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Short filmTranscript
00:00I fought with wild dogs for food and prayed to them, but it was useless.
00:04And in the end, I still died.
00:06I was Manhattan's most spoiled heiress until my award-winning actor brother sent me to a reality show called Rich
00:13Girls Reformed.
00:14I slept in a pig pen covered in manure for three months, fighting dogs for scraps of food.
00:20Any resistance meant being dunked in water tanks or worse, electroshock.
00:25The only thing keeping me alive was the mute old man who delivered the meals.
00:29He'd snuck me medicine, listened to me cry, and begged my brother to save me.
00:34He even promised to help me escape.
00:36I swore that once I got out, I'd tell my brother I'd learned my lesson.
00:40Until that day, when my high fever triggered a heart attack and I collapsed in the mud, convulsing.
00:46I saw the mute old man I'd clung to as my lifeline reach up and tear off his mud-caked
00:51wig and mask, revealing my fiancé's face.
00:55This is what you get for drugging Sophia, even if it was just a laxative.
01:00These three months in the pig pet should make up for the scare you gave her.
01:04Director cut the cameras.
01:06Sophia says she can't bear watching me act and suffer.
01:08She feels bad.
01:10I watched my fiancé walk away with his arm around the scholarship girl.
01:14My heart stopped beating.
01:16Sophia finally got what she wanted.
01:18From the moment we met, she made it clear.
01:20Girls like me didn't deserve what we were born into.
01:23Too rich, too spoiled, too empty-headed, in her words.
01:28One day, she said, she would take it all.
01:31And she did.
01:32It didn't take schemes or grand plans.
01:34Just two years of quiet performances.
01:37A stumble here, a trembling voice there, a well-timed tear.
01:41Every time it ended the same.
01:43My brother at her side, my fiancé just behind him.
01:47Both looking at me like I was something rotten.
01:49All she ever had to do was make it seem like I hurt her.
01:53And really, who would believe otherwise?
01:55A rich heiress bullied by a scholarship girl who was gentle and hardworking?
02:00Of course not.
02:01In their eyes, it could only ever be the other way around.
02:04I floated above, looking down at myself, lying in the filth.
02:08Covered in pig shit, fingernails caked with mud.
02:11Cut!
02:13Perfect!
02:15Absolutely perfect!
02:16That dying look in her eyes is incredible!
02:19Quick, get a close-up!
02:20A dozen cameras instantly zoomed in on my face.
02:23A pair of fancy leather shoes stopped beside my face.
02:26Lucas Carter, my fiancé.
02:29All right, stop pretending.
02:30The director called cut.
02:32Why are you still lying there?
02:33Getting addicted to acting?
02:34Seeing no reaction from me, he casually nudged my face with his foot.
02:38The corpse swayed with the force of his nudge, but didn't respond.
02:42Lucas frowned, then crouched down to check if I was still breathing.
02:45What the heck?
02:48Vivian, are you holding your breath this long just to get sympathy?
02:53Looks like these three months in the pigpen weren't wasted.
02:55Your lung capacity's really improved.
02:57I'm not pretending!
02:59Lucas, I'm actually dead!
03:01Look at me!
03:04Don't be so harsh on her.
03:09She worked really hard this time to make it up to me.
03:12Look at her makeup.
03:13So dirty.
03:14If you didn't know better, you'd think she actually lived in the countryside.
03:17Applause came from nearby.
03:19My brother, award-winning actor Ethan Ashford, emerged from behind the monitors.
03:25I'm not bad.
03:27These three months weren't wasted.
03:29Use this fake death scene in the trailer.
03:32Title it, The Mean Girl's Repentance.
03:35This final scene, she acted better than she ever has before.
03:39I almost believed it.
03:41Ethan, this isn't acting.
03:46Mr. Ashford, Mr. Ashford, should we wake Miss Ashford now?
03:54Don't let her bring those filthy clothes into my car.
03:56It's disgusting.
03:58Sophia hasn't been feeling well lately.
04:00She can't handle the smell.
04:01Then, find a trash bag.
04:03Throw her in the trunk.
04:05Since she likes playing dead so much, let her play dead all the way home.
04:08At least it'll spare me from listening to her fake crying.
04:11Yes, sir.
04:12I watched two stagehands lift my stiff corpse and stuff it into a trash bag.
04:17Lucas was wiping raindrops from Sophia's hair.
04:20He didn't look at me once.
04:21The trunk slammed shut.
04:23The car started.
04:24A trail of blood silently drenched the bag.
04:27I floated nearby, almost wanting to laugh.
04:30I remembered when I was 18, I accidentally bumped my head in the car.
04:33Ethan didn't say a word.
04:36He'd said,
04:37Why keep something that hurt our Vivian?
04:40But now, my corpse was being knocked around in the trunk.
04:43Ethan, were you acting back then too?
04:46Or is it that once Sophia appeared, your own sister deserved to be thrown away like this?
04:51Ethan, do you think Vivian will be mad at us for putting her in the trunk when she wakes up?
04:55Ethan drove with a cold snort.
04:58She doesn't get a choice.
05:00Once we're home, I have ways to keep her from throwing a tantrum.
05:04Tomorrow's apology press conference is already arranged.
05:07If she dares to mess it up, I'll send her right back to these mountains for another three months.
05:13She'd better know her place.
05:16Sophia was hospitalized for three days because of that laxative.
05:20These three months of suffering barely make up for it.
05:23I floated above the car, watching these three people.
05:26I never put laxatives in that drink.
05:28Sophia stole my heart medication, then accused me of trying to poison her.
05:32No one believed me, and I can't explain anymore.
05:35The car bumped along the road, my corpse rattling in the trunk the whole way.
05:40Ethan got out without calling the servants.
05:42He opened the trunk and grabbed the trash bag with one hand, dragging it out.
05:46My head hit each step as he dragged me up the stairs.
05:50My soul trembled.
05:51I reached out to protect my head.
05:54Ethan!
05:55Be gentle!
05:56That's my head!
05:58Really heavy.
05:59Playing dead pretty thoroughly.
06:01Not making a sound.
06:02He dragged the trash bag into the living room and dropped it on the rug.
06:06The zipper opened, revealing my mud-covered face.
06:09Eyes closed.
06:10Lips purple.
06:11All right, we're home.
06:14Stop pretending.
06:17Get up and wash yourself off.
06:19Don't dirty the carpet.
06:20She really unconscious.
06:22Her face looks so scary.
06:25That's special effects makeup.
06:27Weren't you there on set?
06:28She fakes passing out all the time to get out of work.
06:31The doctor said she's in perfect health.
06:32This level of cold won't kill her.
06:34Ethan lost his patience.
06:35He walked over to the thermostat and turned it down to the lowest setting.
06:39Want to play dead?
06:40Then lie there.
06:41No one gives her a blanket tonight.
06:43Let's see how long she can keep it up.
06:44With that, all three went to their rooms, leaving only the cold air blowing over my corpse.
06:50I floated in midair, looking at my body lying alone on the floor, watching the lividity spread
06:55across my neck and the back of my arms.
06:58Early in the morning, the Ashford family's styling team arrived.
07:01Today was the apology press conference Ethan had arranged for me, live-streamed to the whole
07:06country.
07:07The makeup artist touched my hand.
07:09Oh, Jesus!
07:10So cold!
07:12She looked at Sophia.
07:13Miss White, Miss Ashford's temperature?
07:15Is she really okay?
07:16Oh, she spent three months freezing in the mountains.
07:19Of course she's cold.
07:20Plus she trained herself to withstand cold for the pathetic effect.
07:24Don't make a fuss.
07:25Just put more blush on her.
07:28That complexion is awful.
07:29With these purple marks on her skin.
07:31Those are bruises from falling in the mountains.
07:34Cover them with foundation.
07:35Today's theme is rebirth.
07:37Don't let people see her looking like a corpse and embarrass the Ashford family.
07:40The makeup artist didn't dare argue.
07:43She grabbed concealer and started smearing it on my face.
07:46I watched from the side, finding it almost funny.
07:49Concealer could cover lividity, but not the smell of death.
07:52This outfit reeks.
07:54Change her clothes.
07:55Put her in this one.
07:56It was the style Sophia had rejected.
07:58A size too small.
07:59Two assistants came over to help change my clothes.
08:02But there was a problem.
08:03Because of rigor mortis, my limbs were stiff.
08:05Mr. Ashford, Ms. Ashford is too stiff.
08:09She won't cooperate.
08:10Like, she is dead.
08:13She won't cooperate.
08:15We can't bend her arms.
08:16Ethan's face darkened.
08:18Vivian!
08:19How long are you going to keep this up?
08:21Won't even put on clothes?
08:22Do you want to apologize naked?
08:23The corpse naturally didn't answer him.
08:25Lucas frowned and strode over.
08:27Since she wants to be stubborn, don't blame me for not being gentle.
08:32He grabbed my stiff left arm and yanked it outward.
08:35I floated in midair, instinctively clutching my arm and screaming.
08:40Then I remembered.
08:41I was dead.
08:42My body couldn't feel pain anymore.
08:45Hmph.
08:47Strong grip.
08:49Playing the virtual Merton?
08:50Hurry up and dress her!
08:51The assistants trembled as they pulled the pink dress onto my corpse.
08:55To hide the twisted arm, they folded my hands across my abdomen.
08:58After all the manipulation, I'd been handled like a doll with no dignity.
09:02Lipstick covered my purple lips.
09:04The foundation hid my pallard.
09:06A ribbon bow concealed the dog collar marks on my neck.
09:09That's better.
09:10Looks like these three months weren't wasted.
09:13Knocked that nasty temper right out of her.
09:15As long as she doesn't talk, she's still the good little sister she used to be.
09:20When we get to the venue, if you dare mess up or say the wrong thing,
09:24I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair.
09:27Don't worry, Ethan.
09:28I'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life anyway.
09:32And I'll never speak again.
09:34Let's go.
09:34Don't keep the reporters waiting.
09:36The sunlight was blinding, but I felt no warmth.
09:38The ballroom backstage was packed with reporters.
09:41Sophia had changed into a white haute couture gown.
09:44She had the makeup artist give her a pitiful victim look.
09:47While Ethan and Lucas were schmoozing with the media, Sophia walked over to my wheelchair.
09:52Vivian, you're so quiet today.
09:54I like it.
09:56Didn't you love calling me a bitch before?
09:57Why so quiet now?
09:58Running out of energy?
10:00Don't worry.
10:01There's an even bigger surprise waiting for you on stage.
10:04Seeing no reaction from me, Sophia pouted.
10:06You can really take it.
10:08But I guess you should behave.
10:10You're about to lose your engagement anyway.
10:12Who's my engagement?
10:13I jerked my head up to look at Lucas.
10:15He was standing in the spotlight, turning to say something to Ethan.
10:18I floated over and heard it clearly.
10:20Today's perfect.
10:22With a live stream, the whole country can witness it.
10:25I'm cutting this stain loose, completely.
10:27Ethan was silent for a moment, glancing at me in the corner.
10:30She brought this on herself.
10:32Can't blame anyone else.
10:33My soul felt that sharp pain again.
10:35So, in your minds, I'm not even worth a title.
10:38I don't even deserve basic human dignity.
10:40Three, two, one, action.
10:43The spotlight came on.
10:45I was wheeled onto the stage.
10:47Because I was strapped in, I sat perfectly straight.
10:49That's the Ashford heiress?
10:51She looks like a model.
10:52Heard she slept in a pig pen for three months, probably brain damaged.
10:55They say she was so arrogant before, even drugged the scholarship girl.
10:58Those vicious whispers drilled into my ears, every single one.
11:01Ethan picked up the microphone, his face full of regret.
11:04Ladies and gentlemen of the press, everyone online, hello.
11:08I'm Ethan Ashfield.
11:09Today's live stream has only one purpose, repentance.
11:13My sister Vivian, out of jealousy and selfishness, caused tremendous harm to our company's artist,
11:17Sophia White.
11:18After three months of reconformation, she's deeply recognized her mistakes.
11:22Today, she's here in front of the entire country to apologize to Sophia.
11:25The comments exploded.
11:27Ethan Ashford standing up to family.
11:29So inspiring.
11:30This is proper elite family discipline.
11:33Ethan turned around, walked up to me, blocking half the cameras.
11:36With his back to the audience, he hissed.
11:38Stop playing dead.
11:42Speak.
11:43Tell everyone what you did wrong.
11:45I didn't respond, so he reached out and pinched the soft flesh of my arm.
11:49The corpse swayed with the force.
11:52Ethan, don't be like this.
11:53She's probably too ashamed to speak.
11:54It's okay.
11:55I forgive her.
11:56She picked up a glass of red wine and forced it into my broken hand.
12:03Vivian, drink this, and we'll still be sisters.
12:06The wine glass tilted.
12:08Wine falling into my glass.
12:10I'm sorry.
12:11Sophia looked hurt toward the camera.
12:13I guess she still won't forgive me.
12:16Too much.
12:17Sophia's being so humble, and she's still putting on airs.
12:19This woman's hopeless.
12:21Mr. Ashford, send her to a psych room.
12:24Lucas took the microphone and strode to center stage, standing beside my wheelchair.
12:29Since Miss Ashford insists on protesting with silence, I don't need to save face for you anymore.
12:36He pulled a velvet box from his pocket.
12:38For a moment, my heart flickered with hope.
12:41Was it our engagement ring?
12:42He opened the box.
12:44Inside was a brand new pink diamond ring.
12:47Lucas turned around, and in front of me, in front of tens of millions of viewers online, he knelt on
12:52one knee before Sophia.
12:54Miss Sophia White, for the past three years, you've been by my side.
12:59Your kindness, your purity, that's what the lady of the Carter family should be like.
13:05This vicious, unrepentant woman who only knows how to put on an act doesn't deserve to enter the Carter family.
13:12Every word lashed my soul.
13:14He stood beside my corpse and proposed to another woman.
13:18He trampled my dignity into the dirt in front of the entire country, then ground it in deeper.
13:24Lucas!
13:25The reporter started chanting.
13:27Lucas pulled out the simple engagement ring that had been mine.
13:30He casually tossed it.
13:31Clang!
13:32The ring fell into a nearby trash can.
13:34From today on, Sophia is my only fiancé.
13:37He took Sophia's hand and slid the pink diamond onto her finger.
13:41Then, he lowered his head and kissed her deeply.
13:45Three years ago, Lucas had knelt in the snow for three days and nights to propose to me.
13:53Vivian, this ring is my life.
13:55Once you wear it, my life belongs to you.
13:58Turns out your life is pretty worthless.
14:01After Sophia came along, you kept saying I'd changed.
14:04But I didn't change.
14:05You just gave her all the patience and love you used to give me.
14:08The ring in the trash, along with the Lucas who once said he loved me, both rotting here together.
14:13The number of online users is still rising and has already broken the platform record.
14:17The live stream had broken the platform's record for viewership.
14:20Hairpash Carter, Luca, Public.
14:22Hairpash when Kuj refuses to apology.
14:24Ash when Sophia White takes over.
14:26All three hashtags instantly dominated the top trending topics.
14:36Move! Everyone move!
14:39Get out of my way!
14:41It was Dr. William, the Ashford family doctor.
14:45He'd watched me grow up.
14:46Dr. William? What are you doing here?
14:48Mrs. Ashford, she told you to check on Vivian.
14:51Why hasn't she moved at all? Is she sick?
14:54Sick? What sick?
14:56She's just pretending to sleep.
14:57I've seen this attention-seeking act a thousand times.
15:02Dr. William, don't let her fool you.
15:04Give her a shot and make her get up right now.
15:06Lucas, with his arm around Sophia, added,
15:09Perfect timing, Dr. William.
15:11Expose her act in front of everyone and let them see just how shameless this Miss Ashford can be clinging
15:17to an engagement.
15:18Dr. William froze, staring at the figure in the wheelchair.
15:22His face changed.
15:23I need to examine her first.
15:25Under pressure from Ethan and Lucas, Dr. William had no choice but to walk shakily onto the stage.
15:31Everyone waited to see the spectacle, to see the evil woman get jabbed with a needle and wake up humiliated.
15:38Dr. William approached the wheelchair and called out, no response.
15:41He reached out to feel the wrist resting on my abdomen.
15:44The moment he touched that ice-cold skin, his face turned white.
15:48His hands started trembling.
15:50He moved from the wrist to the pulse.
15:52No heartbeat.
15:53This, this, Dr. William couldn't believe it.
15:56What's wrong?
15:58Did you find her acting too convincing, even fooling you?
16:01Stop the act, Dr. William.
16:02Just give her the shot.
16:04Lost your voice?
16:05Speak.
16:05Tell everyone she's faking.
16:08Faking?
16:09She can't fake anymore.
16:11Mr. Ashfield, Mr. Carter, can't you see?
16:15She's already dead.
16:19This is liberty.
16:20This is rigor mortis.
16:22You, you've been forcing a corpse to apologize this whole time?
16:27Dead?
16:28Dr. William, you've lost your mind.
16:30Lucas let go of Sophia's hand.
16:32Stop playing along with Vivian's sick games.
16:35Livesey?
16:36I think she just put on special effects makeup.
16:38Vivian, stop pretending!
16:40Get home!
16:41Don't touch her!
16:42Are you blind?
16:44Feel her hand?
16:45Look at her eyes!
16:47What living person looks like this?
16:49Dr. William's tears fell as he untied the bow at my neck with shaking hands.
16:54Under the bow, a circle of purple-black ligature marks around my neck.
16:59As the concealer rubbed off, slight giant cell formation appeared on the side of my neck.
17:03A female reporter in the front row covered her mouth, dry heaving.
17:07The livestream chat exploded.
17:09Holy shit!
17:10That's actual lividity!
17:12I'm a forensic student.
17:13That's definitely not makeup.
17:15That neck.
17:16My god, what did she go through?
17:18Is Ethan insane?
17:19He made a corpse apologize on livestream.
17:22They killed her.
17:23The elites killed someone.
17:25Ethan stared at the black marks on my neck.
17:27No.
17:29Impossible.
17:31He staggered backwards, knocking over the champagne tower.
17:34She was alive yesterday!
17:36When I dragged her home yesterday, she groaned.
17:38I heard it!
17:38I really heard it!
17:39I floated above, watching him.
17:41Tears streaming, watching him.
17:43Ethan, that wasn't me groaning.
17:46That was the sound of air being forced from my lungs when my head hit the stairs.
17:50Come on, call the police!
17:51Get an ambulance!
17:53Hurry!
17:53Workers sprang into action.
17:55Lucas, what do we do?
17:56If she's really dead, then we...
17:59Cut the livestream!
18:00Security!
18:01Get these reporters out!
18:02I dare anyone to move!
18:04Ethan Ashford, Lucas Carter, I think you need to come with us.
18:08He collapsed among the broken glass.
18:10He stared at my lifeless face.
18:12The sister he'd doted on for 20 years.
18:15Yesterday, he'd dragged her home like trash.
18:17Today, he'd forced her to kneel and apologize to someone else.
18:21And now the police were telling him she'd been dead all along.
18:24When the coroner took me away, Ethan tried to rush forward but was held back by two officers.
18:29Vivian!
18:30Vivian, don't sleep!
18:31I was wrong!
18:32Please open your eyes and look at me!
18:35My parents rushed back that night.
18:36When they saw the body in the morgue, my mom fainted on the spot and was rushed to the ER.
18:41Lucas and Sophia were detained in the interrogation room.
18:44The coroner paused, looking at Ethan.
18:47The deceased suffered severe external abuse.
18:49Stomach contents showed only small amounts of pig feed and mud.
18:53Most critically, we detected large quantities of powerful hallucinates in the deceased system.
18:58This drug makes people feel pain magnified ten times while conscious.
19:02The deceased died of a heart attack caused by long-term malnutrition, extreme physical abuse, and massive doses of hallucinarians.
19:11Ethan's head snapped up, bloodshot eyes wide.
19:14What did you say?
19:15Hallucinotics?
19:16Yes, that's why her acting seemed so real when she was being tortured, because she was really in pain.
19:22In so much pain, she wanted to die, but didn't even have the strength to beg.
19:26What you thought was acting was her instinct to survive in hell.
19:31Ethan rushed to the toilet, violently vomiting bile.
19:39He remembered those three months.
19:42He'd sat behind the monitors, watching me convulse in the mud pit.
19:46Watching me get dunked in water tanks until I couldn't breathe.
19:50What had he been doing then?
19:52He'd been laughing.
19:54He'd clinked glasses with Lucas and said,
19:59Finally knocked some sense into the brat.
20:03She was just too spoiled before.
20:07Turns out, it wasn't being spoiled.
20:10It was pain magnified ten times over.
20:15It was also this.
20:16The captain walked in with a USB drive.
20:19We found this in the director's safe when we searched the production company, the unedited raw footage.
20:23Mr. Ashford, you might want to brace yourself.
20:26The projector turned on, casting images on the white wall.
20:30The screen showed a mountain pig pen.
20:33The instructor poured spoiled rice on the ground and stepped on it.
20:38Eat!
20:39Miss Ashfield, isn't this how you used to feed stray dogs?
20:42You can give it a try today.
20:44I was chained by the neck, crawling on the ground.
20:47I was so delirious with hunger, I crawled over and licked the rice off the ground with my thumb.
20:52The instructor laughed and kicked me in the ribs.
20:56Disgusting!
20:57If that Ethan saw you like this, his face would surely turn green.
21:01Ethan gripped the table edge so hard, his nails broke off, blood dripping.
21:05The scene changed to Sophia.
21:07She wore a hazmat suit, holding a cattle rod.
21:10Vivian, this electric client is a bit strong.
21:12Try to bear it, okay?
21:14I convulsed violently, foaming at the mouth.
21:17Sophia smiled.
21:18Oh, Lucas.
21:19Look how beautifully she dances.
21:21Record it?
21:22Send it to that idiot Ethan.
21:23Tell him she's practicing breakdancing.
21:25Lucas patted her head.
21:28As long as you're happy, play however you want.
21:30Ethan signed the liability waiver anyway.
21:32As long as she doesn't die, any torture counts as program content.
21:35The final scene showed my last moments before death.
21:38Ethan dropped to his knees, hands over his head, wailing.
21:43He'd lost his mind.
21:44He'd personally sent his sister to hell.
21:47Not only had he signed the waiver, he'd provided all the funding.
21:50He was the murderer.
21:53When police were clearing out my belongings, they found something hard in the lining of
21:57my cotton coat.
21:58It was a small recording pen, wrapped in three layers of plastic bags and sewn into the deepest
22:04part of the garment.
22:05The detective captain pressed play in front of Ethan and my parents, who had just regained
22:10consciousness.
22:11After a crackling sound, Lucas and Sophia's voices came through.
22:14Sophia.
22:15Lucas, why won't she just die already?
22:17We already doubled the dose.
22:21Be patient.
22:22Once she's dead, the inheritance goes to Ethan.
22:25Then we follow the...
22:26What plan?
22:27The recording continued with Lucas' voice.
22:29That idiot Ethan sure is ruthless with his sister.
22:31Once Vivian dies, go comfort him to do his grief for a few days.
22:33Then slip him some slow-acting neurotoxic.
22:35It's tasteless and odorless.
22:37It'll just make him look like he had a mental breakdown to his grief.
22:39Aw, that's so sad.
22:42But for the Ashford family's billions, we'll have to sacrifice Ethan.
22:46He's just an actor anyway.
22:48He has no clue how to run a business.
22:51The Ashford Empire will be ours.
22:53As long as we get Vivian to sign that post to be a stock transfer of women, Ethan becomes
22:58useless.
22:58I pretended to be the mute old man to give her hope, just to watch her fall from heaven
23:02into hell.
23:03Sorry.
23:03That's the fun part.
23:05The sound of kissing came through the recording.
23:08You are still the smart one.
23:09That frame job was brilliant.
23:10Taking laxatapes to frame Vivian, that turned Ethan, the sister conflict, into our knife.
23:14If Vivian knew her brother sent her to die just to defend you, she'd never forgive him
23:18even as a ghost.
23:19Sorry.
23:20My dad clutched his chest, spat out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed.
23:25What a disaster.
23:27We invited wolves into our home.
23:29Invited wolves?
23:31Mom pounded on Ethan.
23:33It was you.
23:34You killed Vivian.
23:35She was protecting you.
23:37She stayed there to get evidence.
23:40You monster.
23:41Give me back my daughter.
23:42Ethan let mom beat him.
23:44He'd thought I was evil, jealous of Sophia.
23:48He'd thought he was educating me, reforming me.
23:51In reality, I was trading my life for a chance to expose their true faces.
23:57During those three months, every time they stepped on my face, every time Sophia jabbed me with
24:04the cattle prod, I repeated to myself, hold on Vivian, just hold on.
24:10Once you get the recording, Ethan will be safe.
24:14I did it.
24:15I protected my brother.
24:16I protected the Ashford family.
24:19The price was rotting in the dirt, treated like garbage by the person I loved most.
24:25I'm a monster.
24:26Ethan suddenly started laughing, laughing while crying.
24:30He grabbed the fruit knife from the table and stabbed it toward his neck.
24:34Stop him!
24:35The captain shouted and knocked the knife away.
24:38Ethan collapsed on the floor, slapping himself over and over.
24:42Don't stop me.
24:43Let me die.
24:44Let me go apologize to Vivian.
24:46Let me die.
24:48Die?
24:49Death would be too easy for you.
24:51Your sister gave her life to protect the Ashford family.
24:55Instead of figuring out how to defend it and make the killers pay, you just want to die?
25:01Ethan Ashford, that life of yours belongs to your sister.
25:05You have to live with it and suffer.
25:08The evidence was irrefutable.
25:10When Sophia was arrested, she fought desperately.
25:14I'm innocent.
25:15Lucas forced me to do everything.
25:17I'm a victim.
25:18I have a heart condition.
25:20You can't arrest me.
25:21Heart condition?
25:23Ethan pulled out a document.
25:25Sophia White, your medical records from abroad show your heart is stronger than a bull's.
25:29Your so-called congenital myocarditis was completely fabricated for sympathy.
25:36Sophia's face went deathly pale.
25:39No.
25:40Ethan, let me explain.
25:43Don't call me that.
25:44Ethan's voice was hoarse.
25:46You don't deserve it.
25:47And that laxative.
25:49Ethan threw a restored surveillance video in her face.
25:52The footage showed Sophia putting laxatives in the yogurt herself, then drinking it.
25:56Vivian never tried to hurt you.
25:58Never.
25:59Each word was agonizing for Ethan.
26:01You were always the one hurting her.
26:03And I, I was your accomplice.
26:06Ethan suddenly reached out and grabbed Sophia by the throat.
26:09Help.
26:10Help.
26:10Sophia rolled her eyes, clawing at Ethan's hands.
26:13Police rushed forward and pulled Ethan off.
26:16Mr. Ashford, the law will judge her.
26:18You can't take matters into your own hands.
26:21Sophia collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
26:24Hair disheveled, makeup smeared.
26:26She was handcuffed and dragged to the police car.
26:29Before getting in, a rotten egg hit her face.
26:32It was thrown by one of Ethan's fans who used to curse me endlessly.
26:36Give Vivian Ashford back, you witch!
26:39Sophia screamed as she was taken away.
26:41Waiting for her was a murder conviction and the death penalty.
26:45To save the family business, Lucas' father issued an overnight statement disowning his
26:50son and freezing all of Lucas' assets.
26:52But that wasn't enough.
26:53Ethan used every connection he had to get Lucas sent to the most violent cell block in
26:58detention.
26:59And he told the cell boss, this man loves abusing women and making people eat rotten food.
27:04On Lucas' first day inside, he was forced to eat a bucket of food scooped from the toilet.
27:09When he refused, they broke two of his ribs.
27:12He tried to call for help, but his voice had been poisoned mute.
27:16Ethan had sent in the extra meal.
27:18Just like the mute old man Lucas had pretended to be on the show, this time, he really became
27:23mute.
27:24On trial day, Lucas was carried into court.
27:26He was skeletal.
27:28Old injuries layered with new ones.
27:30Seeing Ethan in the gallery, his eyes showed bleeding.
27:33He opened his mouth wide, making abba-abba sounds.
27:36But no one could understand.
27:38The judge announced the verdict.
27:39The defendant, Lucas Carter, with multiple counts, is sentenced to death with immediate
27:44execution.
27:45Hearing death penalty, Lucas' eyes rolled back and he wet himself.
27:49He was dragged out.
27:50Before execution, Ethan requested one final visit.
27:54Through the glass, Ethan held up my portrait.
27:56In the photo, I smiled brightly, eyes full of light.
28:00Vivian says she doesn't forgive you.
28:02Ethan looked into Lucas' terrified eyes, enunciating each word.
28:06She says hell is too cold.
28:08She wants you to go down there and be her dog.
28:10Lucas kowtowed frantically, head bleeding.
28:13But Ethan simply turned and left.
28:15In that moment, Lucas finally understood despair.
28:19Lucas died.
28:20Sophia got life imprisonment.
28:21The Ashford family built a memorial garden for me on the Mountain Village site.
28:25They planted it full of sunflowers I loved.
28:28Award-winning actor Ethan Ashford retired at his career peak and disappeared from public
28:33view.
28:34He moved into the basement of the mansion.
28:36It had been renovated into a one-to-one replica of the pig pen.
28:39Late at night, he would hallucinate.
28:41To experience my pain, he even injected himself with the same hallucinogens.
28:47Vivian, he murmured in his dreams, forehead drenched in cold sweat, body convulsing in pain.
28:53It hurt so much.
28:56It hurt this much.
28:58How did you bear it?
29:00How did you bear it?
29:01He reached out, grasping at empty air, trying to grab my hand.
29:06I shouldn't have sent you away.
29:08I deserve to die.
29:09I watched his increasingly gaunt face.
29:12Watched the white hair appearing at his temples.
29:16I sighed.
29:17Ethan, I don't hurt anymore.
29:19Really, I tried to reach out, to smooth his furrowed brow.
29:24The instant my fingertips touched his forehead, Ethan's eyes snapped open.
29:30He stared at the empty space where I floated, his gaze focusing.
29:35Vivian, is that you?
29:36I smiled.
29:37Even though he couldn't see me, I still gave him a long lost smile.
29:41Just like when I was little, hiding behind him after getting in trouble, asking for help.
29:45Ethan, I'm leaving now, I said silently in my heart.
29:49This life was too painful.
29:50Next life, I won't be your sister.
29:53I want to be a cloud in the sky, wind in the mountains, free and easy, where no one can
29:58lock me up again.
29:59Tears streamed down Ethan's face.
30:01He knelt on the straw mat, kowtowing heavily to the empty air.
30:04Okay, he choked out.
30:06Next life, don't meet me.
30:08Don't meet our family.
30:09My soul grew lighter, rising bit by bit.
30:12Before fading away, I looked back one last time.
30:15Ethan was still kneeling there.
30:17The recording pen played my final words.
30:19Tell Ethan, I learned my lesson.
30:22It was a lie and my final punishment for him.
30:25For the rest of his life, he would live imprisoned in this lie, trapped in a cage of his own
30:30making until death.
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