Father and mother have no power to fight, only to agree.
07:46But he named no specific daughter.
07:48Any Ashford girl may wed him.
07:50In my past life, I cast the blood thrall on Adrian.
07:53What I had done could not be undone.
07:55That left only Vivienne to marry the Duke.
07:57Right now, I calmly pull my wrist from his grip.
08:00Vivienne won't marry him.
08:02I will.
08:03This time, I will give you what you want.
08:08Adrian freezes, then scoffs, like he has just heard a cruel joke.
08:13You? What nonsense. Do you even hear yourself?
08:16The Duke is a 600-year-old vampire.
08:18He killed his three wives and countless hunters.
08:21All of Ravenhollow fears him.
08:22Every family with a daughter prays to stay out of his sight.
08:26I keep my word.
08:27Seeing how sure I am, Adrian looks away in disgust.
08:30Break this damn curse. Vivienne is none of your concern.
08:32I will break the blood thrall and marry the Duke in Vivienne's place.
08:36Adrian laughs again, sharp with mockery.
08:38He taps my shoulder and jerks his hand back in revulsion.
08:40You'd do that out of the goodness of your heart?
08:43What is this, another scheme?
08:45Some new way to torment her?
08:46Scorn fills his face.
08:48Poison laces his voice.
08:49He is all barbs, refusing to let me near.
08:52A sharp pain hits my chest, stealing my breath.
08:54I bury the last trace of my love for him in my eyes, looking straight at him.
08:58You'll have her.
08:59Just wait.
09:00Only seven days left until the Duke's wedding.
09:03By then, the blood thrall inside us will reach its peak.
09:05The thrall surge will shatter both our minds.
09:08I need to act fast.
09:12I track down the hidden shop beneath gallows.
09:14Lena Black Rose hangs over the door.
09:16It never withers.
09:17Madame Vos sits behind the counter.
09:19She is the witch who helped me cast the spell.
09:21Her single eye gleams in the candlelight.
09:23Another Ashfield girl.
09:25She doesn't even look up.
09:26You hunters always end up at my door eventually.
09:29I tell her what I need.
09:30She pulls a dark red flower from a glass cloche,
09:33veins running through its petals like living flesh, the oblivion bloom.
09:36It can devour the power of the blood thross.
09:38Madame Vos twirls the stem.
09:39But I only have one.
09:41It breaks the bond for one person.
09:43The other suffers double the backlash.
09:45It doesn't matter.
09:47Tell me how to use it.
09:48Heart's blood.
09:49The blood of the one your heart truly beats for.
09:52Feed it to the flower.
09:54Watch the petals turn from black to red.
09:56Then eat it.
09:57The curse will break.
09:59My heart beats for Adrienne.
10:00Adrienne's heart beats for Vivienne.
10:02If I hurt Vivienne for her blood,
10:04Adrienne will probably kill me.
10:05My head pounds with exhaustion.
10:07Yet I don't stop to rest.
10:09Getting on my horse,
10:10I ride alone across the moors back to Raven Hollow.
10:12I return to Ashford House.
10:14Adrienne is already there.
10:15At once,
10:16I hold the oblivion bloom out before him.
10:17I found a way to break the blood thrall.
10:19Feed this flower with your heart's blood and Vivienne's.
10:22Before I can finish,
10:23Adrienne strikes my hand away.
10:24The obsidian box hits the ground.
10:26The oblivion bloom rolls out.
10:27It falls into the thick bushes of the black rose garden.
10:32Are you quite finished?
10:34Heart's blood!
10:35Only you could conceive of something so twisted.
10:38You might as well just ask for our lives.
10:42We are the ones under the blood thrall.
10:44Why do you need Vivienne's blood?
10:47You can't even make your lies sound convincing.
10:49I feel a sudden lurch,
10:50like stepping off a cliff.
10:51My throat goes tight and I swallow hard.
10:53My hands drop to my sides.
10:56The bloom drinks from the one your heart beats for.
10:59And yours beats for Vivienne.
11:01I give up trying to explain.
11:03I throw myself into the black rose bushes searching for the oblivion bloom.
11:06Thorns slash my arms and cheek.
11:08The sting comes again and again.
11:10Seeing me bleed,
11:11Adrienne jumps in after me.
11:12He hauls me to my feet and locks his arms around my waist.
11:15What are you doing?
11:16You've lost your mind.
11:17Every time he touches me,
11:19I mistake it for love.
11:20Then Vivienne appears.
11:21And every mistake shatters.
11:23I wrench free of his arms.
11:25As I fall to the ground,
11:26my palm lands upon the missing flower.
11:28A soft whimper escapes my throat.
11:30Is it joy or pain?
11:31I can't tell.
11:32Adrienne thinks I am insane.
11:33He turns and leaves without a backward glance.
11:36So I have to go to Vivienne first.
11:40The night I left my marriage with nothing,
11:42I wandered the streets of New York alone.
11:44A small ad on the side of the road caught my eye.
11:46Room and board included.
11:47That's what got me.
11:48I walked straight into the mansion of Nathan Sterling,
11:50the richest man in New York.
11:51We're locked in a silent battle.
11:53No!
11:53Make her leave!
11:54I don't want her!
11:55They're all bad women!
11:57Relax.
11:57I'm not here to feed you.
11:58I'm feeding Spider-Man.
11:59Eat more.
11:59You need to be full to save the world.
12:01There's a baby Spider-Man here too?
12:03Can you share some of your food with him?
12:05Well, since Spider-Man said so,
12:07I guess you can have a little.
12:08As I said this,
12:09Luca came over and grabbed my right hand.
12:11Three days after my divorce,
12:12I was married again.
12:13The night I left my marriage with nothing,
12:15I wandered the streets of New York alone.
12:17A small ad on the side of the road caught my eye.
12:22Room and board included.
12:24That's what got me.
12:25That same night,
12:26I dragged my suitcase to the address on the ad.
12:28I walked straight into the mansion of Nathan Sterling,
12:30the richest man in New York.
12:33Mr. Sterling is looking for a mother for his child.
12:37Not a wife for himself.
12:38I need you to be very clear on that.
12:39Mr. Sterling is an exceptional man.
12:42Don't get any ideas.
12:44I kept my head slightly down,
12:45eyes forward.
12:46Honestly,
12:47this job was perfect for me.
12:48To put it simply,
12:49they just needed a high-end nanny.
12:50I had only gotten divorced that morning.
12:52Remarriage?
12:53Couldn't be further from my mind.
12:54I nodded respectfully.
12:56I understand I won't get any ideas.
12:58You have my word.
12:59But taking care of a kid and having a roof was a lifeline for me.
13:02George gave a curt nod and led me to the dining room.
13:05At a massive long table,
13:06a young father and his son were locked in a silent battle.
13:10He man sat there holding a bowl and a spoon,
13:12his expression dark.
13:13Just one bite.
13:15Luca.
13:15One tiny bite.
13:17Can you do that for me?
13:21Sir, another applicant is here.
13:23This one seems honest.
13:25That face?
13:26I'd seen it on the cover of Forbes before.
13:28Unfairly handsome.
13:29The kind of face you don't forget.
13:31What's your name?
13:32Claire Bennett.
13:33Give it a try.
13:38So this was the job interview.
13:40I had to nail this.
13:41If I could stay,
13:43at least I wouldn't be sleeping on the street tonight.
13:45I put on what I hoped was a warm,
13:47motherly smile and walked toward the boy.
13:55No, make her leave!
13:56I don't want her!
13:57They're all bad women!
14:00So before me,
14:01this kid had already been through who knows how many stepmoms.
14:04Relax.
14:04I'm not here to feed you.
14:05I'm feeding Spider-Man.
14:06You're fine.
14:07Eat more.
14:08You need to be full to save the world.
14:09Kids who don't eat are too weak.
14:11Can't even protect themselves,
14:12let alone own all of humanity.
14:15Oh, you want the potatoes?
14:16The boy lay there looking dejected.
14:18Potatoes give you strike.
14:19But I pretended not to see.
14:21Not until his nose turned red
14:22and his eyes got watery
14:23did I act like I just spotted him.
14:24There's a baby Spider-Man here too?
14:27Peter Parker,
14:28can you share some of your food with him?
14:30He needs to eat
14:31so he can grow up big and strong like you.
14:34Sure.
14:36Well, since Spider-Man said so,
14:38I guess you can have a little,
14:40but don't eat too much, okay?
14:41If you get stronger than him,
14:43he'll be sad.
14:55That night I stayed in the villa.
14:57Luca and I were on the second floor.
14:59Nathan Sterling had the third floor to himself.
15:03You are never to go up to the third floor.
15:05A woman once snuck up
15:06to climb into Mr. Sterling's bed
15:07in the middle of the night
15:08and was thrown out the window.
15:11I won't, I promise.
15:14Luca was only four,
15:15but he could already sleep in his own room.
15:17That made my work a lot easier.
15:22Claire, let's talk.
15:24Sure, Mr. Stalin.
15:26You're good with kids?
15:28Have you had any of your own?
15:30No, but I helped look
15:31after my ex-husband's sister's kids
15:33for two years.
15:34Back then,
15:35my ex's family thought
15:36I didn't make enough money,
15:37so they made me quit my job.
15:38After I quit,
15:39they said I was lazy
15:40and had nothing to do.
15:41So they fired the sister's nanny
15:43and made me take over.
15:45You're divorced, why?
15:47We came from different worlds.
15:51You know,
15:52I need to find a mother for Luca.
15:53He has no sense of security.
15:55He won't leave the house,
15:56won't go to preschool.
15:57I'm busy with work,
15:58so I need someone patient
15:59to be his mother.
16:00I'll have you sign a prenup.
16:02Everything stays separate.
16:04I understand.
16:07Rich people are all like this.
16:09My first marriage was for love,
16:11but because the gap
16:12between our families was too big,
16:13I signed a prenup too.
16:14So when the love ran out
16:15and we divorced,
16:16I had nothing left,
16:17not even my wedding ring,
16:18let alone someone like Nathan,
16:19a man at the very top.
16:20Of course he'd be careful
16:21about marriage.
16:22Honestly,
16:23I'd be happy
16:24just having a place to stay.
16:25We don't have to make it official.
16:26The marriage is for Luca.
16:27I want him to have
16:28a long-term mother.
16:29And marriage is the
16:30strongest contract there is.
16:31Then we'll do it your way.
16:33Don't worry.
16:34I'll give you $50,000 a month
16:35for personal spending.
16:38Mr. Sterling,
16:39can I ask,
16:40if we divorce someday,
16:41can I keep the money
16:42you've given me?
16:43Of course.
16:44That money is yours.
16:46Okay then.
16:47I don't have any needs
16:48in our sex life right now,
16:49so you'll stay
16:50on the second floor.
16:50Okay,
16:51I don't either.
16:52Just like that,
16:52three days after my divorce,
16:54I was married again.
16:55Same as the first time,
16:56no wedding.
16:59Take this.
17:01No need.
17:03For Luca.
17:04Oh,
17:05okay,
17:06thank you for your ring.
17:13What's wrong?
17:15Claire,
17:15can you read me
17:16a bedtime story?
17:18I'll get my dad
17:19to pay you more,
17:19but if you don't want to,
17:21that's fine.
17:22Come here.
17:26That night,
17:27Luca fell asleep
17:27in my bed after his book.
17:29The next morning,
17:30when Nathan heard,
17:30he was genuinely surprised.
17:32Claire,
17:33thank you.
17:34I'll add $10,000 a month.
17:35Mr. Sterling,
17:36that's way too much.
17:38It really was.
17:39In my last marriage,
17:40I did so much more than this.
17:42During the day,
17:43I watched my ex's sister's kids.
17:45At night,
17:45I cooked for my ex,
17:46satisfying his needs in bed,
17:48then got up in the middle of the night
17:49to clean the house.
17:53It's not like we can't afford a maid.
17:55But Claire just sitting all day
17:57doing nothing,
17:57that doesn't seem right.
17:59Even after all that,
18:00when we divorced,
18:01they said I'd been living the good life
18:02for three years.
18:03And they sent me out with nothing.
18:08Mr. Sterling,
18:08that's too much.
18:09This is just what I should be doing.
18:11As I said this,
18:12Luca came over and grabbed my right hand.
18:13The women came before you
18:15only cared about pleasing me,
18:16ignoring Luca's feelings.
18:17The extra $10,000 is settled.
18:20Thank you, Mr. Sterling.
18:22From that day on,
18:23Luca was glued to me.
18:24Nathan was busy,
18:25so most of the time,
18:26it was just the two of us at home.
18:28I tried my best to play with him
18:29and made him happy every day.
18:31When he got scared,
18:32I held him tightly
18:32and comforted him gently.
18:34But he still didn't want to leave the villa
18:35until the day I needed to go to the hospital
18:37for a follow-up.
18:39Wait for me at home?
18:40I'll be back soon.
18:41He grabbed my hand
18:43and wouldn't let go.
18:44He didn't say anything.
18:45Just looked up at me
18:46with those big, sad eyes.
18:50He's afraid you'll leave
18:51and not come back.
18:53I'm not leaving.
18:54I'll be back after my appointment
18:55and then we'll read together.
18:56You play by yourself
18:57for a little while?
19:03Luca,
19:04you want to go to the hospital with Claire?
19:09My God!
19:10He is finally willing
19:11to leave the house!
19:17The night I left my marriage with nothing,
19:19I wandered the streets of New York alone.
19:21A small ad on the side of the road
19:22caught my eye.
19:26Room and board included.
19:28That's what got me.
19:29That same night,
19:29I dragged my suitcase
19:30to the address on the ad.
19:31I walked straight into the mansion
19:33of Nathan Sterling,
19:34the richest man in New York.
19:37Mr. Sterling is looking
19:38for a mother for his child.
19:41Not a wife for himself,
19:42I need you to be very clear on that.
19:43Mr. Sterling is an exceptional man.
19:46Don't get any ideas.
19:47I kept my head slightly down,
19:49eyes forward.
19:50Honestly,
19:50this job was perfect for me.
19:52To put it simply,
19:53they just needed a high-end nanny.
19:54I had only gotten divorced that morning.
19:56Remarriage?
19:56Couldn't be further from my mind.
19:58I nodded respectfully.
19:59I understand I won't get any ideas.
20:02You have my word.
20:03But taking care of a kid
20:04and having a roof
20:05was a lifeline for me.
20:06George gave a curt nod
20:07and led me to the dining room.
20:09At a massive long table,
20:10a young father and his son
20:11were locked in a silent battle.
20:14He mansat there
20:15holding a bowl and a spoon,
20:16his expression dark.
20:17Just one bite.
20:18Luca.
20:19One tiny bite.
20:21Can you do that for me?
20:25Sir, another applicant is here.
20:27This one seems honest.
20:28That face?
20:29I'd seen it on the cover
20:30of Forbes before.
20:31Unfairly handsome.
20:32The kind of face
20:33you don't forget.
20:34What's your name?
20:36Claire Bennett.
20:37Give it a try.
20:42So this was the job interview.
20:44I had to nail this.
20:45If I could stay,
20:46at least I wouldn't be sleeping
20:48on the street tonight.
20:49I put on what I hoped
20:50was a warm, motherly smile
20:51and walked toward the boy.
20:58No!
20:59Make her leave!
21:00I don't want her!
21:01They're all bad women!
21:04So before me,
21:05this kid had already been
21:05through who knows
21:06how many stepmoms.
21:08Relax.
21:08I'm not here to feed you.
21:09I'm feeding Spider-Man.
21:10You're fine.
21:11Eat more.
21:11You need to be full
21:12to save the world.
21:13Kids who don't eat
21:14are too weak.
21:15Can't even protect themselves,
21:16let alone own
21:17all of humanity.
21:18Oh, you want the potatoes?
21:20The boy lay there
21:20looking dejected.
21:22Potatoes give you strike.
21:23But I pretended
21:23not to see.
21:24Not until his nose
21:25turned red
21:26and his eyes got watery
21:27did I act like
21:27I just spotted him.
21:28There's a baby
21:29Spider-Man here too?
21:30Peter Parker,
21:31can you share
21:32some of your food with him?
21:34He needs to eat
21:35so he can grow up
21:35big and strong like you.
21:37Sure.
21:39Well, since Spider-Man
21:41said so,
21:42I guess you can have a little,
21:43but don't eat too much, okay?
21:45If you get stronger than him,
21:46he'll be sad.
21:59That night,
21:59I stayed in the villa.
22:01Luca and I
22:01were on the second floor.
22:02Nathan Sterling
22:03had the third floor
22:04to himself.
22:06You are never
22:07to go up to the third floor.
22:09A woman once
22:09snuck up to climb
22:10into Mr. Sterling's bed
22:11in the middle of the night
22:12and was thrown out the window.
22:15I won't,
22:16I promise.
22:17Luca was only four,
22:19but he could already
22:19sleep in his own room.
22:21That made my work
22:22a lot easier.
22:26Claire,
22:27let's talk.
22:28Sure, Mr. Sterling.
22:30You're good with kids.
22:32Have you had any of your own?
22:33No,
22:34but I helped look
22:35after my ex-husband's
22:36sister's kids
22:37for two years.
22:38Back then,
22:39my ex's family
22:39thought I didn't make
22:40enough money,
22:40so they made me quit my job.
22:42After I quit,
22:43they said I was lazy
22:44and had nothing to do,
22:45so they fired the sister's nanny
22:46and made me take over.
22:49You're divorced.
22:49Why?
22:51We came from
22:51different worlds.
22:55You know,
22:56I need to find a mother
22:56for Luca.
22:57He has no sense
22:58of security.
22:59He won't leave the house,
23:00won't go to preschool.
23:01I'm busy with work,
23:02so I need someone
23:02patient to be his mother.
23:04I'll have you sign a prenup.
23:06Everything stays separate.
23:08I understand.
23:11Rich people are all like this.
23:13My first marriage
23:14was for love,
23:14but because the gap
23:15between our families
23:16was too big,
23:17I signed a prenup too,
23:18so when the love ran out
23:19and we divorced,
23:19I had nothing left,
23:21not even my wedding ring,
23:22let alone someone like Nathan,
23:23a man at the very top.
23:24Of course he'd be careful
23:25about marriage.
23:26Honestly,
23:27I'd be happy
23:27just having a place to stay.
23:28We don't have to make it official.
23:30The marriage is for Luca.
23:31I want him to have
23:31a long-term mother,
23:32and marriage is
23:33the strongest contract there is.
23:35Then we'll do it your way.
23:37Don't worry.
23:38I'll give you
23:38$50,000 a month
23:39for personal spending.
23:42Mr. Sterling,
23:43can I ask,
23:43if we divorce someday,
23:45can I keep the money
23:46you've given me?
23:47Of course.
23:48That money is yours.
23:49Okay, then.
23:50I don't have any needs
23:51in our sex life right now,
23:53so you'll stay
23:53on the second floor.
23:54Okay.
23:55I don't either.
23:55Just like that,
23:56three days after my divorce,
23:57I was married again.
23:58Same as the first time,
24:00no wedding.
24:02Take this.
24:05No need.
24:06For Luca.
24:08Oh, okay.
24:09Thank you for your ring.
24:17What's wrong?
24:18Claire,
24:19can you read me
24:20a bedtime story?
24:21I'll get my dad
24:22to pay you more,
24:23but if you don't want to,
24:24that's fine.
24:25Come here.
24:29That night,
24:30Luca fell asleep
24:31in my bed after his book.
24:32The next morning,
24:33when Nathan heard,
24:34he was genuinely surprised.
24:36Claire,
24:37thank you.
24:38I'll add $10,000 a month.
24:39Mr. Sterling,
24:40that's way too much.
24:42It really was.
24:43In my last marriage,
24:44I did so much more than this.
24:46During the day,
24:46I watched my ex's sister's kids.
24:48At night,
24:49I cooked for my ex,
24:50satisfying his needs in bed,
24:51then got up in the middle of the night
24:53to clean the house.
24:57It's not like we can't afford a maid.
24:59But Claire just sitting all day
25:00doing nothing,
25:01that doesn't seem right.
25:03Even after all that,
25:04when we divorced,
25:05they said I'd been living the good life
25:06for three years.
25:07And they sent me out with nothing.
25:11Mr. Sterling,
25:12that's too much.
25:13This is just what I should be doing.
25:14As I said this,
25:15Luca came over
25:16and grabbed my right hand.
25:17The women came before you
25:18only cared about pleasing me,
25:20ignoring Luca's feelings.
25:21The extra $10,000 is settled.
25:24Thank you,
25:24Mr. Sterling.
25:25From that day on,
25:26Luca was glued to me.
25:28Nathan was busy,
25:29so most of the time,
25:30it was just the two of us at home.
25:32I tried my best to play with him
25:33and made him happy every day.
25:34When he got scared,
25:35I held him tightly
25:36and comforted him gently.
25:37But he still didn't want
25:38to leave the villa
25:39until the day I needed
25:40to go to the hospital
25:41for a follow-up.
25:43Wait for me at home?
25:44I'll be back soon.
25:45He grabbed my hand
25:46and wouldn't let go.
25:47He didn't say anything.
25:49Just looked up at me
25:50with those big, sad eyes.
25:54He's afraid you'll leave
25:55and not come back.
25:56I'm not leaving.
25:57I'll be back after my appointment
25:59and then we'll read together.
26:00You play by yourself
26:01for a little while?
26:07Luca,
26:07you want to go
26:08to the hospital with Claire?
26:13My God!
26:14He is finally willing
26:15to leave the house!
26:18Eight years ago,
26:19I was the best
26:20salvage diver
26:20on the coast.
26:21Then they called me
26:22a murderer.
26:23I spent eight years
26:23in prison,
26:24but I didn't kill Zach.
26:25Jasmine went down
26:26two hours ago!
26:27She still hasn't
26:28come back up!
26:29Go get your sister!
26:30She's not my sister.
26:31My ears are damaged.
26:32The pressure could kill me.
26:33Five million.
26:34That should cover one dive.
26:35Eight years ago,
26:36Jasmine saved my life
26:38and I married you!
26:39You got that scar saving me
26:40for me
26:41and for yourself.
26:42That scar?
26:43She got it after
26:44I saved both of you.
26:45Ten years ago,
26:46we found the dive site!
26:47Eight years ago,
26:48I was the best
26:48salvage diver
26:49on the coast.
26:50Then they called me
26:51a murderer.
26:52They said I cut my dive
26:53partner Zach's air hose
26:54for gold from a sunken wreck.
26:55I spent eight years
26:56in prison,
26:57but I didn't kill Zach.
26:58Jasmine did.
26:59That morning,
27:00I was getting
27:00fresh at the dock.
27:01My mother ran toward me.
27:03Elena!
27:05Jasmine went down
27:06two hours ago!
27:07She still hasn't
27:07come back up!
27:08Go get your sister!
27:11She's not my sister.
27:13And I can't dive anymore.
27:15My ears are damaged.
27:16The pressure could kill me.
27:19Severe eardrum damage.
27:20Deep pressure exposure
27:21could be fatal.
27:22I'm not refusing
27:23to save her!
27:24I'm telling you
27:24I could die!
27:26Adrian Lane
27:26stepped out of a black car.
27:28My ex-husband.
27:29He held my old
27:30wedding ring.
27:31Bring Jasmine back.
27:32If you save her,
27:33I'll marry you again.
27:35I'm not going.
27:39You're going down
27:40stroll,
27:41whether you want to
27:41or not.
27:43My father
27:44snatched the report
27:45and threw it
27:45into the fish blood.
27:46Prison taught you
27:47nothing.
27:48You're still heartless.
27:50Five million.
27:51That should cover
27:52one dive.
27:54Isn't she that murderer?
27:55Her sister is dying
27:56and she's talking
27:57about money?
27:58For eight years,
27:59Adrian never visited me.
28:00Now he came
28:01to pay me to die.
28:05No.
28:09You are going down today
28:10or I'll make sure
28:11the whole city
28:11knows one thing.
28:12You let another person die.
28:14Oh.
28:15You are my daughter
28:17and you won't even
28:18save your own sister.
28:20Recorder.
28:22I ran.
28:23Behind me,
28:24Adrian shouted.
28:25Whoever finds
28:25Elena Cole,
28:26I'll pay one million dollars.
28:29Bring her back.
28:30Now.
28:32I ran back to my rental.
28:34My phone kept buzzing.
28:41I turn on the video.
28:42My mother was crying
28:44on camera.
28:45Elena killed a man once.
28:46Now poor Jasmine
28:48is trapped underwater.
28:49Elena can save her
28:50but she ran.
28:51If anyone knows
28:52where Elena is,
28:53tell me.
28:54I'll pay one million dollars.
28:56Find her.
28:56She thinks she can hide.
28:58Elena Cole,
28:59come out.
28:59Elena Cole,
29:00come out.
29:01Come out.
29:04Come out.
29:08Apologize.
29:09Say you left Jasmine to die.
29:13I didn't kill anyone.
29:17If she won't walk,
29:19drag her.
29:20Dad, I could die.
29:23Jasmine may not be my blood
29:25but she is a better daughter
29:26than you ever will.
29:31Elena,
29:32don't make this worse.
29:34Jasmine is almost
29:35out of oxygen.
29:37If Jasmine dies,
29:38I will never forgive you.
29:45Take her to the boat.
29:50Bring Jasmine back.
29:51You kidnapped me.
29:53If you save her,
29:54I'll marry you again.
29:55My hearing aid was gone.
29:56It lay on the deck.
29:57Cracked.
29:58Barely working.
29:59I crawled toward it.
30:00Adrian stepped on it.
30:01Your sister is dying
30:02and you care about
30:03this piece of junk?
30:04I need it to hear.
30:06Oh my God.
30:07You can hear me right now.
30:09Eight years ago,
30:10Jasmine saved my life
30:11and I married you.
30:13You already owe her.
30:14Now you still refuse
30:15to save her?
30:16How can a woman
30:17be this cruel?
30:19You're her sister.
30:20You're my ex-wife.
30:21Didn't you see
30:21the scar on her shoulder?
30:23She got that scar saving me.
30:24For me
30:24and for yourself,
30:26you should go down there
30:27and bring Jasmine back.
30:27That scar?
30:28She got it
30:29after I saved both of you.
30:30Ten years ago,
30:31the current dragged
30:32Adrian under.
30:33I pushed Adrian back
30:34to the surface.
30:35Then I pushed Jasmine up too.
30:37I was the one
30:37left underwater.
30:39Three days later,
30:40Jasmine stole my story
30:41and Adrian believed her.
30:42He grabbed my chin.
30:44What the hell
30:44is wrong with you?
30:46Even now,
30:46you're still trying
30:47to smear your sister?
30:48Do you even have a heart?
30:50Hey!
30:51We found the dive site!
30:54My father snatched the report
30:56and threw it
30:57into the fish blood.
30:57Prison taught you nothing.
30:59You're still heartless.
31:01Five million.
31:02That should cover one dive.
31:05Isn't she that murderer?
31:07Her sister is dying
31:08and she's talking about money?
31:09For eight years,
31:10Adrian never visited me.
31:11Now he came to pay me to die.
31:16No.
31:20You are going down today
31:21or I'll make sure
31:22the whole city knows one thing.
31:24You let another person die.
31:26Oh!
31:26You are my daughter
31:28and you won't even
31:30save your own sister!
31:32Recorder!
31:33I ran.
31:34Behind me,
31:35Adrian shouted,
31:36whoever finds
31:37Elena Cole,
31:37I'll pay one million dollars.
31:40Bring her back.
31:41Now!
31:43I ran back to my rental.
31:45My phone kept buzzing.
31:52I turn on the video.
31:54My mother was crying on camera.
31:56Elena killed a man once!
31:58Now poor Jasmine
31:59is trapped underwater.
32:00Elena can save her,
32:02but she ran!
32:03If anyone knows
32:04where Elena is,
32:04tell me!
32:05I'll pay one million dollars!
32:07Find her.
32:07She thinks she can hide?
32:09Elena Cole!
32:10Come out!
32:16Elena Cole!
32:19Apologize.
32:20Say you left Jasmine to die.
32:24I didn't kill anyone!
32:28If she won't walk,
32:30drag her.
32:31Dad, I could die!
32:34Jasmine may not be my blood,
32:36but she is a better daughter
32:38than you ever will.
32:42Elena,
32:43don't make this worse.
32:45Jasmine is almost out of oxygen!
32:48If Jasmine dies,
32:49I will never forgive you.
32:56Take her to the boat.
33:01Bring Jasmine back.
33:02You kidnapped me!
33:04If you save her,
33:05I'll marry you again.
33:06My hearing aid was gone.
33:07It lay on the deck.
33:08Cracked.
33:09Barely working.
33:10I crawled toward it.
33:11Adrian stepped on it.
33:12Your sister is dying,
33:13and you care about this piece of junk?
33:15I need it to hear.
33:17Oh my God!
33:18You can hear me right now!
33:20Eight years ago,
33:21Jasmine saved my life!
33:23And I married you!
33:24You already owe her!
33:25Now you still refuse to save her?
33:27How can a woman be this cruel?
33:30You're her sister.
33:31You're my ex-wife.
33:32Didn't you see the scar on her shoulder?
33:34She got that scar saving me.
33:35For me,
33:36and for yourself,
33:37you should go down there
33:38and bring Jasmine back.
33:39That scar?
33:39She got it after I saved both of you.
33:41Ten years ago,
33:42the current dragged Adrian under.
33:44I pushed Adrian back to the surface.
33:46Then I pushed Jasmine up too.
33:48I was the one left underwater.
33:50Three days later,
33:51Jasmine stole my story,
33:52and Adrian believed her.
33:54He grabbed my chin.
33:55What the hell is wrong with you?
33:57Even now,
33:58you're still trying to smear your sister?
33:59Do you even have a heart?
34:01Hey!
34:02We found the dive site!
34:07It was the day of the rite again,
34:09and he had his arm around my sister's waist.
34:12She thought she'd won.
34:13It's a slow execution.
34:15I swam.
34:16The sacred wreath was burning hard when I arrived.
34:18Then Thessaly pointed at me.
34:20Ash everywhere!
34:22Burned scales!
34:23It had to be her!
34:24Not one of them spoke for me.
34:26The sea serpent spoke again,
34:27quieter this time.
34:29Enough.
34:29The girl comes with me.
34:30This scene is exactly as it was in my previous life.
34:34The sky outside has turned the color of a wound.
34:37The shark lord stands before us in his full power,
34:40in surface form.
34:41But how could it be Thessaly in his arms?
34:43In my previous life,
34:45on the day of the title covenant rite,
34:46my sister chose the lionfish fae.
34:48She left the whale shifter,
34:50the one nobody wanted for me.
34:52It was fate.
34:54A drift born for a beast.
34:56Instead,
34:57I saved a shark lord by accident.
34:59He took me as his queen.
35:01After the bonding,
35:02I bore five airs for the shark bloodline.
35:04My sister,
35:05bonded to the lionfish fae,
35:07was cast out for barrenness.
35:09And I woke.
35:10It was the day of the rite again.
35:11Everyone present is a worthy son of their bloodline.
35:14Choose freely.
35:15The hall filled with glances,
35:17with offered flowers,
35:19with quiet negotiations between bodies and bloodlines.
35:22I didn't want any of it.
35:24Then the doors blew open.
35:25He arrived in a surge of volcanic current.
35:28A shark lord in his full power.
35:31And he had his arm around my sister's waist.
35:34Thessaly saved my life.
35:35From this day forward,
35:36she is my true mate.
35:37A shark lord choosing one of ours.
35:40Choosing her as first and only.
35:42It hadn't happened in living memory.
35:44I knew then.
35:45She'd been reborn too.
35:47Now I looked at her,
35:48draped against the shark lord,
35:50already victorious.
35:51She thought she'd won.
35:53She hadn't thought through what it would cost her.
35:55Shark lords are of the volcanic current element.
35:57Their mates sleep in volcanic current.
36:00Bathe in volcanic current.
36:01Eat volcanic current food.
36:03For a bloodline like ours,
36:05deep current by nature,
36:06that's not a marriage.
36:08It's a slow execution.
36:09Last time I had no choice but to pretend to like it.
36:12Every day.
36:12I smiled through the sacred thermal vent walks.
36:15Through the scalding baths.
36:17Through the meals that felt like swallowing coals.
36:19By the time I was pregnant,
36:21my core was already cracked.
36:22Thessaly was deep current too.
36:24She just didn't know what she'd agreed to yet.
36:27The whole keep celebrated.
36:29Every unmated girl in the order delayed her own bonding
36:32to help prepare Thessaly's.
36:33The gift list ran ten feet long.
36:36The high warden nearly emptied the sanctuary's vault.
36:39I was the only unmated woman left.
36:41That made me the obvious choice for handmaid.
36:44Thessaly stood over me and smiled.
36:47Before you were the elder,
36:48I deferred to you.
36:49How does this feel, sister?
36:50I said nothing.
36:51She stepped forward and struck my face.
36:53The high warden has already agreed.
36:55You belong to me now.
36:57I'll hit you when I want.
36:58Praise you when I want.
36:59You have no say.
37:01Start learning.
37:02A courier arrived from the shark lord.
37:04A volcanic silk mantle,
37:06white as seafoam,
37:07heat-resistant,
37:08enchanted for speed.
37:09Thessaly touched it with both hands.
37:12I knew that mantle.
37:13For volcanic current bloodlines,
37:15it was a treasure.
37:16For deep current bloodlines,
37:18it was a punishment.
37:18I'd worn it every day of my first marriage.
37:22It had carved away at my core for years.
37:24Thessaly would find that out eventually.
37:26Then a girl came swimming fast.
37:28Volcanic current damage on the sacred wreath!
37:30What an awful omen.
37:31Today of all days.
37:34I didn't wait.
37:35I swam.
37:36The sacred wreath was burning hard when I arrived.
37:39Black clouds of silt.
37:40Screaming from inside the coral night.
37:42The Covenant Warden stood at the edge
37:44and wouldn't move.
37:45That volcanic current belongs to a shark lord.
37:47We interfere.
37:48We offend him.
37:49One of them said.
37:50Your sister's bonding is today.
37:52Don't make trouble.
37:53They're only low-rank Falilius.
37:54I looked at him for a long moment.
37:56Then I went in.
37:58The silt blinded me fast.
38:00The thermal current scorched my scales.
38:02But I was deep current.
38:03Wherever I moved,
38:04cold spread behind me.
38:06It slowed the thermal currents enough to matter.
38:08I remembered what my foster mother taught me.
38:10Clear a line.
38:11Deny the thermal current somewhere to go.
38:13I tide shifted to full form and called out.
38:16Shark.
38:17Manta ray.
38:18Swordfish.
38:18Sea turd they came.
38:20They carried cold hardy vessels in their jaws.
38:22A whale used its mouth.
38:24Sea urchins and mantis shrimp worked the thermal breaks.
38:27We were boozing.
38:28Then we weren't.
38:29Then the reef shook.
38:31The seabeds split open.
38:33A sea serpent came out of that black.
38:35Ancient Marjana took Glock the light from above.
38:38He opened his mouth and cold water poured.
38:40The thermal current died.
38:42The sea serpent's voice didn't come from one direction.
38:45This reef is mine.
38:47Who damaged it?
38:49The covenant wardens said nothing.
38:51A thousand tidal cycles in this valley.
38:54And nobody had thought to check whether something older already lived here.
38:57Then Thessaly pointed at me.
38:58Look at her.
39:00Ash everywhere.
39:01Burned scales.
39:02It had to be her.
39:03Every eye turned.
39:04I was standing there with my hands at my sides.
39:07Charred.
39:07Bleeding in two places.
39:08The same hands that had just spent an hour fighting the thermal current.
39:12I was certain someone would say it.
39:14Any of them.
39:15They'd all see me swim in.
39:16The covenant warden looked at me for a long time.
39:19Then he bowed.
39:21The sea rank and sovereign.
39:22Our wayward daughter did this.
39:24She is yours to punish.
39:25We offer her freely.
39:26I stood still.
39:27Not one of them spoke for me.
39:29I had bent myself in half for these people in my last life.
39:32I had scalded from volcanic current.
39:35From the inside out.
39:37Carrying children for a clan that wasn't mine.
39:40For a man who never once made me warm.
39:43I'd done it for them.
39:44Kept them safe.
39:46Kept them proud.
39:47And now.
39:47They were handing me to a sea serpent.
39:50Just to buy themselves quiet.
39:52I looked at the covenant warden.
39:53The volcanic current was shark made.
39:55Everyone here knows that.
39:57I'm deep current.
39:59How would I produce sacred thermal current?
40:01Thessaly cut in immediately.
40:03You're my handmaid.
40:04You had access to my husband's tide brands.
40:06Easy enough to steal a spark.
40:08Sea serpent sovereign.
40:09The evidence speaks for itself.
40:10She damaged your sacred wreath.
40:12I held up my hands.
40:13The skin had peeled back in places.
40:15If I started it.
40:17Why did I try to stop it?
40:19To look innocent.
40:23I laughed.
40:24It came out wrong.
40:25Too much feeling in it.
40:27What do I have to gain?
40:28Any of it.
40:29What exactly do you think I wanted?
40:32The covenant warden stood.
40:34Sylvain.
40:35Just admit it.
40:36That was my name.
40:38Sylvain.
40:38I looked at him for a long moment.
40:40I'm done with this covenant.
40:42All of it.
40:43Every debt between us is settled.
40:45The sea serpent spoke again.
40:47Quieter this time.
40:48Enough.
40:49The girl comes with me.
40:51Whatever she is to you, she isn't anymore.
40:53The darkness rolled toward me.
40:55I closed my eyes.
40:56I closed my eyes.
40:59This scene is exactly as it was in my previous life.
41:02The sky outside has turned the color of a wound.
41:05The shark lord stands before us in his full power.
41:08In surface form.
41:09But how could it be Thessaly in his arms?
41:12In my previous life, on the day of the title covenant rite, my sister chose the lionfish
41:16fae.
41:17She left the whale shifter.
41:19The one nobody wanted for me.
41:21It was fate.
41:22A drift born for a beast.
41:24Instead, I saved a shark lord by accident.
41:27He took me as his queen.
41:29After the bonding, I bore five airs for the shark bloodline.
41:33My sister, bonded to the lionfish fae, was cast out for barrenness.
41:37And I woke.
41:38It was the day of the rite again.
41:40Everyone present is a worthy son of their bloodline.
41:43Choose freely.
41:44The hall filled with glances.
41:46With offered flowers.
41:47With quiet negotiations between bodies and bloodlines.
41:51I didn't want any of it.
41:52Then the doors blew open.
41:54He arrived in a surge of volcanic current.
41:57A shark lord, in his full power.
41:59And he had his arm around my sister's waist.
42:02Thessaly saved my life.
42:03From this day forward, she is my true mate.
42:06A shark lord, choosing one of ours.
42:08Choosing her as first and only.
42:11It hadn't happened in living memory.
42:13I knew then.
42:14She'd been reborn too.
42:15Now I looked at her, draped against the shark lord.
42:18Already victorious.
42:19She thought she'd won.
42:21She hadn't thought through what it would cost her.
42:23Shark lords are of the volcanic current element.
42:26Their mates sleep in volcanic current.
42:28Bathe in volcanic current.
42:30Eat volcanic current food.
42:32For a bloodline like ours.
42:33Deep current by nature.
42:35That's not a marriage.
42:36It's a slow execution.
42:37Last time I had no choice but to pretend to like it.
42:40Every day.
42:41I smiled through the sacred thermal vent walks.
42:44Through the scalding baths.
42:45Through the meals that felt like swallowing coals.
42:47By the time I was pregnant, my core was already cracked.
42:51Thessaly was deep current too.
42:52She just didn't know what she'd agreed to yet.
42:55The whole keep celebrated.
42:57Every unmated girl in the order delayed her own bonding to help prepare Thessaly's.
43:02The gift list ran ten feet long.
43:04The high warden nearly emptied the sanctuary's vaults.
43:07I was the only unmated woman left.
43:10That made me the obvious choice for handmaid.
43:13Thessaly stood over me and smiled.
43:15Before you were the elder, I deferred to you.
43:17How does this feel, sister?
43:19I said nothing.
43:19She stepped forward and struck my face.
43:21The high warden has already agreed.
43:23You belong to me now.
43:25I'll hit you when I want.
43:26Praise you when I want.
43:28You have no say.
43:29Start learning.
43:30A courier arrived from the shark lord.
43:32A volcanic silk mantle.
43:34White as seafoam.
43:35Heat resistant.
43:36Enchanted for speed.
43:38Thessaly touched it with both hands.
43:40I knew that mantle.
43:42For volcanic current bloodlines, it was a treasure.
43:44For deep current bloodlines, it was a punishment.
43:47I'd worn it every day of my first marriage.
43:50It had carved away at my core for years.
43:53Thessaly would find that out eventually.
43:55Then a girl came swimming fast.
43:56Volcanic current damage on the sacred wreath!
43:58What an awful omen.
44:00Today of all days.
44:02I didn't wait.
44:03I swam.
44:04The sacred wreath was burning hard when I arrived.
44:07Black clouds of silt.
44:09Screaming from inside the coral light.
44:11The covenant warden stood at the edge and wouldn't move.
44:13That volcanic current belongs to a shark lord.
44:16We interfere.
44:17We offend him.
44:17One of them said.
44:18Your sister's bonding is today.
44:20Don't make trouble.
44:21They're only low-rank phaliliives.
44:23I looked at him for a long moment.
44:25Then I went in.
44:26The silt blinded me fast.
44:28The thermal current scorched my scales.
44:30But I was deep current.
44:32Wherever I moved, cold spread behind me.
44:34It slowed the thermal currents enough to matter.
44:36I remembered what my foster mother taught me.
44:39Clear a line.
44:40Deny the thermal current somewhere to go.
44:42I tide shifted to full form and called out.
44:45Shark.
44:45Manta ray.
44:46Swordfish.
44:47Sea turd they came.
44:48They carried cold hardy vessels in their jaws.
44:51A whale used its mouth.
44:52Sea urchins and mantis shrimp worked the thermal breaks.
44:55We were boozy.
44:56Then we weren't.
44:57Then the wreath shook.
44:59The seabeds split open.
45:01A sea serpent came out back black.
45:03Ancient Marjana took block the light from above.
45:06He opened his mouth and cold water poured.
45:09The thermal current died.
45:11The sea serpent's voice didn't come from one direction.
45:14This wreath is mine.
45:16Who damaged it?
45:18The covenant wardens said nothing.
45:20A thousand tidal cycles in this valley.
45:22And nobody had thought to check whether something older already lived here.
45:25Then Thessaly pointed at me.
45:27Look at her.
45:28Ash everywhere.
45:30Burned scales.
45:31It had to be her.
45:32Every eye turned.
45:33I was standing there with my hands at my sides.
45:35Charred.
45:36Bleeding in two places.
45:37The same hands that had just spent an hour fighting the thermal current.
45:40I was certain someone would say it.
45:42Any of them.
45:43They'd all seen me swim in.
45:44The covenant warden looked at me for a long time.
45:47Then he bowed.
45:49The sea rank and sovereign.
45:50Our wayward daughter did this.
45:52She is yours to punish.
45:53We offer her freely.
45:54I stood still.
45:55Not one of them spoke for me.
45:57I had bent myself in half for these people in my last life.
46:01I had scalded from volcanic current.
46:04From the inside out.
46:05Carrying children for a clan that wasn't mine.
46:08For a man who never once made me warm.
46:11I'd done it for them.
46:13Kept them safe.
46:14Kept them proud.
46:15And now.
46:16They were handing me to a sea serpent.
46:18Just to buy themselves quiet.
46:20I looked at the covenant warden.
46:22The volcanic current was shark made.
46:24Everyone here knows that.
46:25I'm deep current.
46:27How would I produce sacred thermal current?
46:29Thessaly cut in immediately.
46:31You're my handmaid.
46:32You had access to my husband's tide brands.
46:34Easy enough to steal a spark.
46:36Sea serpent sovereign.
46:37The evidence speaks for itself.
46:39She damaged your sacred wreath.
46:40I held up my hands.
46:42The skin had peeled back in places.
46:44If I started it, why did I try to stop it?
46:48To look innocent.
46:51I laughed.
46:52It came out wrong.
46:54Too much feeling in it.
46:55What do I have to gain?
46:56Any of it.
46:58What exactly do you think I wanted?
47:00The covenant warden stood.
47:02Sylvain.
47:03Just admit it.
47:05That was my name.
47:06Sylvain.
47:07I looked at him for a long moment.
47:09I'm done with this covenant.
47:11All of it.
47:12Every debt between us is settled.
47:14The sea serpent spoke again.
47:15Quieter this time.
47:17Enough.
47:17The girl comes with me.
47:19Whatever she is to you, she isn't anymore.
47:21The darkness rolled toward me.
47:23I closed my eyes.
47:27This scene is exactly as it was in my previous life.
47:31The sky outside has turned the color of a wound.
47:34The shark lord stands before us in his full power.
47:36In surface form.
47:37But how could it be Thessaly in his arms?
47:40In my previous life, on the day of the title covenant rite, my sister chose the lionfish
47:45fay.
47:45She left the whale shifter, the one nobody wanted, for me.
47:49It was fate.
47:51A drift born for a beast.
47:53Instead, I saved a shark lord by accident.
47:56He took me as his queen.
47:57After the bonding, I bore five heirs for the shark bloodline.
48:01My sister, bonded to the lionfish fay, was cast out for barrenness.
48:06And I woke.
48:06It was the day of the rite again.
48:08Everyone present is a worthy son of their bloodline.
48:11Choose freely.
48:12The hall filled with glances, with offered flowers, with quiet negotiations between bodies
48:18and bloodlines.
48:19I didn't want any of it.
48:20Then the doors blew open.
48:22He arrived in a surge of volcanic current.
48:25A shark lord in his full power.
48:27And he had his arm around my sister's waist.
48:30Thessaly saved my life.
48:32From this day forward, she is my true mate.
48:34A shark lord, choosing one of ours.
48:37Choosing her as first, and only.
48:39It hadn't happened in living memory.
48:41I knew then.
48:42She'd been reborn too.
48:44Now I looked at her, draped against the shark lord, already victorious.
48:48She thought she'd won.
48:49She hadn't thought through what it would cost her.
48:52Shark lords are of the volcanic current element.
48:54Their mates sleep in volcanic current.
48:57Bathe in volcanic current.
48:58Eat volcanic current food.
49:00For a bloodline like ours, deep current by nature.
49:03That's not a marriage.
49:04It's a slow execution.
49:06Last time I had no choice but to pretend to like it.
49:08Every day.
49:09I smiled through the sacred thermal vent walks.
49:12Through the scalding baths.
49:14Through the meals that felt like swallowing coals.
49:16By the time I was pregnant, my core was already cracked.
49:19Thessaly was deep current too.
49:21She just didn't know what she'd agreed to yet.
49:24The whole keep celebrated.
49:26Every unmated girl in the order delayed her own bonding to help prepare Thessaly's.
49:30The gift list ran ten feet long.
49:32The high warden nearly emptied the sanctuary's vaults.
49:35I was the only unmated woman left.
49:38That made me the obvious choice for handmaid.
49:41Thessaly stood over me and smiled.
49:43Before you were the elder, I deferred to you.
49:46How does this feel, sister?
49:47I said nothing.
49:48She stepped forward and struck my face.
49:50The high warden has already agreed.
49:52You belong to me now.
49:53I'll hit you when I want.
49:55Praise you when I want.
49:56You have no say.
49:57Start learning.
49:58A courier arrived from the shark lord.
50:01A volcanic silk mantle, white as seafoam, heat-resistant, enchanted for speed.
50:06Thessaly touched it with both hands.
50:08I knew that mantle.
50:10For volcanic current bloodlines, it was a treasure.
50:13For deep current bloodlines, it was a punishment.
50:16I'd worn it every day of my first marriage.
50:18It had carved away at my core for years.
50:21Thessaly would find that out eventually.
50:23Then a girl came swimming fast.
50:25Volcanic current damage on the sacred wreath!
50:26What an awful omen.
50:28Today of all days.
50:30I didn't wait.
50:32I swam.
50:33The sacred wreath was burning hard when I arrived.
50:36Black clouds of silt.
50:37Screaming from inside the coral night.
50:39The Covenant Warden stood at the edge and wouldn't move.
50:42That volcanic current belongs to a shark lord.
50:44We interfere, we offend him.
50:46One of them said,
50:47Your sister's bonding is today.
50:48Don't make trouble.
50:49They're only low-rank Falilius.
50:51I looked at him for a long moment.
50:53Then I went in.
50:54The silt blinded me fast.
50:56The thermal current scorched my scales.
50:59But I was deep current.
51:00Wherever I moved, cold spread behind me.
51:02It slowed the thermal currents enough to matter.
51:04I remembered what my foster mother taught me.
51:07Clear a line.
51:08Deny the thermal current somewhere to go.
51:10I tide shifted to full form and called out.
51:13Shark.
51:14Manta ray.
51:14Swordfish.
51:15Sea turd they came.
51:16They carried cold hardy vessels in their jaws.
51:19A whale used its mouth.
51:20Sea urchins and mantis shrimp worked the thermal breaks.
51:23We were boozing.
51:24Then we weren't.
51:26Then the reef shook.
51:27The seabeds split open.
51:29A sea serpent came out that black.
51:32Ancient Marjana took block the light from above.
51:34He opened his mouth and cold water poured.
51:37The thermal current died.
51:39The sea serpent's voice didn't come from one direction.
51:42This reef is mine.
51:44Who damaged it?
51:46So here is the forest.
51:46I've saved the place around.
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