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Short filmTranscript
00:00Someone had spiked my fiancé's drink. When he started tearing open Serena Blackwood's dress at the Blackwood Gala, I did
00:06not rush in to stop him the way I had in my last life.
00:08Back then, I had been terrified he would offend Marcus Blackwood, a man famous for protecting his own at any
00:13cost.
00:14I threw myself between them, drugged out of his mind, dragged me into a guest room, and raped me.
00:21From that night on, the entire pack's old money circle said I had climbed into his bed on purpose.
00:25After I married him, the torment only got worse. In five years, I got pregnant seven times.
00:31Every baby was lost in another convenient accident. They called me a slut, a used-up whore, a woman who
00:37must have been passed around by half the men in town before she ever wore Evan's ring.
00:41My parents poured everything they had into making my life survivable in the Brooks household.
00:45They helped push Evan onto the council, and on the night I went into labor, Evan and Serena held me
00:50down and forced drug-laced water down my throat.
00:52I bled out on the birthing bag.
00:54If you hadn't stuck your nose in that night, Serena and I would have completed our mate-haunt years ago.
00:58You ruined my fated mate. This is what you owe us.
01:02Then he smothered the baby I had nearly died delivering, right in front of me.
01:06Blood and tears soaked my face.
01:08When my last breath left me, there was nothing left in me but hatred.
01:11Then I opened my eyes again.
01:13I was back at the Blackwood Gala.
01:15Back on the day someone spiked Evan's drink.
01:17This time, I would let them finish the bond they had spent a lifetime blaming me for.
01:21Evan, please!
01:23Serena Blackwood's breathy, embarrassed moan slipped out of the Lakeview guest suite.
01:27It sounded soft enough to pass for refusal, and loud enough to be meant for everyone in the hall.
01:32I stood outside the door, and my stomach dropped.
01:34Through the crack, Evan Brooks' eyes were bloodshot.
01:37Evan Brooks' eyes were bloodshot.
01:39His bowtie hung crooked at his throat as he pinned Serena against the floor-to-ceiling window, and tore open
01:44her custom silver-green gown.
01:45Clara, we have to go in and save her.
01:48Her knuckles white.
01:49Grace Miller grabbed my sleeve.
01:51I looked at the two tangled shadows inside.
01:53Then at Grace, who looked desperate to rush in on my behalf.
01:56I almost laughed.
01:57Save who?
01:58The woman who, in my last life, helped Evan drug me and leave me bleeding out on a birthing bed?
02:03Or the monster who smothered my child with his own hands?
02:05Evan comes from a minor pack branch.
02:10If he really hurts Serena tonight, Marcus Blackweald will never let him walk away.
02:14Clara, what are you waiting for?
02:15Did you forget what Mr. Ashford said?
02:17Evan's father had old ties with the Ashford's.
02:19You were supposed to look out for him.
02:21If Evan is ruined here, your father will blame you.
02:23Grace kept her voice low, but every word came faster than the last.
02:27She had wanted Evan for years.
02:29She could not wait for me to sign a mate contract with him,
02:31just so she could follow us into the Brooks household and become his hidden mistress.
02:35In my last life, when I crawled toward the door covered in blood and tried to call for help,
02:39Grace was the one who pinned my hands and feet down.
02:41She stepped on my bleeding stomach again and again, smiling as she said,
02:45Every dose Evan told me to.
02:47How are you still getting pregnant?
02:49Your body is disgusting.
02:51I clenched my fingers and swallowed the urge to strangle her on the spot.
02:54I'll go in and hold him off.
02:56I lowered my eyes.
02:57My voice shook.
02:58I'll go in and hold him off.
02:59You go to the front hall and get my mother in security.
03:01Remember, don't alarm the other guests.
03:03Remember, don't alarm the other guests.
03:05The excitement in Grace's eyes almost broke through her act.
03:08She agreed at once and hurried away.
03:09She moved like someone who had just been handed an exclusive scandal.
03:13It had been the same in my last life.
03:14The whole thing could still have been buried by the Blackwoods.
03:17But Grace had dragged over the council spouses,
03:19old money heiresses, and donors from the front hall.
03:22They all saw me half-dressed, pinned under Evan on the bed.
03:25My mother fainted on the spot.
03:26My father spent half a lifetime building his reputation,
03:29and that night, it was dragged through the mud.
03:32Even the Ashford girls became cocktail hour gossip because of me.
03:35Since Grace was so good at gathering an audience, I would let her.
03:38Let every important guest in that front hall come watch the live sex show already waiting for them.
03:42And let my dear husband from my last life have exactly what he deserved.
03:46A ladder straight into the Blackwood family.
03:48I crouched outside the Lakeview guest suite,
03:50and a savage kind of relief ran through my whole body.
03:52Patricia Brooks had not yet forced my face toward the fireplace,
03:55and burned a scar into me that no powder could hide.
03:58I had not yet smelled infected flesh mixed with burned salve.
04:01My knees had not yet been ruined from kneeling on the Brooks household stone floor until the tissue died.
04:06The Brooks household stone floor until the tissue died,
04:09turning me into the crippled whore everyone whispered about.
04:11My belly felt lighter too.
04:12It was not aching every hour from baby after baby being taken from me.
04:16My nails dug into my palm.
04:18The sharp pain told me this was not a dream.
04:20When footsteps sounded down the hall,
04:22I lifted my hand and slapped myself hard across the face,
04:25again and again.
04:26This face, still untouched by the ruin of my last life,
04:30swelled red almost at once.
04:32I had been slapped so often in the Brooks household that even now,
04:35when I split my own lip and felt blood drip down my chin,
04:38it barely hurt.
04:39Clara, why are you still here?
04:40Grace came rushing over with a crowd of donor wives and council spouses in evening gowns.
04:45The moment she saw me still guarding the door,
04:47panic flashed across her face.
04:49I pinched the soft inside of my thigh as hard as I could.
04:51My eyes went red at once.
04:53Then I rushed forward with tears all over my face and threw my arms out in front of the sweet
04:57door.
04:58The corridor's crystal light spilled over me.
05:00The handprints on my face and the blood at the corner of my mouth landed clearly in every pair of
05:04eyes.
05:05The handprints on my face and the blood at the corner of my mouth landed clearly in every pair of
05:09eyes.
05:10One woman's champagne glass rose halfway to her lips.
05:12Someone cursed under her breath.
05:14The daughter of the Ashford family was an old-blood heiress.
05:17On any other day, even a scraped finger would have been enough to send the whole family office into a
05:21panic.
05:22Now half my face was swollen, and blood was still running from my mouth.
05:26Catherine Blackwood was the first to frown.
05:28Tonight was the Blackwood Gala.
05:29If a guest was injured in her family's private wing, it was the Blackwoods who lost face.
05:33She had just started toward me when I pressed myself flat against the door.
05:48She lifted one hand, and two house staff members immediately stepped forward to pull me away.
05:53I acted as if the lightest touch might shatter me.
05:56I was trembling hard, but I clung to the doorframe and would not let go.
06:00No, you can't go in.
06:02House staff and security came together to pry my hands loose.
06:05In the chaos, someone's stiletto came down hard on the back of my hand.
06:09Something in the bone shifted while me.
06:10Something in the bone shifted while me.
06:12I screamed before I could stop myself.
06:15Helena Ashford had stayed silent because this was the Blackwoods house,
06:18but now pain and fear broke across her face.
06:20She grabbed my arm.
06:22Clara, what are you doing?
06:23Making a scene at someone else's gala like this, what do you expect the Ashford family to do?
06:27I looked at my mother standing in front of me, alive and whole.
06:31Her hair not yet turned white overnight because of my scandal.
06:33Mom, don't make me.
06:35Tears flooded my eyes.
06:36I have a reason.
06:37I really can't let them go in.
06:39Helena's voice changed with panic.
06:41What are you even saying?
06:42My knees gave out, and I dropped directly in front of Catherine.
06:46Catherine, please.
06:47Don't.
06:47The whispers in the crowd finally broke loose.
06:50What is wrong with Clara Ashford?
06:52There isn't really something shameful behind that door.
06:54Is there?
06:55I curled up at the threshold, holding up the hand that was already swelling.
06:58My whole body shaking so hard I could not stop it.
07:02Catherine's face went completely dark.
07:03Very good.
07:05A perfectly decent Blackwood gala, and somehow Ashford's daughter is blocking my door.
07:10Since she has made this much of a scene, I will not be the only one deciding what happens next.
07:15Go to the front hall.
07:17Bring Marcus and Richard here.
07:19Go to the front hall.
07:20Bring Marcus and Richard here.
07:22I pressed down the smile, tugging at my mouth.
07:25Those slaps had not been wasted.
07:27At last, the scene was big enough.
07:29Tonight was the Blackwood Alliance gala.
07:31Marcus Blackwood and my father, Richard Ashford, were not the only powerful men in the front hall.
07:36Several Whitmore High Council candidates were here, too.
07:38Evan and I had been husband and wife for an entire lifetime, after all.
07:41This time, of course I had to make sure he and his beloved Serena had a full audience.
07:46Within minutes, Marcus arrived with a crowd of councilmen and donors at his back, security following close behind.
07:52Richard Ashford moved the fastest.
07:54The moment he saw me covered in mud and blood, guarding the door as if my life depended on it,
07:58his face changed.
08:00The next second, he lifted his hand and slapped me hard across the face.
08:07The council spouses around us shook their heads.
08:09In the East Coast Pack Circle, I had always been the Ashford family's most proper daughter.
08:13Now I was crying and making a scene at the Blackwood Gala, blocking the private wing and refusing to let
08:18anyone through.
08:19Half the obedient reputation I had built over the years was already gone.
08:23Half the obedient reputation I had built over the years was already gone.
08:27Marcus's expression darkened.
08:28He gave me one cold glance.
08:30Then he simply raised his hand.
08:31The security men at his side stepped forward, lifted me away like they were removing an out-of-control vest,
08:37and threw me down near the rain-soaked edge of the lawn.
08:40It had rained two days ago.
08:41The Blackwood Estate's stone path had been scrubbed spotless, but the grass beside it was still full of mud.
08:47The hem of my pale lavender gown sank into the muck, filthy enough to make me look as if I
08:51had crawled out of a service alley.
08:53Everyone walked around me and headed straight for the suite door.
08:56Helena's tears fell in a rush.
08:57How are you supposed to stand in fact society after this?
09:00I wiped the muddy water from my face and smiled at her.
09:03The crowd had barely reached the door when every step stopped at once.
09:07A woman's moan, soft and sticky, slid through the crack, tangled with a man's low, restrained panting.
09:13The sound was so obscene it made heat crawl up people's faces.
09:16Then came the dull thud of a headboard hitting the wall, again and again.
09:20No one needed to go in to know exactly how lively it was inside.
09:22Several donor wives who had brought young daughters with them immediately covered the girls' ears and ordered house staff to
09:28take them away.
09:29Then the woman inside let out another honey-sweet sound.
09:32Her voice stretched thin and breathless at the end.
09:34The guests looked from one face to another, each expression uglier than the last.
09:38The Blackwoods had humiliated themselves completely tonight.
09:41In broad daylight, in a guest wing, doing something this lewd, an outspoken council wife clutched her evening back.
09:47Her voice was low, but every word landed clearly.
09:50The way everyone looked at Marcus and Catherine now carried an unmistakable edge of mockery.
09:55Marcus's face flushed dark purple.
09:56Beneath his beard, his jaw clenched tight, I pushed in from the edge of the crowd and caught his sleeve
10:01with trembling fingers.
10:08Marcus's gaze cut quickly across the guests.
10:10The Whitmore heirs stood behind him in immaculate black formal wear.
10:13He was not afraid of offending some irrelevant guest.
10:16But whoever dared to do this at the Blackwood Alliance Gala had dragged the Blackwood name through the mud on
10:20purpose.
10:21There was no dignity left for him to protect.
10:23Marcus ripped the Brassmaster key from the house steward's heavy key ring.
10:27The metal keys clattered hard against the doorframe.
10:29Move.
10:30His voice came out in a low growl.
10:31He shoved me aside without mercy and jammed.
10:34The brass key into the iron lock.
10:36With a violent crash, the frame of the Lakeview guest suite split open.
10:39Half the door hung crooked, then dropped hard onto the carpet.
10:42The sky outside had not gone fully dark, but the suite blazed with light.
10:45The white wall scouts lit up the mess on the floor.
10:48A kicked-a-side gown, a shirt, and a piece of red lace ongerary.
10:51The whole room reeked of sex and sweat, sharp and fishy like Bradford blossoms in spring, strong enough to tighten
10:56the back of the throat.
10:57Some council spouses covered their mouths, others cried out.
11:00Marcus was already past reason.
11:02He overturned the frosted glass screen with one brutal shove.
11:05On the king bed, Evan Brooks was completely naked, with a woman's bare thighs hooked over his shoulders.
11:10The red lace lingerie was still clenched in his hand.
11:13The air went dead silent.
11:15Even the sound of high heels sinking into the carpet seemed loud.
11:20Mar-Marcus?
11:21He fumbled for the comforter, trying to drag it over the woman beneath him and hide her from view.
11:26To Marcus, that looked less like shame than provocation.
11:31Evan might have been a rising PAC attorney this year.
11:33But in Marcus's eyes, he was still nothing more than a lower PAC legal associate, with no real power and
11:39no real bloodline.
11:41A scholarship-born climber like him would not even have been allowed near the Blackwood side door on an ordinary
11:45night.
11:46And now he had dared to turn the Blackwood guest wing into this kind of debauchery.
11:50It was uglier than spitting in Marcus Blackwood's face.
11:53Low-born trash!
11:55Marcus's eyes went bloodshot.
11:56He grabbed the iron poker from beside the fireplace and swung it down hard at the bedpost.
12:01Evan clutched the woman against himself and scrambled naked across the bed, trying to dodge.
12:05The sight of him stumbling bare in front of every important guest nearly drove Marcus and Catherine mad.
12:10One council space after another looked away, stepping back on their heels.
12:14Catherine's chest rose and fell with fury.
12:16She had no polished hostess mask left to wear.
12:19At this point, the Blackwoods had no dignity left to protect.
12:23I want to see which little slit dared go into heat in my house!
12:28Catherine, for my sake.
12:30Don't.
12:31But Evan Brooks had no sake to speak of in the Blackwood house.
12:34Catherine let out a cold laugh and pulled with both hands.
12:37With one harsh rip, she tore the entire comforter away.
12:40A completely naked woman was exposed in front of everyone.
12:43She covered her face with both hands, her legs pressed tightly together, too afraid to lift her head.
12:48Several bright red hickeys stood out on her pale shoulders.
12:51Her hair was damp and tangled, as if she had just been dragged out of the sheets.
12:55The Blackwood female aides beside Catherine reacted first.
12:58They stepped forward, pinned the woman's wrists and ankles, and yanked her hair back, forcing her face up for everyone
13:03to see.
13:03Little slut, still trying to hide?
13:06And that beautiful, sweat-damp, painfully familiar face was shown to every person in the suite.
13:10A glass knocked against a serving tray with a bright, brittle sound.
13:13The entire room seemed to explode.
13:15Serena Blackwood was there, naked and exposed, helplessly displayed in front of every council witness.
13:19Catherine Black froze on the spot.
13:21She looked as if someone had struck her straight between the eyes.
13:23One hand flew to her head as she staggered back.
13:25The guests looked from the scandal pair on the bed to me.
13:28My eyes reddened, and tears rolled down my face at exactly the right moment.
13:32I did not need to say anything anymore.
13:35Everyone had already put the story together for themselves.
13:37I was an old-blood Ashvind heiress.
13:39Who would dare put a hand on me so easily?
13:42The answer seemed obvious.
13:43I must have stumbled onto Serena's filthy secret.
13:46Serena must have slapped me.
13:48And then she must have forced me to stand outside and guard the door for the two of them.
13:52Bastard!
13:53He tightened his grip on the fireplace poker and brought it down hard across Evan Brooks' back.
13:57The iron edge scraped through flesh, and a long, ugly gash split open at once.
14:02I lowered my head and used the back of my mudsteed hand to hide the corner of my mouth.
14:06Evan Brooks, you deserve that one.
14:09A raw scream tore out of Evan's throat.
14:11He touched the torn skin on his back and tried desperately to explain.
14:15Marcus, listen!
14:16I was drugged!
14:18Someone set me up!
14:19Marcus was beyond listening.
14:20He raised the fireplace pinal again and swung it straight for Evan's neck.
14:24Marcus, stand down.
14:25He's still a licensed council attorney.
14:27We investigate first.
14:28I watched coldly, almost regretful.
14:30What a shame.
14:31One cleaner hit and he might have died right there.
14:33No matter how furious Marcus was, he could not ignore the Whitmerts in front of them.
14:38Investigate!
14:38Tear the Blackwood estate apart if you have to.
14:40Bar logs, cameras, badge swipes, sweet access.
14:43I want everything!
14:45Evan let out a breath of relief, then swept one cold glance over me.
14:49That single look told me everything.
14:51He had come back too.
14:53Those were not the eyes of a newly admitted PAC attorney.
14:55They were Evan Brooks' eyes after years soaked in council politics in our last life.
15:00Still on his knees, he planted both hands against his thighs and slowly straightened his spine.
15:04However I was set up tonight, Serena's public standing is already ruined.
15:08I'm willing to sign a responsibility statement, acknowledge this mate bond scandal, and enter an alliance engagement with Serena.
15:13He thought that sounded noble.
15:14He thought Marcus and Catherine would be grateful that he was offering to clean up Blackwood's mess.
15:19Pete!
15:20You think you're what exactly?
15:21A no-pittage low-pack Kerr thinks he can crawl into the Blackwood bloodline?
15:24Evan squeezed his eyes shut.
15:26His entire face flushed red.
15:28In all his years, no one had ever humiliated him like this in public.
15:31After all, in my last life, whenever he dealt with Marcus, Marcus had always clapped him on the shoulder and
15:37called him promising.
15:39Marcus had even said he admired a man who climbed by talent.
15:42What a joke.
15:43In that life, Evan Brooks had been my husband.
15:45My father, Richard Ashford, was the PAC council's chief legal strategist.
15:49The respect Marcus gave him had never belonged to Evan.
15:52It had belonged to the Ashford family.
15:54I would snap my own daughter's neck and dump her in the Hudson before I let trash like you touch
15:59my bloodline!
16:00In a fresh burst of age, he kicked Evan hard enough to send him crashing into the low table.
16:06Evan coughed up a mouthful of blood on the spot.
16:09You touched a Blackwood daughter, and now you dare use her as your ladder?
16:14Security!
16:15Drag him out!
16:16Beat him until he can't open his mouth again!
16:18Evan had not even managed to get up before Blackwood's security prissed his arms and legs.
16:22They dragged him toward the door like a bag of rotting trash.
16:25No!
16:26No!
16:26This isn't how it was supposed to happen!
16:28Marcus!
16:28Serena Rina, save me!
16:29Marcus grabbed a whiskey tumbler and smashed it against Evan's head.
16:32Glass splattered, Evan's scalp slid open at once.
16:35Blood ran down his brow and dripped all over the floor.
16:37Gag him.
16:39A cur like him doesn't deserve to say Serena's name.
16:42Serena Blackwood was completely stunned.
16:45She kept her head down and did not dare say a single word for Evan Brooks.
16:48Marcus!
16:49You can't be this heartless!
16:51She is our daughter!
16:53She was harmed!
16:54How can you tell her to die?
16:55Of course Marcus had spoken in rage.
16:58Serena was still his own blood.
17:00He could not truly bring himself to kill her.
17:02But after saying so much in front of everyone, he could not simply let it go either.
17:06So he slammed one hand down on the coffee table.
17:09Are my investigators dead?
17:10Who dared touch the drinks at a Blackwood gala?
17:12Do I pay security to be useless?
17:14Ellis, if you can't give me an answer, I will tear apart the entire staff chain.
17:17A security supervisor came in with his shoulders hunched, his voice shaking.
17:21Marcus, the badge log shows that Maya Ellis, Serena's personal aide, handled Evan's glass.
17:25The room broke into low, crackling murmurs.
17:26Every pair of eyes turned to Serena.
17:28A personal aide usually acted on her employer's instructions.
17:30No!
17:31It wasn't me!
17:32It was Maya!
17:34Maya wanted to hurt me!
17:35Maya Ellis looked less like a living person than a ghost.
17:39Trembling all over, she collapsed onto the floor.
17:43No, I didn't.
17:45She had just started to defend herself when she looked up and met Serena's eyes.
17:49The rest of the words died in her throat.
17:51If Maya told the truth, the Black Hills had a hundred ways to strip her of her job and
17:56every clean reference she had left.
17:58Serena threw herself at Maya, sobbing as she beat her.
18:01Was I not good to you?
18:02Why would you stab me in the back?
18:04It was me.
18:05I thought Serena favored Tessa Rowe and treated me unfairly.
18:08I lost my...
18:09The guests looked at one another.
18:10The same faint mockery appeared on every face.
18:13That excuse was too weak to stand.
18:16But what else could they do?
18:17Serena was Marcus and Catherine's daughter.
18:19If they did not let Maya take the fall, were they supposed to admit Serena herself had
18:23gone into heat and dragged a man into bed?
18:25Marcus, who had been ready to beat someone to death a moment ago, suddenly looked as if
18:29a dirty rag had been shoved into his mouth.
18:31Serena was still hitting Maya and crying.
18:33Then, from the jacket draped over Serena's shoulders, a sealed clinic pouch slipped out.
18:37Maya had already been beaten weak.
18:38Her body tilted and she landed directly on top of the pouch.
18:41A small blood vial shattered under her weight.
18:43Fresh red spread instantly across the pale carpet.
18:46What is that?
18:47A private pack clinic label was stuck to the clear bag.
18:49Half a sheet of paper, already soaked at the edge with blood showed through.
18:53An ordinary gala guest might not have a clue.
18:55But among the council wives, healer donors and old money maidens here, who hasn't had to deal with a
18:59fertility scandal for the family?
19:01CG blood test results from a private clinic, a forged healer intake form and a fake bond status
19:05vial. All that stuff is enough to rip the mask off Serena as the innocent, wronged Luna candidate.
19:09Most of the gogglers don't know the ins and outs, so they're craning their necks asking everyone around.
19:13Every time someone asks, Serena's face goes even peeler.
19:16Evan Brooks, beaten bloody and dragged back into the suite, saw the evidence explode at exactly the wrong moment.
19:22He was still a licensed council attorney.
19:24No matter how furious Marcus was, Blackwood security did not dare beat him to death.
19:28If this had been Evan before the last life, he would have been nothing more than a newly risen pack
19:33lawyer.
19:33A shattered blood vial and half a sheet of HCG paperwork might not have meant much to him.
19:37But he had lived an entire life already.
19:39In his last life, he had climbed high in council circles.
19:43Paternity fraud, forged healer files, backroom scandal cleanup.
19:46What had he not seen?
19:48One look at the blood on the carpet, the soaked clinic date, and he understood.
19:51Evan was barely holding together from the beating.
19:54Yet somehow he found strength.
19:55He forced himself up and lunged toward the king bed.
19:58With one hand, he ripped back the comforter.
20:00The white fitted sheet was clean.
20:02There was nothing there that could shove the pup in Serena's belly onto tonight.
20:05The truly glaring proof was the blood-soaked paper.
20:08Sample collected, four weeks before gala.
20:11Gestational estimate, five weeks.
20:13Sire pending.
20:14Everyone had just seen Evan naked and pressed over Serena.
20:17But the evidence told them Serena had already been pregnant before tonight.
20:21She had even prepared a forged healer intake in advance.
20:23Ready to frame herself as a Luna candidate ruined by this one night.
20:27Please.
20:28What a perfect little paternity trap.
20:30Too bad it had not closed neatly around Evan's throat.
20:33Even I had not expected the scene to turn this ugly this fast.
20:36In my last life, after I married Evan, I went to a private PAC clinic during my first pregnancy.
20:40There, I happened to see a woman in a hood quietly asking for abortion medication.
20:45The clinic healer warned her that she was already close to 16 weeks.
20:48If she forced determination at that stage, her body might not withstand it.
20:52The woman had wrapped herself up carefully.
20:54But when she passed near me, I still caught a faint trace of custom scent suppressor.
20:58Across the entire East Coast PAC circle, only Serena Blackwood loved that scent.
21:03At that point, three months had passed since the night at the Lakeview guest suite.
21:06Which meant that when Evan was drugged tonight, Serena already had a pup more than a month along.
21:11Who dared bring that filthy drug into the Blackwood Gala?
21:14The answer was suddenly obvious.
21:15Serena had wanted to find a public sire for somebody else's pup.
21:18And Evan Brooks was supposed to be the fall guy.
21:21Once I pieced it together, I could only think how ugly this world really was.
21:25In my last life, Evan and I had already been bound by the scandal.
21:29Trying to reopen the Blackwood incident from three months earlier would have been a joke.
21:32So I buried the truth and locked it away.
21:34This time my plan had been simple.
21:36Let Serena and Evan both get what they wanted.
21:39One would find a father for the pup in her belly.
21:41The other would climb the Blackwood old blood ladder at last.
21:44I had not expected Serena's own clinic evidence to tear open first.
21:47Evan's face looked as if someone had slapped him in front of the entire room.
21:51He threw himself at Serena and seized her shoulders.
21:54Serena Blackwood!
21:55Shaking her heart.
21:56You set me up!
21:57You told me you had no registered bond.
21:59You said you wanted me and no one else.
22:01You told me you couldn't hold back your scent.
22:03That you would break council protocol just to give yourself to me.
22:05You used me as a public seer for another man's pup!
22:08You pregnant little whore!
22:10Serena shook in his grip like a silk silk scarf.
22:12As if she might fall apart at any second.
22:14Her mouth opened and closed, but not a single word came out.
22:18Marcus heard every word, and his brows drew tight again.
22:22But this time, he had no ground to stand on.
22:24Even if he hated that a low-pack liability like Evan had overstepped,
22:28he had no reason left to keep beating him.
22:30Evan Brooks had been beaten too badly, and the truth had struck him too hard.
22:34Blood surged up his throat and sprayed across Serena Blackwood's face.
22:37Then he fell backward and passed out cold.
22:39The room erupted into chaos again.
22:41No matter how unwilling Marcus was, no matter how badly he still wanted to kill someone,
22:45he had to call in the estate medic and the pack healer.
22:48Several council wives looked at me with pity and tenderness.
22:50How did she get dragged into something like this?
22:53Clara has suffered too much tonight.
22:55One after another, they sighed for me.
22:58They believed I was a young heiress with no registered mate bond.
23:01Dragged for no reason into a sex scandal this filthy.
23:04Even if I was innocent, it was still a stain.
23:06My pack reputation and alliance prospects would take a hit.
23:09After tonight, the main alliances open to me would probably drop by an entire tier.
23:14The Whitmore heirs, especially, would never consider me now.
23:17They had no idea.
23:18Compared with my last life, when I married Evan and was slowly ground down inside the Brooks household,
23:23this was already an escape from death.
23:25Later, I heard that when Evan was carried back,
23:27he looked as if he had been dragged out of a pool of blood.
23:30Blackwood security knew Marcus was still furious, so they had put their backs into it.
23:34From the ER surgeon, to the pack healer, to the spinal specialist.
23:37Every doctor who saw him only shook their-
23:39Even if it heals, he may need a cane.
23:42But Evan deserved it.
23:43If he had not wanted to climb the Blackwood old blood ladder himself,
23:46he would never have suffered like this.
23:48The person who reacted most violently inside Asperth House was Grace Miller.
24:03I held a bowl of chilled almond porridge and took my time swallowing a spoonful.
24:08What reaction should I have?
24:10Should I go mourn at Evan's bedside like he's already dead?
24:13Grace's face flushed with anger.
24:15He is still alive, isn't he?
24:17How can you be so heartless?
24:20She realized she had crossed the line, her voice going soft at once.
24:24I only think Evan is pitiful.
24:26I didn't mean it that way.
24:27I looked coldly at Grace, the girl who had grown up beside me.
24:31If you pity Evan so much, then go take care of him.
24:34You don't need to enter my suite again.
24:36Grace snapped her head up, as if she could not believe what she had heard.
24:39Marion, pull Grace's staff file, NDA, access badge, and housing agreement.
24:43Suspend her Ashford access immediately.
24:47The Brooks household needs a live-in aid, doesn't it?
24:50Send over her caregiving contract.
24:52If she refuses to leave, have security escort her off the property.
24:56Tell them the Ashfords and the Brooks go back years.
24:59We arrange someone specially to help care for Evan.
25:01After that, she does not come back.
25:05Only then did Grace seem to wake up.
25:07Clara, I was wrong.
25:08I shouldn't have said that.
25:09She crawled toward me, sobbing and begging.
25:11For the sake of all the years we grew up together, please forgive me this once.
25:15I almost wanted to forgive her.
25:17But when had Grace ever spared me for the sake of all the years we grew up together?
25:20It was not until the day I died in my last life, after hearing her words, that I finally understood.
25:26Why?
25:26After I became pregnant, after I had been careful and then more careful, I still lost one baby after another.
25:31With Grace at my side, altering my medication and my care records for Evan again and again.
25:36How could any child in my belly have survived?
25:38Of course she did not want to go to the Brooks household now.
25:41Of course.
25:42Evan and his mother, Patricia Brooks, lived in a worn-down duplex outside town.
25:46They were so poor that all they had left was one aging aid.
25:49Now that Evan Brooks' leg was damaged, his council career was as good as over.
25:53On paper, no one could throw him out simply because he might need a cane.
25:57But after the sweet scandal at Blackwood Ridge, with a license review and ethics complaint,
26:01and a DA inquiry pressing down layer after layer, who would dare put him anywhere near the public eye?
26:07Unless someone with real votes chose to protect him.
26:09And now, who would protect Evan Brooks?
26:11Ashford would not.
26:12Blackwood certainly would not.
26:13He had no family strong enough to lift him.
26:16He did have a handsome face.
26:18And at first, a few old-money families had considered him as a potential son-in-law.
26:22Now, those heiresses probably thought he carried bad luck.
26:24Because the scandal touched the High Council's reputation, Eleanor Whitmore took a personal interest.
26:29The High Council and the DA liaison turned Blackwood Ridge inside out.
26:33As for the pup in Serena Blackwood's belly, no one could say for certain who had fathered it.
26:37The personal aides around Serena had tried to protect her at first.
26:40But once the perjury warnings and immunity deals came down, one after another, they cracked.
26:45A stable hand.
26:46Gate security.
26:47A procurement runner.
26:49A jewelry store sales guy.
26:50Serena had never been picky.
26:52As long as a man had a decent face, she dared drag him into her bed.
26:56After a while, the number of men she had slept with was not just 10 or 12.
27:00It was more.
27:01If the pup in her belly had actually been born, only a DNA panel could have sorted out the father.
27:05After a disgrace like that, how can Marcus allow her to give birth to another man's pup?
27:10I heard he found some dirty private clinic and forced Serena through a termination.
27:14At first, Marcus even wanted them to prepare an overdose of sedatives.
27:17Only after Catherine cried, begged, and nearly threw herself over a balcony was Serena's life spared.
27:23Her life was spared.
27:24The rest of her did not.
27:26After that forced termination, Serena's bleeding would not stop.
27:29Her periods never settled.
27:31She grew thin very quickly.
27:33Her face pale.
27:34Her legs too weak to hold her steady.
27:36Marcus lost the old lift of his chin in council rooms.
27:39He had been proud his whole life.
27:40And now one daughter had dragged the Blackwood name through filth.
27:43People said he spent his days drinking himself senseless.
27:45When he finished drinking, he would go to Serena's room, smash whatever he could reach, and curse her until security
27:52came out.
27:52Every day, Blackwood Ridge was full of screaming, breaking glass, and the sound of guards' footsteps.
27:58Less than three months later, Serena, driven past the edge, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her own father to
28:04death.
28:04A room full of aides and guards watched it happen.
28:07She could not run from that.
28:08Once the murder charge landed, it was enough to seal her fate.
28:11That same day, the high council stripped her of every inheritance rate.
28:15When the criminal court sentenced her, she was sent to a women's prison for life without parole.
28:20On the day Serena was sentenced, I was having tea at the newly opened Laurel Room in the city.
28:24Mrs. Ashfield, this is from a gentleman downstairs.
28:27He said he would like to see you and say a few words.
28:30A server brought over a hibiscus chestnut tea cake I had not ordered.
28:33I looked at the small pastry and suddenly found it funny.
28:36During my marriage to Evan, he had bought the same thing for me a few times.
28:39After I lost our first child, after Patricia Brooks forced me to kneel every few steps in the name of
28:44pack discipline until I passed out, until my knees split open and festered.
28:49Evan probably always believed that as long as he handed me this one sweet little cake, I should calm down.
28:54I should forgive him.
28:55I should make peace with him.
28:56But to me, it had never recorded comfort.
28:59It recorded every injury Evan and the Brooks household had dealt me again and again.
29:03Please return it to the gentleman downstairs.
29:05Tell him I don't dare eat it.
29:08I'm afraid there might be something in it.
29:09The server quickly carried the tea cake back, but Evan did not leave.
29:13When I stepped out of the Laurel Room, he was waiting at the entrance.
29:16Clara.
29:17His voice broke, and he reached for the edge of my coat.
29:20Mr. Brooks, step back. Don't touch her.
29:23Harper Lane, the new aide at my side, immediately stepped between Evan and me.
29:27Evan's face twisted with misery.
29:29Clara, I treated you terribly before.
29:32I let people lie to me. I misunderstood you.
29:35I thought that scandal was something you set up so you could marry me.
29:38I never meant to hurt you.
29:40Evan, were you lied to, or did you choose to lie to yourself?
29:43I am an old-blood Ashford heiress.
29:46You?
29:46If I had wanted it, even the Whitmore line would have been within reach.
29:50Why would I need to scheme my way into marrying you?
29:52The color drained from Evan's already ruined face.
29:55He had once been handsome in a clean, refined way.
29:58After all these days of pain,
29:59he had wasted down until he was almost nothing but bone.
30:03Whatever dignity he once had was gone.
30:05He was lucky, really.
30:06At least both legs had not been ruined.
30:08Only his right leg would never be steady again.
30:11From now on, he could not walk without a cane.
30:14My gaze swept once over his right leg.
30:16Evan immediately pulled it back.
30:17Maybe he remembered my last life,
30:19when he and Patricia Brooks had ruined my leg.
30:22Maybe he remembered how many times he had sneered at me,
30:24and called me a crippled little liability.
30:26One of the Ashford house staff hurried toward me.
30:28Mrs. Ashford, we've been looking everywhere for you.
30:31Please return at once.
30:32The High Council just sent word.
30:34Sebastian Whitmore has been confirmed as High Alpha Elect.
30:37The Whitmore line has also filed a Maid Alliance statement.
30:40Once you personally confirm it,
30:42the Council will publicly recognize you as Luna Elect.
30:44Evan's mouth fell open.
30:46He looked as if he could not believe what he had just heard.
30:48In my last life, Sebastian had become High Alpha too.
30:51Only then, he had never publicly recognized a Luna.
30:54Even after he took full power,
30:56he never brought anyone to stand beside him.
30:58So that was why.
31:01Sebastian likes her, doesn't he?
31:03Evan muttered the questions to Grace Miller beside him.
31:05They were together already, weren't they?
31:07Bracing him like a cane,
31:09and Patricia had worn her down until she barely looked human.
31:12No secret dates.
31:13No private gifts.
31:15Nothing improper.
31:17Only...
31:17Only what?
31:20Only that every time Sebastian saw her, he smiled.
31:24For the decades that followed,
31:25Sebastian proved Grace right.
31:27He was a good husband.
31:28A very good one.
31:30As for Evan,
31:31I never saw him again for the rest of my life.
31:33The last time I heard news of him
31:34was before I moved into the Whitmore Council residence.
31:37I heard there was no path left for him back to the Council.
31:39He could not stay in the East Coast Pack Circle either.
31:42So he took Grace and Patricia back to that low-pack hometown of his.
31:45Maybe Blackwood Ridge had damaged more than his leg.
31:48Later, Patricia arranged engagements for him
31:50and pushed a few dependent girlfriends into his life.
31:53But in this life,
31:54no one ever carried his pup.