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- il y a 5 semaines
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00:00:00The temperature inside the car turned suffocating.
00:00:03Alex, hit me harder.
00:00:05Make me forget every filthy thing they ever did to me.
00:00:10Five years ago, my ex, Matthew, protected Sophie after she killed my mother.
00:00:15Later, the Whitaker family kidnapped me, destroyed me, forced me to flee Boston.
00:00:20My billionaire husband has transferred hundreds of billions in assets into my name.
00:00:24Take it, baby. Now this power is yours.
00:00:27But when I came back to Boston, they crushed me all over again.
00:00:31They killed my grandmother.
00:00:33You pathetic little bitch. I swear I'll make you die in here.
00:00:37Then you should have killed me first.
00:00:40Because now, I'm dragging every single one of you down to hell with me.
00:00:43Five years after I walked away from Matthew Shaw, I married Alex Sterling, one of the wealthiest men in the
00:00:49country.
00:00:49Alex insisted on transferring his trust interests and most of his personal assets into my name.
00:00:55This is the foundation I want to give you. Something that doesn't depend on anyone else.
00:00:59I came back to Boston, the city where I was born, specifically to sign this trust transfer document.
00:01:04I walked into Boston's largest law firm, Shaw Pierce LLP.
00:01:09Hello. I have an appointment.
00:01:10Well, well. If it isn't Nora Quinn, the one who used to throw herself at Matthew back in the day.
00:01:16They were the same people who used to make my life hell.
00:01:19And at the center of them stood a man.
00:01:21The nightmare I had spent five years trying to bury.
00:01:24Matthew Shaw.
00:01:25Oh my god, it's really her. What's with all the knockoffs?
00:01:29That Patek the Lilith is fake too, isn't it?
00:01:33Nora, there's no need for this.
00:01:35Dressing up in knockoffs and pretending to be some socialette just makes you look cheap.
00:01:39Five years and he's still the same.
00:01:41The moment I show up, he just assumes, automatically, that I'm here for him.
00:01:44Everyone on campus knew I was crazy about Matthew Shaw.
00:01:48I brought him coffee, saved him seats in the library, and even ran a fever just to show up at
00:01:53his games.
00:01:53After the match, I could barely stand, but he only looked down at me and said,
00:01:58Then go ahead and try.
00:02:01And just like that, I became his girlfriend.
00:02:03I thought I'd finally found love until Sophie Whitaker showed up.
00:02:10Sophie was Matthew's childhood sweetheart.
00:02:12The moment she got into the same school, she effortlessly claimed every spot by his side.
00:02:18I made a scene, but every time, he just looked at me with a frown.
00:02:21Nora, you're really annoying like this.
00:02:23So I held it in, over and over again.
00:02:26On the eve of the wedding, my mother was killed by a speeding Porsche.
00:02:31The driver was a drunk Sophie Whitaker.
00:02:33I rushed to the police station, only to see her crying and clutching Matthew's sleeve.
00:02:39Matt, I didn't mean it.
00:02:41Don't be afraid. I'm here.
00:02:43Finally, I understood, in his heart, his fiancé would never be worth more than a single tear from Sophie.
00:02:48The wedding is off. We're done.
00:02:51Sophie is like family to me. I can't just abandon her.
00:02:54When the trial came, Matthew personally defended her, twisting a fatal DUI into reckless driving.
00:03:01She clung to him, crying,
00:03:03My father and I appealed again.
00:03:07I was kicked out of my apartment, stalked, kidnapped, and threatened with compromising photos.
00:03:14In the end, I fled to New York like a stray dog with nowhere to go.
00:03:22Cancel the appointment. I'll find another firm.
00:03:25She's clearly here for Matthew!
00:03:28Matthew is about to marry the Whitaker heiress.
00:03:30Say one more word, and I'll tear your mouths apart.
00:03:34Nora, you're 28, not 18. Is it really worth it to come to my workplace and make a scene?
00:03:38Matthew, listen carefully. I'm here for a property trust transfer.
00:03:41My husband is about to transfer hundreds of millions in assets to me.
00:03:44As for you, you're nothing but a pathetic ex who never mattered. Don't flatter yourself.
00:03:50The lobby fell into a dead silence, Matthew's eyes dripping with sarcasm.
00:03:54Nora, think before you lie.
00:03:56Do you even believe that insane nonsense yourself?
00:03:59Rent a watch, hire some extra to play your husband, and suddenly you think you're a wealthy socialite?
00:04:04Betty's some balding old man.
00:04:06I was about to retort.
00:04:08Nora Quinn, you goddamn pest!
00:04:10A vicious slap landed hard across my face, snapping my head to the side.
00:04:15How dare you still come here to seduce my Matthew? We're already engaged! You pathetic homewrecker!
00:04:21I raised my hand to slap her back, but my wrist was roughly grabbed mid-air.
00:04:26It was Matthew.
00:04:27He held my wrist in a death grip and even shoved me back a step.
00:04:31Nora, that's enough. Stop this nonsense.
00:04:35I stared at him, almost unable to believe what had just happened.
00:04:39I was the one who had been hit.
00:04:41But just like five years ago, the only person he stopped was me.
00:04:46Seeing Matthew take her side, vicious satisfaction flashed across Sophie's face.
00:04:51The next second, she lunged at me, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and yanked hard.
00:04:56You shameless bitch!
00:04:58You pushed your way between us in college, and now you have the nerve to follow him to his own
00:05:03law form?
00:05:04You disgusting little homewrecker!
00:05:07I am going to ruin you!
00:05:09The firm staff stood around watching, and not a single person tried to pull her off me.
00:05:15Get her face!
00:05:15A homewrecker getting dragged in her ex's law shop?
00:05:18This is insane!
00:05:19Didn't she chase him all through college?
00:05:20She humiliated herself for years, and still ended up with nothing.
00:05:23Honestly, she brought this on herself.
00:05:25Matthew watched the whole thing with cold, detached eyes.
00:05:28Nora, get up.
00:05:30Apologize to Sophie.
00:05:31And promise me you will stop lying and stay out of our lives.
00:05:34Do that, and I will let you walk out of here without making this worse, for old times' sake.
00:05:38I forced myself off the floor, drew back my hand, and slapped him across the face as hard as I
00:05:43could.
00:05:43Matthew, you make me sick!
00:05:50The red imprint of my hand bloomed across Matthew's cheek.
00:05:53You hit my fiancine?
00:05:55Who the hell do you think you are?
00:05:57I raised my arm on instinct.
00:05:59The scalding coffee soaked through my sleeve.
00:06:02That was assault?
00:06:04I am calling the police.
00:06:05The police arrived.
00:06:06Mr. Shaw, you are here too.
00:06:08Can you tell me what happened?
00:06:09Officer, this stormed into the firm and attacked Mr. Fiancine.
00:06:11That is exactly what happened, and unfortunately, our lobby camera has been down for a month.
00:06:15She has been harassing Mr. Shaw for weeks, and today she came in looking for trouble.
00:06:19Miss Quinn, we're taking you in.
00:06:20You can tell your side of the precinct.
00:06:22Every person in that lobby rewrote the truth.
00:06:24He snapped the handcuffs onto my injured wrist.
00:06:26Nora, you always have to push things too far.
00:06:28Maybe one night in a holding class will finally teach you something.
00:06:32One word from the Whitaker family, and I was thrown into a holding cell at one of the roughest
00:06:37precincts in South Boston.
00:06:38So you are the one they warned us about, the rich man chaser who starts swinging when she
00:06:43does not get what she wants.
00:06:45Enjoy sleeping on that tonight, princess.
00:06:47A girl like you should be used to being uncomfortable.
00:06:50That night became its own kind of hell.
00:06:52Every time I dared to close my eyes, a steel-toed boot slammed into the bed, rattling my skull.
00:06:58Two of them dragged me off the bunk and pinned me to the cold, wet floor.
00:07:02Another bucket of dirty gray water hit me directly in the face.
00:07:05I curled into the corner, but I clenched my jaw and kept my eyes open in the dark.
00:07:10Five years ago, they destroyed my parents.
00:07:12Five years later, Matthew was still holding the door open for anyone who wanted to push
00:07:17me off the edge.
00:07:20The next morning, they finally let me out.
00:07:23The officer processing my release tossed my phone onto the counter.
00:07:27Mr. Shaw decided not to press charges.
00:07:30Consider yourself lucky.
00:07:31Now get out and stop picking fights with people who have more power than you.
00:07:35I picked up my phone with shaking fingers.
00:07:37Notifications came flooding in.
00:07:39The footage from the law firm had been maliciously edited and was already going viral on TikTok.
00:07:44All that remained was me slapping Matthew.
00:07:46Then it got worse.
00:07:47My name, my old photos, my past, and even my family's address were being shared everywhere.
00:07:53A local news live stream had just gone live from South Boston, right outside the old apartment
00:07:58building where the only person I had left in this world still lived.
00:08:02My grandmother.
00:08:05The cameras had completely surrounded the narrow entrance to her building.
00:08:09Dozens of reporters and content creators crowded the sidewalk, their lenses aimed straight at
00:08:14her face.
00:08:15She stood in the doorway, lost and terrified under the glare of the cameras, still clutching
00:08:20the grocery bag she had just carried back from the store.
00:08:23The ingredients for the chowder she had promised to make me when I called her yesterday.
00:08:27Ma'am, is it true your granddaughter had an affair with a high-profile attorney and attacked
00:08:31his fiancé in public?
00:08:32Did your granddaughter run to New York because she was exposed as a homewrecker?
00:08:36Is this apartment being paid for with some married man's money?
00:08:39Answer the question!
00:08:41On screen, Grandma Helen's face went white as chalk and her whole body started to shake.
00:08:47Neighbors stood around pointing and whispering.
00:08:49Then someone threw a rotten tomato at her.
00:08:54You animals!
00:08:55Get away from my grandmother!
00:08:57I ran like I was losing my mind.
00:08:59Grandma Helen had a serious heart condition.
00:09:02She could not handle this kind of shock.
00:09:04By the time I made it to the building and rushed up the stairs, the stairwell walls had
00:09:09been spray-painted in bright red.
00:09:12I pushed open the door.
00:09:14The smell of chicken soup still hung in the air.
00:09:17But Grandma Helen was collapsed in the kitchen doorway, one hand pressed to her chest, her face a
00:09:22terrifying shade of blue.
00:09:23Grandma!
00:09:24Wake up, please!
00:09:26Do not scare me like this!
00:09:27The neighbors and reporters outside watched through the open door.
00:09:31I swallowed the pain, lifted her onto my back.
00:09:35A nurse came rushing out, her expression grave.
00:09:38She is in cardiac arrest.
00:09:40She needs emergency surgery right now.
00:09:44The family in the VIP suite is refusing to release the doctor.
00:09:48Refusing to release him?
00:09:50My grandmother is dying in there!
00:09:52I shoved through the VIP ward door like a woman on fire.
00:09:56Sophie was sitting up in the hospital bed with one hand over her heart.
00:10:00Matthew and Richard stood on either side of her.
00:10:03Let the doctor go save my grandmother!
00:10:04She is running out of time!
00:10:07Oh, Nara.
00:10:08I wish I could help.
00:10:10But after what you did yesterday, my heart has been acting up.
00:10:13The doctor is still checking on me, so he cannot leave.
00:10:16Sophie, she is dying in there!
00:10:18If you hate me, take it out on me, not my grandmother!
00:10:22Fine.
00:10:23I will let him go.
00:10:24But first, you are going to say it on camera.
00:10:28Admit you lied.
00:10:29Admit you are jealous of me.
00:10:31Admit you are still obsessed with Matthew.
00:10:33Matthew, say you are a crazy stalker.
00:10:37Say you are a homewrecker who tried to ruin my engagement.
00:10:41Say it clearly, and maybe I will let the doctor go save your grandmother.
00:10:47I dug my nails into my palm, lifted my head, and looked straight into the camera.
00:10:53I am a liar.
00:10:54I am jealous of Sophie.
00:10:57I had no right to go after Matthew.
00:10:59Sophie still was not satisfied.
00:11:01She walked up to me in her heels and tapped the toe of her shoe against my knee.
00:11:06Lower.
00:11:06The camera cannot see how pathetic you really are.
00:11:08My knees gave out, and I sank halfway to the cold floor.
00:11:12Sophie finally let out the laugh she had been holding back.
00:11:15Nora, look at yourself.
00:11:16You really do look just like that dying grandmother of yours.
00:11:20She leaned close to my ear and spoke slowly.
00:11:22Your parents died young because they deserved it.
00:11:24Your grandmother is no different.
00:11:26And the doctor still did not make it in time.
00:11:29The nurse came running back.
00:11:30Her face pale and shook her head.
00:11:32I'm sorry.
00:11:32We ran out of time.
00:11:33I looked at my grandmother's body under the white sheet.
00:11:36A rage so violent it felt like it was tearing through my ribs surged up inside me.
00:11:40I stormed back from the VIP suite, kicked the door open, and slapped Matthew and Sophie across the face.
00:11:46Security!
00:11:47Get this lunar talk out of here!
00:11:49Several men in black grabbed me and dragged me down into the shadowed underground garage.
00:11:54Richard straightened his jacket, his eyes cold as stone.
00:11:57Miss Quinn is unstable, violent, and delusional.
00:12:00The paperwork for an emergency psychiatric hold is already prepared.
00:12:04Get her restrained and transferred before she hurts someone.
00:12:07Get your hands off me!
00:12:08I am not crazy!
00:12:09You are murderers!
00:12:11Richard held up his phone.
00:12:12Keep fighting, and these go live tonight.
00:12:17Everywhere.
00:12:18Hold her down.
00:12:19Give her the sedative.
00:12:20A thick needle loaded with clear fluid moved toward my neck.
00:12:24Just as I was about to lose everything, the shriek of tires split the air.
00:12:28The door swung open.
00:12:29Alex stepped out in a black coat, his face colder than I had ever seen it.
00:12:34Who dares touch her?
00:12:37The thick needle stopped dead less than a centimeter from my skin.
00:12:40Several black-suited bodyguards flooded into the dim underground garage,
00:12:44turning the tables on Richard's men and the psychiatrist.
00:12:46Alex strode toward me in his gleaming custom-made leather shoes, step by step,
00:12:50when his eyes landed on my swollen cheek.
00:12:52Before anyone could react, he lashed out with a brutal kick,
00:12:55sending the thug who had been holding me flying several meters through the air.
00:13:00You dare lay a hand on my people?
00:13:02You all tired of living, is that it?
00:13:04Completely drained of strength, I collapsed in a heap.
00:13:07But I didn't hit the cold concrete floor.
00:13:09Instead, I sank into a warm embrace carrying that familiar cold scent of ebony wood.
00:13:14Alex lifted me into his arms.
00:13:16Looking at the tunt line of his jaw, veins bulging with barely contained rage,
00:13:20the nerves I'd held tut for a full day and night finally snapped completely.
00:13:23I clutched his shirt collar and broke down sobbing.
00:13:26Alex, grandma's gone.
00:13:28They killed grandma.
00:13:29Baby, I'm sorry.
00:13:31I came too late.
00:13:33Anyone who hurt you, none of you are leaving today.
00:13:36Richard's expression flickered.
00:13:37But after seeing that it was just one man standing there,
00:13:40he still leaned on the confidence of his old money Boston family name
00:13:43and let out an arrogant cold laugh.
00:13:47I was wondering who it was.
00:13:49Just some random nobody.
00:13:51You dare to run your mouth in front of the Whitaker family in Boston?
00:13:56Richard didn't recognize Alex.
00:13:58Because Sterling Capital's business operations have always been based in New York
00:14:03and only recently began capital penetration into Boston.
00:14:07In the eyes of these insular, complacent, old-money Boston families,
00:14:11they see themselves as all-powerful local royalty.
00:14:14Kid, if you know what's good for you, put that crazy woman down.
00:14:17In the greater Boston area, no one's got the balls to mess with me over security footage and a Section
00:14:2112!
00:14:21Just then, Matthew and Sophie, who had received word of what was happening,
00:14:25rushed out of the elevator in a panic.
00:14:29Alex.
00:14:30Alex?
00:14:30Alex, how is that even possible?
00:14:34Sophie noticed Matthew's shock,
00:14:36but she didn't believe for a second that I could actually land someone important.
00:14:41She pointed at me, her features twisted with jealousy.
00:14:44Matthew, are you out of your mind?
00:14:47Nora's just a nobody who slept her way up in New York.
00:14:49You worthless slut.
00:14:51She probably paid this guy good money to play along.
00:14:54A paid actor!
00:14:56Throwing on some knock-offs and thinking that makes her the lady of the Sterling House?
00:15:01Detain them all!
00:15:03Looks like the Wicker family in Boston have been throwing their weight around for so long,
00:15:08they don't even realize their time is up.
00:15:10Special assistant, notify all parties.
00:15:12Within ten minutes, I want to see very single Wicker trust completely frozen and liquidated.
00:15:18Alex lowered his head and kissed my tear-dampened lashes,
00:15:22then lifted his gaze, cold as ice, and looked at the people before him.
00:15:26Matthew listened to Alex's words,
00:15:28took a deep breath, trying hard to maintain his pride and composure as a top law firm partner.
00:15:33He stepped forward and spoke in that condescending, professional tone of his.
00:15:37Mr. Sterling, if you're just stepping in to help her out of some sense of chivalry,
00:15:41there's really no need for this knight in shining armor act.
00:15:44I know what kind of person Nora is better than you do.
00:15:47The way he looked at me still carried that same pity and disgust,
00:15:51as if I were nothing but trash.
00:15:53She did everything she could to cling to me back in college.
00:15:56Now she's deliberately set this up just to get close to you,
00:15:59all because she wants revenge for me breaking off the engagement.
00:16:02All she wants is to use your power to get back at me and Sophie.
00:16:05Please don't let this lying woman fool you.
00:16:07Lying? Using me?
00:16:10Matthew really think way too-
00:16:12Alex let out a cold, amused laugh.
00:16:13He held me tight with one arm, while calmly pulling out his phone with the other.
00:16:17He unlocked it without a word and shoved the screen right in Matthew's face.
00:16:20The lock screen was a wedding photo taken in a castle.
00:16:22In the photo, I was wearing an elegant, luxurious wedding gown, smiling radiantly.
00:16:26And Alex, cold, ruthless, and merciless, was bowing his proud head,
00:16:29pressing a kiss to the top of my head with eyes full of tenderness.
00:16:32See clearly now?
00:16:33Nora's my lawfully wedded wife, the Mrs. Sterling to whom I've handed over every single asset I own.
00:16:39The garage fell into a dead, suffocating silence.
00:16:42Matthew stared at the wedding photo, his eyes locked on it,
00:16:45his face turning deathly pale within seconds, his breath caught in his throat.
00:16:49He couldn't accept that the same girl who once humbly brought him coffee every day
00:16:53who would stand in the rain all night-
00:16:54Nora had actually married a topless titan he couldn't even qualify to hand a business card to.
00:17:03Sophie rushed over like a madwoman trying to snatch the phone,
00:17:06but she was stopped cold by one of Alex's bodyguards, who slapped her to the ground without mercy.
00:17:11She clutched her face, sitting on the ground as she hysterically sobbed and screamed at Matthew.
00:17:15Matt, say something! Didn't you say she was just a stray dog nobody wanted?
00:17:20Why does she get to have a better life than me? Why her?!
00:17:23Richard finally sensed that something was terribly wrong,
00:17:26a flicker of panic flashing in his eyes.
00:17:29But he still gritted his teeth and played his final card.
00:17:32Sterling, sir, even if she is your wife,
00:17:34she just assaulted my daughter in a VIP hospital room in broad daylight!
00:17:37And that's a fact!
00:17:38This is Boston! We'll take this through legal channels!
00:17:41Legal channels? Fine.
00:17:42Special assistant, pull up the Whitaker family's conspiracy to commit kidnapping,
00:17:46unlawful imprisonment and dissemination of compromising photos,
00:17:48all original case files and evidence, and submit them directly to the federal prosecutor.
00:17:51When Richard and Sophie heard that compromising photos,
00:17:55the color instantly drained from their faces.
00:17:59Alex carried me into the car, the tinted windows rolled up slowly,
00:18:03completely cutting off the shrieks and snars of the dogs tearing each other apart in the garage.
00:18:07But my body was still trembling uncontrollably.
00:18:10The icy tip of the needle, Sophie's hands choking me, the suffocating grip,
00:18:13and the nightmare of that damp basement five years ago,
00:18:16came crashing down on me all at once like a tidal wave.
00:18:19I closed my eyes, and it felt like I was back in that hopeless night again.
00:18:22Five men hired by the Whitaker family, masked thugs roughly tied me to a chair,
00:18:27harsh lights flashing relentlessly.
00:18:29The sound of tearing fabric, accompanied by their vulgar laughter.
00:18:33They used cold cameras to capture my defenseless body, while lashing me brutally with a whip.
00:18:38You little bitch!
00:18:39Still daring to appeal and sue our young master?
00:18:41These photos will be plastered all over every bulletin board at your school by tomorrow.
00:18:44Those filthy hands roaming all over my skin, I screamed until my voice went horns.
00:18:49And what was Matthew doing?
00:18:50He was out picking out an engagement ring with Sophie.
00:18:53Baby, open your eyes. Look at me.
00:18:55It's all in the past now.
00:18:57As long as I'm here, no one will ever touch you again.
00:19:02Yanked me back from the abyss.
00:19:05I snapped my eyes open, and met his dark eyes filled with both tenderness and barely contained fury.
00:19:10Like a drowning person, I clung to his neck for dear life, and pressed my lips desperately to his.
00:19:15I need you.
00:19:16Alex, please, take me.
00:19:18Let me feel alive again.
00:19:21My desperation and forwardness instantly ignited something in him.
00:19:25Alex's restrained, possessive hunger, held back the entire drive, finally broke free.
00:19:29He pressed me down onto the spacious, luxurious leather back seat.
00:19:32His large, warm hands grabbed me with absolute dominance, shoved aside the coat wrapped around me.
00:19:37His scorching breath washed over me, drowning me completely.
00:19:41His kiss was filled with possessiveness, wild and desperate, as if he wanted to consume me whole,
00:19:48plundering every last breath from my mouth without mercy.
00:19:52Damn it.
00:19:53How dare they do this to you?
00:19:56I'm going to destroy them.
00:19:59His large hand trailing down from my colivone, lower and lower,
00:20:03physical pain and the trembling of my soul intertwined.
00:20:06I tilted my head back, gripping the sharp, tailored shoulders of his suit jacket,
00:20:10letting out a sob that was both painted and desperately yearning.
00:20:13I locked my arms around his neck, holding on for dear life,
00:20:17my voice forsk, laced with a self-destructing resolve.
00:20:20I'm sure.
00:20:21He loosened his tie and thrust deep inside me, filling me completely, owning me entirely.
00:20:30Alex, I love you.
00:20:33Just like that.
00:20:35Don't stop.
00:20:36The powerful rhythm of his thrust rocked the entire heavy luxury car,
00:20:39slightly shuddering with every movement, I was forced to endure his storm-like, relentless claiming.
00:20:44Tears and sweat mixed together, smeared all over my face.
00:20:47But this searing pain and overwhelming possession,
00:20:50miraculously filled the hollow ache deep inside me,
00:20:53the hollow wound carved by all those years of torment.
00:20:56I lay limp across the back seat,
00:20:58letting him grip my waist, pushing me over the edge again and again.
00:21:03This cathartic release went on for a long time,
00:21:06from the underground garage to Sterling Capital's private penthouse estate.
00:21:11Alex didn't even put me down.
00:21:13He carried me straight into the master bedroom,
00:21:16and laid me down on the massive black king-sized bed.
00:21:18Outside the window, a cold drizzle fell under Boston's gloomy night sky.
00:21:23While the bedroom was dimly the intertwined figures on the bed,
00:21:25moving like wild beasts locked in a desperate, primal struggle.
00:21:29Beads of hot sweat rolled down his muscular chest,
00:21:32dripping one by one onto my collarbone.
00:21:35You're mine, Nora, friend O.D.
00:21:39You'll only ever be my Mrs. Sterling!
00:21:41He bit down on my earlope, each thrust driving deeper and deeper,
00:21:45sending shivers of electric pleasure through my entire body.
00:21:48I cried out, begging him to stop,
00:21:49my voice already raw and horshy from screaming on the back of my hand
00:21:52where Sophie's heel had ground into it, throbbed with a dull ache.
00:21:55Alex, no more, I'm so tired, please let me run.
00:21:57Not enough, baby, erase every last disgusting trace that Matthew left on you.
00:22:01Every inch of you, every inch of you, it all needs to be brand with my name.
00:22:05Until the sky began to like to move a finger, I passed out cold in his arms.
00:22:11When I finally woke up again, the sun was already setting outside the floor-to-clear windows.
00:22:17A faint scent of medicinal ointment lingered in the room.
00:22:20I shifted slightly and felt as if I'd been run over by a truck.
00:22:24Every muscle in my body aching.
00:22:26Especially my waist, which was covered in dark purple finger-shaped bruises,
00:22:30had already been carefully drained, treated with ointment and wrapped up in neat little bows.
00:22:33The bedroom door was pushed open gently, and Alex walked in carrying a delicate porcelain bowl.
00:22:39He'd taken off his tie and left the top three buttons of his shirt undone,
00:22:43looking far less brutal than he had in the garage, and far more relaxed.
00:22:48Almost domestic.
00:22:49Awake?
00:22:50Still hurting?
00:22:52He sat down on the edge of the bed, and carefully gathered me into his arms.
00:22:57He scooped up a spoonful of the rich broth, blew on it gently to cool it down, and brought it
00:23:03to my lips.
00:23:04The rich aroma of tomato and basil instantly awakened my appetite.
00:23:08Heard you like this one.
00:23:09Tomato basil soup.
00:23:10I pushed you pretty hard last night.
00:23:12You need to get your strength back.
00:23:14I took a sip.
00:23:15Alex, thank you.
00:23:17But the Wicker family won't go down that easily.
00:23:20Richard has stakes in hospitals and media outlets all over Boston.
00:23:24And Matthew is Shaw and Pierce top gun.
00:23:27Don't worry, baby.
00:23:30The reckoning has only just begun.
00:23:32Every single one of those people who took part in the bullying back then,
00:23:35who took those photos, not a single one of them will get away from me.
00:23:37But I don't want them to go down too fast.
00:23:39Slow suffering.
00:23:40That's what retribution really means.
00:23:43Just as Alex said, the reckoning has only just begun.
00:23:47And Sophie, that high society era living the good life in Boston's upper crust,
00:23:51had absolutely no idea that disaster was about to come crashing down on her.
00:23:54In the lavish living room of the Wicker family mansion,
00:23:56the expensive crystal chandel cast a harsh cold light over everything.
00:23:59Sophie swept the fine china off the table and her mez ornaments,
00:24:03smashing them to pieces on the floor in a fit of rage,
00:24:06screaming like a complete madwoman.
00:24:08I don't believe it!
00:24:10How could that low-class dit Nora ever land someone like Alex?
00:24:14She had all those disgusting photos taken of her back then.
00:24:17She's nothing but a worthless whore!
00:24:20That man must be blind!
00:24:22Richard sat nearby, his expression just as dark and grim as it could be.
00:24:26Though Alex had forcefully suppressed what happened in the underground garage last night
00:24:30and kept it from leaking out.
00:24:32But this morning, Wittaker Group's stock had already started evaporating for no apparent reason.
00:24:36Enough! Stop smashing things!
00:24:38Last night, word came from Shaw's side that the federal prosecutor actually seems to be reopening,
00:24:44pulling up the case files from five years ago.
00:24:47And that useless Matthew still hasn't managed to shut it down!
00:24:51Dad, no matter how much it costs, we have to buy off the local Boston media
00:24:56and keep feeding press releases to the media
00:24:59and say Nora is a corporate spy
00:25:01and seduce the CEO of Sterling Group with her body
00:25:04trying to bring down a local business!
00:25:06A flash of pure venom flickered in Sophie's eyes.
00:25:10As long as we completely destroy her reputation
00:25:12and leak those compromising photos to the public,
00:25:15I don't believe Alex would still want a woman across America
00:25:18as nothing more than a public bus!
00:25:22Meanwhile, in the top partner's office at Shaw & Pearson LLC,
00:25:25Matthew sat staring blankly at a desk covered in case files from five years ago.
00:25:28On his computer screen, a maliciously edited video of me assaulting someone
00:25:30which had gone viral on TikTok the day before was on a loop.
00:25:33In the past, he wouldn't have hesitated to assume it was just me being unreasonable,
00:25:36arrogant and domineering.
00:25:38But the way Alex had shielded me with such fierce, almost obsessive protection
00:25:41in that underground garage last night
00:25:42and that sacred wedding photo
00:25:44hit him like a silent, brutal slap his arrogant face.
00:25:46If Nara really was just a lying, scheming woman who seduces rich old men,
00:25:50would a man as powerful and wealthy as Alex
00:25:53ever look at her the way he did,
00:25:55like she was the most precious thing in his hands?
00:25:59Matthew!
00:26:00Something terrible's happened!
00:26:02The Supreme Court handed down a firm order today.
00:26:05They rejected our extension request regarding Sophie's probation
00:26:07for the hit-and-run five years ago!
00:26:14That case from five years ago.
00:26:16Back then, Sophie and Richard promised me
00:26:19they just wanted to get the charges dropped
00:26:20and avoid jail time.
00:26:22They swore they never harmed Nora personally behind the scenes, right?
00:26:26Well, Matthew,
00:26:28you were the lead counsel back then.
00:26:29What the Whither family did behind closed doors,
00:26:31did you really
00:26:33not know a thing about it?
00:26:34Looking at the evasive, shifty look in his colleague's eyes,
00:26:37Matthew felt, for the first time,
00:26:38a tremor of panic deep in his chest.
00:26:42That very night,
00:26:43Matthew showed up at the Whittaker mansion
00:26:45with a dark, grim expression
00:26:46and arrived at the Whittaker mansion.
00:26:48The moment he stepped into the foyer,
00:26:50he saw Sophie holding her phone,
00:26:52frantically yelling at a few local tabloid journalists
00:26:55gossip paparazzi on the phone,
00:26:57and directing them to buy trending topics
00:26:59and smear Nora.
00:27:02When Sophie saw Matthew,
00:27:04her eyes lit up and immediately tried
00:27:06to cling to him like she always used to,
00:27:07reaching for his sleeve.
00:27:09Matt, you're finally here!
00:27:11Did you get that bitch taken care of yet?
00:27:14I want her dead in Boston!
00:27:16But for the first time ever,
00:27:17Matthew sidestead,
00:27:18dodging her and avoiding her touch altogether.
00:27:21He looked down at her from his full height,
00:27:23his gaze as cold as if he were staring at a stranger.
00:27:25Sophie, tell me the truth.
00:27:26After the court handed down your probation sentence
00:27:28five years ago,
00:27:29what exactly did you and your father do to Nora?
00:27:31Matt,
00:27:32you're talking to me like this?
00:27:34Are you suspecting me?
00:27:35I didn't do anything!
00:27:36She was just jealous of me!
00:27:38She ran off to New York on her own!
00:27:39Stop lying!
00:27:40Alex specifically mentioned compromising photos
00:27:43and unlawful imprisonment last night.
00:27:45Five years ago,
00:27:46Nora suddenly dropped her appeal
00:27:47and vanished without a trace.
00:27:49Did you kidnap her?
00:27:51Faced with Matthew's sudden harshness,
00:27:54Sophie faltered for a split second,
00:27:56but her spoiled, entitled temper
00:27:58quickly flared back up.
00:28:00So what if we did?
00:28:01She was just some low-class nobody!
00:28:03Running her over was doing her a favor!
00:28:06And she had the nerve to sue me,
00:28:07so I took a few naked photos of her
00:28:09to teach her a lesson?
00:28:10What's wrong with that?
00:28:11Matthew, you were an accomplice back then,
00:28:13so don't you dare play the saint now!
00:28:16The word opolis hit him like a thunderbolt
00:28:19and slammed into Matthew's eardrums
00:28:21like a sledgehammer.
00:28:22He stumbled back a step,
00:28:24his mind going completely blank for a moment.
00:28:26He had always believed he studied law
00:28:28to uphold justice,
00:28:30to defend fairness.
00:28:31Five years ago,
00:28:32when he defended Sophie,
00:28:34he had only been led by the Whitaker family
00:28:36to believe the narrative
00:28:37that it was just an ordinary traffic accident.
00:28:40And because he thought of Sophie as family,
00:28:42the glow of being a top-tier partner,
00:28:45the girl who once had eyes only for him,
00:28:49had been through something so devastating,
00:28:53hellish torment.
00:28:55You actually hired people to
00:28:59kidnap her?
00:29:01And took those kinds of photos?
00:29:04Matthew,
00:29:05you've been living off the Whitaker family's resources
00:29:08to climb to where you are today!
00:29:10And now you're playing the heartbroken ex-boyfriend?
00:29:13Let me tell you something.
00:29:15I've already sent those photos to the media!
00:29:18That bitch is completely finished this time!
00:29:20Matthew's head snapped down
00:29:22as he unlocked his phone.
00:29:23And sure enough,
00:29:24on a few local Boston gossip Twitter accounts,
00:29:27along with a few photos
00:29:28covered in the most half-jud pixelation,
00:29:30had already blown up
00:29:31to the top of the trending list,
00:29:32exposing the filthy past
00:29:34of a billionaire's wife,
00:29:35that desperate,
00:29:36tear-stroked face in the photos.
00:29:38It was me.
00:29:38Five years ago.
00:29:40Sophie,
00:29:41you're insane!
00:29:42You've completely lost your m-
00:29:45But whatever damage Sophie thought those photos would do,
00:29:48she had no concept of the machine she was up against.
00:29:52The images had been live for less than three minutes
00:29:55when every server hosting them
00:29:56suffered a catastrophic attack.
00:29:59Every account that had posted them
00:30:01or even referenced my name in connection with them
00:30:03was permanently suspended.
00:30:05Within the app,
00:30:06the CEOs of Boston's five largest media outlets
00:30:09were pulled out of bed in the middle of the night
00:30:11by armed security teams
00:30:13and driven directly to Sterling Capital's Boston headquarters.
00:30:16Mr. Sterling,
00:30:17this had nothing to do with us directly.
00:30:19Richard paid through private channels.
00:30:21He used anonymous accounts.
00:30:22We didn't know the source of the content.
00:30:24We had no way of verifying-
00:30:25I don't care about your excuses.
00:30:27Before the sun comes up tomorrow morning,
00:30:29I want documented evidence
00:30:31of the Whitcart Group's illegal money laundering,
00:30:33their coordination of the kidnapping,
00:30:35and Richard's fraudulent use
00:30:36of a Section 12 psychiatric hold
00:30:37as a weapon against a private citizen
00:30:39on the front page of every major publication
00:30:41in this country.
00:30:43Anyone who doesn't deliver
00:30:44can start planning your bankruptcy filing tonight.
00:30:48You'll have plenty of time
00:30:49to think about your choices in federal prison.
00:30:52It'll be done.
00:30:53We'll have the whole team working through the night.
00:30:55Consider it handled.
00:30:58While Alex dismantled everything around them,
00:31:00I was sitting on the edge of the bed in the penthouse,
00:31:03staring at nothing.
00:31:04The screenshots.
00:31:06Comments.
00:31:08The image of my own face on those accounts.
00:31:10I couldn't shake any of it.
00:31:13The bedroom door opened.
00:31:15Alex walked in,
00:31:16still carrying the charged air of someone
00:31:18who had just finished burning something down.
00:31:21But the moment he saw me curled into the corner of the bed,
00:31:25all of it fell away.
00:31:26He peeled back the covers and climbed in behind me,
00:31:30his body wrapping completely around mine.
00:31:33Don't look at any of it.
00:31:35Don't think about it.
00:31:37The photos are gone.
00:31:40Every copy,
00:31:41every cash,
00:31:42every account.
00:31:42And the people who put them up
00:31:44won't see tomorrow.
00:31:46Alex.
00:31:49Do you think I'm dirty?
00:31:52After what they did to me five years ago,
00:31:54after everything they did,
00:31:56he didn't let me finish.
00:31:57He bit down on my lower lip,
00:32:00firm and deliberate.
00:32:01And when he kissed me,
00:32:02it was deep and punishing
00:32:03and so full of tenderness,
00:32:04it cracked something open in my chest.
00:32:07He kissed me until I couldn't breathe.
00:32:09Until I was gripping him just to stay upright.
00:32:12Say something like that again,
00:32:14and I'll give you a very good reason to stop talking.
00:32:18Nora, you are the victim.
00:32:19The filth belongs to them.
00:32:21You are the cleanest,
00:32:23most fearless person I have ever known in my entire life.
00:32:26His warm hands slipped beneath the hem of my shirt,
00:32:29palm flat against my skin,
00:32:30deliberate and certain.
00:32:32His touch carried a heat that moved through me slowly,
00:32:35dissolving the grief and the humiliation layer by layer.
00:32:38The bed shifted under us as we fell into each other again,
00:32:42slow this time and deep and long.
00:32:46The next morning, Boston woke up to a storm.
00:32:49Every major outlet in the country had the same lead story.
00:32:53Whitaker group implicated in multiple kidnapping cases
00:32:56and money laundering.
00:32:57Evidence confirmed FBI investigation formally opened.
00:33:01Richard Whitaker's fraudulent abuse
00:33:03of psychiatric detention power
00:33:05stripped him of his board positions effective immediately.
00:33:08One of Boston's oldest dynasties
00:33:10had been reduced to rubble in under 24 hours.
00:33:13Federal agents arrested Richard on his
00:33:15way to the office.
00:33:17Back at the Whitaker estate,
00:33:19Sophie stood at the window
00:33:20staring at the red seizure notices
00:33:22plastered across the front gates.
00:33:25Then she grabbed her car keys
00:33:27and drove straight to Shaw and Pierce.
00:33:29The moment she walked into the lobby,
00:33:31the staff who had once fawned over her
00:33:33parted around her like she was something to avoid.
00:33:36Tell that useless coward to get out here!
00:33:40My family has sent hundreds of millions
00:33:42in business to this firm!
00:33:43Now we're in trouble and he's nowhere to be found?
00:33:45Where is he hiding?
00:33:47Sophie, Mr. Shaw submitted his resignation
00:33:49to the partners meeting first thing this morning.
00:33:50He's not with the firm anymore.
00:33:53What?
00:33:54He's abandoning me?
00:33:55Now?
00:33:56He wouldn't dare!
00:33:58While Sophie was throwing her tantrum in the lobby,
00:34:01Matthew stepped out of the private elevator
00:34:03carrying nothing but a simple briefcase.
00:34:06In a single day,
00:34:07the man who had once moved through Boston
00:34:09like he owned it,
00:34:10cold and untouchable,
00:34:11his eyes were shot through with red.
00:34:13Sophie spotted him and came at him in her heels,
00:34:16swinging her Hermes bag straight in his face.
00:34:19Matthew!
00:34:20You backstabbing ungrateful snake!
00:34:22You said you would take care of me
00:34:23like family for the rest of your life!
00:34:25My father just got arrested
00:34:26and you're out here submitting your resignation?
00:34:28Get on the phone with the federal prosecutor right now!
00:34:30You're supposed to be good with words,
00:34:32so use them!
00:34:34Matthew let the hard corner of the bag
00:34:36split his cheek open.
00:34:37He didn't flinch.
00:34:39He just looked at her for a long moment,
00:34:41and then he drew back his hand
00:34:42and slapped her across the face.
00:34:44You hit me?
00:34:45You actually hit me?
00:34:46That one was for Nora,
00:34:48for everything your family did to her five years ago.
00:34:51Sophie, I must have been completely out of my mind
00:34:54to throw away my ethics,
00:34:55my conscience,
00:34:56and every principle I ever had
00:34:57to protect a viper like you!
00:35:00Sophie pressed her hand
00:35:02to her rapidly swelling cheek
00:35:03and stared at him
00:35:04like she couldn't believe what had just happened.
00:35:07Half the firm's staff was watching.
00:35:09Not a single one of them moved to defend her.
00:35:14You came to me in tears,
00:35:16saying you'd gotten drunk
00:35:17because you couldn't handle the thought of me getting married.
00:35:19I felt sorry for you.
00:35:20I protected you.
00:35:23I twisted a drunk driving fatality
00:35:25into a reckless driving charge in open court.
00:35:30and then you turned around
00:35:31and had her blacklisted,
00:35:34kidnapped,
00:35:35and photographed without her consent!
00:35:37Against his will,
00:35:38his mind filled with a face from years ago,
00:35:41how bright Nora used to be.
00:35:42Even when he was cold to her,
00:35:44she dragged herself to his debate competitions
00:35:46while running a fever,
00:35:48just to be there for him.
00:35:49Years of indifference,
00:35:51nothing but silence used as a weapon.
00:35:53The day of the verdict,
00:35:54you were crying in my arms.
00:35:56Nora was bleeding across the courtroom.
00:35:58Sophie,
00:35:58what your family has done,
00:36:01there's no one left who can save you.
00:36:05Matthew, what is this?
00:36:06Some kind of reformed romantic act?
00:36:08When Nora's father was dying in that hospital
00:36:09and the appeal got thrown out,
00:36:10my people went in there
00:36:11and pulled his oxygen line
00:36:12and you were standing right outside that door?
00:36:14You're a murderer too!
00:36:15Don't you dare stand there like you're clean!
00:36:18The last color drained from Matthew's face.
00:36:23Those words broke the last thing
00:36:25holding Matthew together.
00:36:27He lunged forward
00:36:28and grabbed Sophie by the collar,
00:36:30putting her off the ground,
00:36:31something wild and broken
00:36:33detonating behind his eyes.
00:36:34Will you say that again?
00:36:36Nora's father.
00:36:37You had him killed in that hospital?
00:36:39You told me he died from his own complications!
00:36:41You looked me in the face
00:36:43and told me it was natural causes!
00:36:44Let go of your choke!
00:36:47So what if we did?
00:36:48That stubborn old man kept filing appeals,
00:36:50kept writing letters,
00:36:51kept trying to get the case reopened!
00:36:52You think I could plan a future with you
00:36:54while he was still out there making noise?
00:36:56And don't you point that finger at me, Matthew?
00:36:57The falsified incident report from the hospital?
00:36:59The one that made it all disappear?
00:37:01You used Shaw and Pearson's connections to bury that!
00:37:03You are not innocent!
00:37:05Truth tore itself open in the middle of that lobby.
00:37:08Raw and ugly and impossible to put back.
00:37:12Oh my God!
00:37:13He helped them cover up a patient's death?
00:37:16He actually helped them!
00:37:18You're monsters!
00:37:19All of you!
00:37:21And so am I!
00:37:22He let go.
00:37:24Sophie crumpled to the floor.
00:37:27He stared at his own hands.
00:37:29The hands he had spent his entire career being proud of
00:37:32and felt nothing but the weight of blood he couldn't wash off.
00:37:37The sirens started outside.
00:37:40A moment later, the lobby doors burst open
00:37:43and federal agents came through with arrest warrants.
00:37:48The agents cuffed Matthew and Sophie at the same time.
00:37:52Sophie Wicker, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder,
00:37:55unlawful imprisonment, and aggravated assault.
00:37:57Matthew Shaw, you are under arrest for perjury,
00:38:00concealment of criminal activity,
00:38:01and some durning false testimony.
00:38:03Come with us.
00:38:04Get your hands off me!
00:38:06I am a winner!
00:38:08I didn't kill anyone!
00:38:10Everything was my father's idea!
00:38:12I was following his orders!
00:38:15Sophie clawed and thrashed against the agents on the lobby floor,
00:38:19but the cuffs held.
00:38:20Matthew didn't fight at all.
00:38:22He walked out like a man who had already sentenced himself.
00:38:26That day, the old guard of Boston crumbled.
00:38:29Back at the estate, Alex had the footage playing on the large screen in the main room.
00:38:36Well, phase one, baby?
00:38:40How's it feel?
00:38:41I watched Matthew and Sophie being led away in handcuffs,
00:38:45and the pressure that had been sitting on my chest for five years finally eased.
00:38:49But when I closed my eyes, what I saw was my grandmother's face beneath a white sheet.
00:38:54It's not enough yet.
00:38:56My parents, my grandmother.
00:38:59I want to watch them confess every single thing in open court.
00:39:03I want to hear them say it out loud.
00:39:06Then that's exactly what you'll get.
00:39:10I'm bringing in the best execution team in the country.
00:39:13They won't see the outside of a prison until they're old and gray.
00:39:17But right now, I think we have something more important to take care of.
00:39:23Before I could respond, Alex had me in his arms,
00:39:26carrying me across the main sitting room
00:39:28and lowering me down onto the thick Persian rug in front of the fireplace.
00:39:32The oak logs crackled and popped.
00:39:34The firelight carved his silhouette into something that didn't look entirely human.
00:39:38His hands didn't ask permission.
00:39:40One sharp pull and the silk slip I was wearing gave way completely.
00:39:44His mouth came down on my throat and moved lower,
00:39:47pressing into my collarbone, my chest,
00:39:49branding me with heat wherever he touched.
00:39:53Look at me, baby.
00:39:55From today on, no one in Boston will ever put you on your knees again.
00:40:00No one.
00:40:01His voice was low and rough, thick with want.
00:40:03He gripped my waist and drove forward,
00:40:06claiming me with a force that was equal parts primal and tender,
00:40:10holding nothing back.
00:40:12Alex.
00:40:13The firelight threw our shadows wild across the walls.
00:40:17I arched into him, taking everything he gave, sweat soaking my hair,
00:40:22reaching the peak again and again in the heat and the glow.
00:40:27I knew Richard and Sophie's arrests were just the beginning.
00:40:30The web of old money behind the Whitaker family wouldn't go down without a fight,
00:40:35and a bigger storm was already building.
00:40:37But in that moment, pinned beneath the man who had made all of this possible,
00:40:41I felt safer than I had in five years.
00:40:49Richard's arrest sent shockwaves through the Boston legal world.
00:40:53But I had known from the start that a family that had spent decades sinking its roots into the city's
00:40:58courts and money networks
00:40:59wasn't going to simply accept their fate.
00:41:04Three days after Richard and Sophie were locked up,
00:41:07Richard leveraged old political donation ties and quietly reached out to a Massachusetts Supreme Court judge,
00:41:13trying to have himself transferred to medical custody on procedural grounds.
00:41:18Alex was on the estate terrace,
00:41:21taking a call on a private Washington line.
00:41:24Your Honor,
00:41:27after Sterling Capital announced $30 billion in infrastructure investment for the greater Boston area,
00:41:33I would hope you have a clear sense of which direction the wind is blowing.
00:41:37The man on the other end of that call agreed to everything.
00:41:40Alex hung up and pulled me down into his lap,
00:41:43a hunter's gleam in his dark eyes.
00:41:48Richard thinks a medical transfer is his way out?
00:41:51He's about to find out that the world outside that prison is going to be a great deal worse than
00:41:56the inside.
00:41:56His assistant knocked and entered with an unusual expression,
00:42:00holding out a visitation request form.
00:42:02The name on it was Matthew Shaw,
00:42:04the most arrogant man I had ever known was asking to see me before the trial.
00:42:10The visitation room smelled sharply of disinfectant.
00:42:13When I walked in on Alex's arm,
00:42:16Matthew flinched violently from behind the wire partition.
00:42:19The moment he saw me,
00:42:21his eyes went red.
00:42:22He dropped to both knees on the floor,
00:42:24right there behind the bars.
00:42:34He was shaking as he reached through the bars,
00:42:37trying to grab the hem of my skirt.
00:42:39Alex stepped forward and brought his shoe down hard on Matthew's hand.
00:42:43Matthew went white,
00:42:44but he didn't pull back,
00:42:45kept his eyes locked on me.
00:42:47Nora,
00:42:47I will confess to everything.
00:42:50I'll give them every piece of evidence I have on the Whitcocks,
00:42:54every name,
00:42:54every deal,
00:42:55all of it.
00:42:56I just need you
00:42:59to stop looking at me like I'm nothing.
00:43:03Please.
00:43:04That's all I'm asking.
00:43:06Matthew,
00:43:07the way you're groveling right now,
00:43:08it's 10,000 times more pathetic
00:43:10than anything I ever did chasing after you.
00:43:12And I did some pretty pathetic things.
00:43:17The word pathetic
00:43:18hit him like a physical blow.
00:43:20He stayed on his knees,
00:43:22blood and tears running down his face together.
00:43:25I know I was wrong.
00:43:28Nora,
00:43:29I did love you.
00:43:31All five years.
00:43:32I was just too scared to let you in.
00:43:35Too wrapped up in my own ego
00:43:37to treat you the way you deserved.
00:43:39Can you find it in yourself to consider,
00:43:41even for a second,
00:43:42what we had back then?
00:43:44What we had?
00:43:45Five years ago,
00:43:47you watched the woman who killed my mother
00:43:50laugh in my face.
00:43:52And you held her hand
00:43:53while she did it.
00:43:57When my father was lying
00:44:00in that hospital,
00:44:01dying,
00:44:02where was your conscience?
00:44:04Matthew,
00:44:06where was it?
00:44:07I looked down at him from where I stood
00:44:10and I felt absolutely nothing.
00:44:12No grief.
00:44:13No anger.
00:44:14Just a vast,
00:44:15clean disgust.
00:44:17You want my forgiveness?
00:44:18Bring my parents back.
00:44:20Bring my grandmother back.
00:44:22Until you can do that,
00:44:24you rot in the bottom
00:44:25of a federal prison
00:44:26with the rest of the people
00:44:27who belong there.
00:44:28Alex pulled me in close,
00:44:30his hand easy at my waist,
00:44:32and kissed me right in front of Matthew,
00:44:34slow,
00:44:35unhurried,
00:44:35unmistakably possessive.
00:44:37Thank you for the testimony.
00:44:39And just so you know,
00:44:41your sentence,
00:44:43not a single day gets reduced.
00:44:45I'll make sure of it personally.
00:44:50That night,
00:44:51after we got back from the prison,
00:44:53Alex completely lost control.
00:44:55Watching Matthew grovel at my feet
00:44:57had done something to him.
00:44:58Tension that had been building in him
00:45:00the whole drive back
00:45:01was radiating off his body like heat.
00:45:03The second bedroom door shut.
00:45:05He had me pinned against it.
00:45:07When that man was down on his knees
00:45:09begging you,
00:45:10any part of you feel sorry for him?
00:45:12Did it?
00:45:13Answer me, Nora.
00:45:16He bit down on my collarbone
00:45:18hard enough to make me cry out.
00:45:20His hands found my waist
00:45:21and lifted me up.
00:45:23The intensity of him,
00:45:24the depth of it,
00:45:25ripped a sob from my throat.
00:45:27My nails raked down his back
00:45:28and left marks.
00:45:30No,
00:45:30I felt nothing.
00:45:31I hate him.
00:45:34You're my husband.
00:45:36You're the only one.
00:45:37Say that again.
00:45:38Say husband.
00:45:41He was relentless.
00:45:42His hands gripping my thighs
00:45:45as he drove into me.
00:45:46Each thrust deeper than the last.
00:45:49The bed frame protested
00:45:51under the force of it.
00:45:52We crashed together again
00:45:54and again in the low light
00:45:55until my voice gave out completely.
00:46:02Six weeks later,
00:46:03the Boston Federal District Court
00:46:05opened the most closely watched
00:46:07trial of the century.
00:46:12The press had completely
00:46:14surrounded the courthouse.
00:46:15Every major outlet,
00:46:17every network,
00:46:18every camera in the city.
00:46:19Alex and I stepped out of the Maybach
00:46:21together as flash bolts
00:46:23went off in every direction.
00:46:26This time,
00:46:28the comment sections
00:46:29weren't calling me
00:46:29a homewrecker or a whore.
00:46:31The whole country
00:46:32had seen what the
00:46:33Whitaker family had done
00:46:35and the entire nation
00:46:37was furious on my behalf.
00:46:40Richard and Sophie
00:46:42sat at the defendant's table
00:46:43in ankle shackles.
00:46:44The moment Sophie
00:46:46saw me walk
00:46:46and wearing a white suit
00:46:48on Alex's arm,
00:46:49she came completely unblue.
00:46:51Noah!
00:46:52You think you won?
00:46:55The whole country
00:46:56saw those photos?
00:46:58You are dirty
00:47:00and everyone knows it.
00:47:01You only got here
00:47:02because you spread your legs
00:47:04for a billionaire!
00:47:05The judge's gavel
00:47:07came down like a gunshot.
00:47:11Your Honor,
00:47:13the prosecution
00:47:14is prepared to present
00:47:16complete documentation
00:47:17of the defendant
00:47:18Sophie Wicker's
00:47:19conspiracy to commit murder,
00:47:21unlawful use
00:47:22of psychiatric detention,
00:47:24and Richard Wicker's
00:47:26money laundering operations.
00:47:29Over the next three hours,
00:47:31the courtroom screens
00:47:32filled with original photographs
00:47:34from the kidnapping,
00:47:35a secret hospital recording
00:47:37of the night
00:47:37my father's oxygen line
00:47:38was pulled,
00:47:39and detailed financial records
00:47:41of the bribes paid
00:47:42to the medical examiner
00:47:43to falsify the report.
00:47:45Every piece of evidence
00:47:46was airtight.
00:47:47Every piece carried
00:47:49the weight of someone
00:47:49who had died.
00:47:50Richard cracked first.
00:47:52Sitting at that defendant's table,
00:47:54watching his empire
00:47:55dissolve on screen,
00:47:56he made the calculation
00:47:58to sacrifice Sophie
00:47:59to save what he could
00:48:01of himself.
00:48:02Your Honor,
00:48:02I'm prepared to plead guilty,
00:48:04but I need the court
00:48:05to understand that my daughter,
00:48:07Sophie,
00:48:07was the one
00:48:08who ordered the kidnapping
00:48:09and arranged to have
00:48:10the oxygen line removed
00:48:12from the hospital patient.
00:48:13I was acting under her direction.
00:48:15She manipulated me
00:48:16into all of it.
00:48:18Dad, what are you saying?
00:48:20You were the one
00:48:20who wanted him gone.
00:48:21You said he was a nuisance
00:48:22with his endless appeals.
00:48:23You sent people
00:48:24to that hospital.
00:48:27and now you're trying
00:48:28to put it all on me?
00:48:30Your own daughter?
00:48:36While the Whitakers
00:48:37destroyed each other
00:48:38at the defendant's table,
00:48:39Matthew walked slowly
00:48:40to the witness stand.
00:48:41He didn't offer
00:48:42any defense of himself.
00:48:44He glanced once
00:48:45toward the gallery
00:48:46where I sat against Alex,
00:48:47and I didn't give him
00:48:48so much as a look back.
00:48:50He made a sound
00:48:51that was almost a laugh,
00:48:52but wasn't.
00:48:57As lead defense counsel
00:48:58in the original case
00:48:59five years ago,
00:49:00I am here to testify
00:49:01that I deliberately
00:49:02suppressed the true
00:49:03circumstances
00:49:03of the drunk driving
00:49:04fatality
00:49:04at the direction
00:49:05of the Whitford family.
00:49:06I deliberately suppressed
00:49:07the drunk driving
00:49:07facility in that I used
00:49:08Shaw and Persons resources
00:49:09to erase the falsified
00:49:10hospital incident report
00:49:11from the record.
00:49:13I offer this testimony
00:49:14freely.
00:49:14I plead guilty.
00:49:20Those words effectively
00:49:22sentenced both Whitakers.
00:49:23Sophie grabbed the water
00:49:25bottle off the table
00:49:26and hurled it at his head.
00:49:27Matthew!
00:49:28You think it's traitor?
00:49:29Traitor!
00:49:29Don't think I've forgotten
00:49:31how you treated her
00:49:32in college.
00:49:32You ignored her for years.
00:49:34You are just as guilty.
00:49:36What gives you the right
00:49:37to stand like you're
00:49:38better than me?
00:49:38You're right.
00:49:39I am guilty.
00:49:41Which is why I am asking
00:49:42the court to sentence me
00:49:43to the maximum term available.
00:49:47It's what I deserve.
00:49:48Closed his eyes.
00:49:49Two tears moved down
00:49:50his face.
00:49:51Slow and quiet.
00:49:52It was the only honest
00:49:54thing he had ever done.
00:49:56The jury reached
00:49:58a unanimous verdict.
00:49:5930 minutes later
00:50:00the gavel came down.
00:50:02The judge's voice
00:50:03rang through the courtroom
00:50:04like a bell
00:50:05that had been waiting
00:50:05five years to be struck.
00:50:08On the charges of murder,
00:50:10unlawful imprisonment,
00:50:11extortion,
00:50:12and obstruction of justice.
00:50:14The defendant,
00:50:14Richard Wittner,
00:50:15is found guilty
00:50:16on all counts
00:50:16and sentenced to life
00:50:18imprisonment without
00:50:18the possibility of parole.
00:50:20All assets implicated
00:50:21in criminal activity
00:50:22are hereby seized.
00:50:23On the charges of conspiracy
00:50:25to commit murder,
00:50:26unlawful imprisonment,
00:50:27and the original
00:50:28drunk driving fatality,
00:50:30the defendant,
00:50:30Sophie Whitwick,
00:50:32is found guilty
00:50:32on all counts
00:50:34and sentenced to life
00:50:35imprisonment
00:50:36without the possibility
00:50:37of parole.
00:50:48As the court officers
00:50:50dragged Sophie out,
00:50:52she went down on the floor,
00:50:53slamming her head
00:50:54into the tiles,
00:50:55screaming and bleeding,
00:50:56gone completely.
00:50:58Matthew,
00:50:58in recognition of his
00:50:59cooperation and guilty plea,
00:51:01received 15 years.
00:51:03As the court emptied,
00:51:04I stood at the end
00:51:05of the corridor
00:51:06and watched them
00:51:07take him away.
00:51:08He turned back
00:51:08at the last moment
00:51:09with a look so raw
00:51:11and desperate
00:51:11it could have been
00:51:12hunger or grief or both.
00:51:13I took Alex's hand
00:51:15and walked out.
00:51:16I didn't give Matthew
00:51:17a single glance,
00:51:18not even the satisfaction
00:51:20or contempt.
00:51:22When I stepped through
00:51:23the courthouse doors,
00:51:25the afternoon sun
00:51:26broke through the clouds
00:51:27and landed on my face.
00:51:29Boston's rain
00:51:30had finally stopped.
00:51:31Everything I had been
00:51:32carrying for five years
00:51:33dissolved in that light,
00:51:35all of it gone.
00:51:36The tears came
00:51:37before I could stop them.
00:51:39Mom,
00:51:40Dad,
00:51:40Grandma,
00:51:42can you see this?
00:51:43The people who took you
00:51:45from me
00:51:46are going to spend
00:51:47the rest of their lives
00:51:49paying for it.
00:51:49Don't cry, baby.
00:51:52from here on out.
00:51:55I've got you.
00:51:58It's not going to change.
00:52:04He brushed my tears away
00:52:06with his thumb
00:52:06and pulled me in,
00:52:07holding me tight enough
00:52:08that I could feel
00:52:09his heartbeat.
00:52:10On the drive back,
00:52:11he didn't reach for me
00:52:12the way he usually did.
00:52:14He just held me
00:52:15in his lap,
00:52:16one hand moving
00:52:17slowly through my hair,
00:52:19unhurried,
00:52:19like I was something
00:52:20that needed to be
00:52:21handled gently.
00:52:22No nightmares,
00:52:24nothing chasing me,
00:52:25just quiet and warmth
00:52:27and him.
00:52:29But a man like Alex
00:52:30is never soft for long
00:52:32and lowered us both
00:52:33into the large
00:52:34outdoor soaking tub.
00:52:36The deep white porcelain
00:52:37was filled
00:52:38with warm water.
00:52:39He didn't even take
00:52:40his clothes off first.
00:52:42The score has been
00:52:43settled,
00:52:43Mrs. Sterling.
00:52:44Don't you think
00:52:45your husband deserves
00:52:46a proper reward?
00:52:47His hand moved beneath
00:52:48the water without hesitation,
00:52:50stripping away
00:52:51the last barrier
00:52:52between us.
00:52:53Water spilled over the rim
00:52:54and slapped against
00:52:55the marble floor
00:52:56as he pressed me
00:52:57against the cold...
00:52:58One hand locked
00:53:00around the gold faucet,
00:53:02the sounds escaping me
00:53:04entirely beyond my control.
00:53:06He bit down on my shoulder
00:53:07and pushed harder.
00:53:08Alex, it's too much!
00:53:10The water is...
00:53:11Say it.
00:53:13Tell me who you belong to.
00:53:15Say it and mean it.
00:53:17Each time more relentless
00:53:18than the last
00:53:19until the water
00:53:20crashed around us
00:53:21and we both went
00:53:22over the edge together.
00:53:24The second month
00:53:25after the liquidation
00:53:26was finished,
00:53:27Alex postponed
00:53:28every overseas board
00:53:30meeting at Sterling Capital
00:53:31and stayed in Boston
00:53:32for one reason.
00:53:36He wanted to give me
00:53:38the most extravagant
00:53:39wedding in America.
00:53:40The fake marriage contract
00:53:42we signed years ago
00:53:43had already burned
00:53:44to ash in the fireplace.
00:53:47Now we were real.
00:53:49We were two people
00:53:50who had chosen each other
00:53:51for the rest of our lives.
00:53:54Alex rented out
00:53:56the most exclusive
00:53:57bridal salon in Boston.
00:53:59A dozen couture designers
00:54:01flew in from Paris overnight,
00:54:03surrounding me
00:54:03as I stood in a wedding gown
00:54:05covered in thousands
00:54:06of hand-sewn pink diamonds.
00:54:08I looked at myself
00:54:09in the mirror.
00:54:10My face was glowing.
00:54:12There was no more paleness,
00:54:14no more fear,
00:54:14no more despair.
00:54:16Then the door opened quietly.
00:54:18Alex walked in
00:54:19wearing a crisp
00:54:20white custom suit.
00:54:21He came up behind me,
00:54:24wrapped his arms
00:54:24around my waist,
00:54:25and rested his chin
00:54:26on my shoulder.
00:54:27You look beautiful,
00:54:28Mrs. Sterling.
00:54:29I turned around
00:54:30and wrapped my arms
00:54:31around his neck.
00:54:32Thank God I found you
00:54:33in New York
00:54:36five years ago
00:54:37and never let you go.
00:54:42I am glad you found me too.
00:54:47You are the person
00:54:48I was always meant
00:54:49to come home to.
00:54:52But fate had a cruel
00:54:53sense of humor.
00:54:55It always seemed
00:54:56to throw the past
00:54:57back in my face
00:54:58when I least expected it.
00:55:00After I changed
00:55:01out of the wedding gown,
00:55:02I was about to head
00:55:04into the VIP room
00:55:05to choose a crown
00:55:06when I heard
00:55:06a familiar voice
00:55:07from the main hall,
00:55:08who was desperate,
00:55:09embarrassed,
00:55:10and almost begging.
00:55:11Is there any way
00:55:13you can lower the price?
00:55:14Please,
00:55:15is there any way
00:55:16you can lower the price?
00:55:19We only want to
00:55:22rent this older
00:55:25dress for one day.
00:55:27After the Whitaker family fell,
00:55:29everyone who had ever
00:55:30licked their boots
00:55:31was dragged down with them.
00:55:33Sterling Capital
00:55:34had made sure of that.
00:55:38Sorry, that's all.
00:55:39I know what I said.
00:55:40It's okay.
00:55:41She looked up
00:55:41when she heard
00:55:42my footsteps.
00:55:43Her eyes landed on me,
00:55:45then on the couture gown
00:55:47I was wearing.
00:55:49Nora, Mrs. Sterling.
00:55:51She dropped her head
00:55:52immediately
00:55:53and stood frozen in place,
00:55:55not knowing
00:55:56where to put her hands.
00:55:57All the nasty arrogance
00:55:59she used to carry
00:56:00was gone.
00:56:02who could no longer
00:56:03even afford
00:56:03to rent a decent
00:56:04wedding dress.
00:56:05Why had I ever
00:56:06let someone like her
00:56:07make me feel small?
00:56:09She dropped to her knees
00:56:10on the expensive carpet
00:56:11and started slapping
00:56:12herself across the face.
00:56:14I was blind back then.
00:56:15She cried so hard
00:56:16that her eyeliner
00:56:17ran down her cheeks.
00:56:18Sophie pushed me into it.
00:56:20She told me
00:56:21to laugh at you.
00:56:24Please,
00:56:25just tell Sterling Capital
00:56:27to leave my family alone.
00:56:29She looked pathetic.
00:56:30My father has not
00:56:32worked in two months.
00:56:33Alex came out
00:56:34of the dressing room
00:56:35just then.
00:56:36He glanced at the woman
00:56:38on the floor
00:56:39and he simply lifted a hand
00:56:40and signaled security.
00:56:42Get her out of here.
00:56:45I do not want my wife
00:56:46looking at trash
00:56:47on a day like this.
00:56:49And close the salon
00:56:49for the afternoon.
00:56:50I am buying everything.
00:56:52Two security guards
00:56:53grabbed her
00:56:54and dragged her out.
00:56:56She was still crying
00:56:57when they threw her
00:56:58onto the street.
00:56:59I turned to look out
00:57:00the window
00:57:00at the busy Boston street
00:57:02then calmly looked away.
00:57:04Some people
00:57:04did not need me
00:57:05to punish them.
00:57:06Once the world
00:57:07decided to leave them behind
00:57:09it did not even bother
00:57:10saying goodbye.
00:57:13On our wedding day,
00:57:14a century-old castle
00:57:15on the Massachusetts coast
00:57:17was filled with millions
00:57:18of Bulgarian white roses.
00:57:20A choir sang
00:57:21under the ancient marble dome.
00:57:22I walked down the aisle
00:57:24with Alex,
00:57:25rose petals
00:57:26soft beneath my feet.
00:57:27Old Mr. Sterling
00:57:28sat in the front row.
00:57:31She looked so much
00:57:32like my little...
00:57:32Alex held my hand tightly.
00:57:35I could feel
00:57:36how nervous he was.
00:57:38Nora,
00:57:39in the beginning,
00:57:40I thought I only needed
00:57:41a contract wife.
00:57:43Someone quiet.
00:57:44But I underestimated you.
00:57:47I underestimated
00:57:48how badly
00:57:49I would want you.
00:57:50I wanted your present,
00:57:52your future,
00:57:53and every day after that.
00:57:55Thank you
00:57:56for choosing
00:57:57to become my Mrs. Sterling.
00:57:58His palm
00:57:59was actually sweating.
00:58:00He looked at me
00:58:01with eyes so warm
00:58:02that my chest ached.
00:58:04My eyes stung.
00:58:05Before the priest
00:58:06could finish,
00:58:07I stood on my tiptoes
00:58:08and kissed him
00:58:09hard on the mouth.
00:58:11Alex,
00:58:12I love you too.
00:58:14Until the day I die.
00:58:17In the master bedroom
00:58:19of the castle,
00:58:20the huge window
00:58:20faced the black Atlantic.
00:58:22Inside,
00:58:23on the white king-sized bed,
00:58:24our bodies
00:58:25were tangled together.
00:58:26He pulled off
00:58:27his bow tie.
00:58:28Alex was different tonight.
00:58:30More emotional.
00:58:32More impatient.
00:58:34Pinned me beneath him
00:58:35and kissed a burning path
00:58:36from my neck
00:58:37to my collarbone.
00:58:38His hands moved over me
00:58:40like he had been
00:58:40holding himself
00:58:41back all night.
00:58:42He laughed against my skin,
00:58:44but he did not let me go.
00:58:46His mouth found mine again,
00:58:48hungry and possessive.
00:58:50When you kissed me first
00:58:52at the altar,
00:58:53do you have any idea
00:58:55what you did to me?
00:58:56My wedding dress
00:58:57was ruined beneath us,
00:58:58but I did not care.
00:58:59I clung to his shoulders
00:59:01and let him pull me under,
00:59:02let him erase
00:59:03every last shadow
00:59:04from my body
00:59:05with heat,
00:59:06hunger,
00:59:06and the kind of love
00:59:07that made me lose my breath.
00:59:09That night,
00:59:10the fire in the castle
00:59:12did not die
00:59:12until the sky outside
00:59:13turned pale blue.
00:59:15When the sun finally rose,
00:59:17I lay weak in his arms
00:59:18and watched the light
00:59:19spill across the room.
00:59:21For the first time
00:59:22in my life,
00:59:22the word future
00:59:23no longer scared me.
00:59:29Five years later,
00:59:30spring in Boston
00:59:31still carried a little cold
00:59:33in the air.
00:59:33In a quiet cemetery
00:59:35in South Boston,
00:59:36tall along the stone path,
00:59:37I held the hand
00:59:38of a four-year-old boy
00:59:39as I walked up the steps
00:59:41with Alex.
00:59:41Grandpa,
00:59:42Grandma,
00:59:43Great-Grandma,
00:59:44my name is Leo.
00:59:45The little boy bowed deeply.
00:59:48Mommy says you became
00:59:49the brightest stars in the sky.
00:59:52She says you are always
00:59:53watching over me,
00:59:55Mommy,
00:59:55and Daddy.
00:59:56Alex pulled me into his arms
00:59:58and wrapped his coat
00:59:59around my shoulders.
01:00:00I looked at the kind faces
01:00:01on my parents' headstones
01:00:02and for once,
01:00:03my heart felt peaceful.
01:00:05The nightmares
01:00:05that used to wake me
01:00:07every night,
01:00:07the pain that once felt endless,
01:00:09had finally faded
01:00:10after five years
01:00:11of happiness.
01:00:12I was no longer
01:00:13the broken girl
01:00:14who had run from Boston
01:00:15with nothing.
01:00:17And just as we were
01:00:18about to turn and leave,
01:00:19I noticed a hunched figure
01:00:21in the distance.
01:00:24It was a man in a wheelchair
01:00:25wearing a cheap gray jacket.
01:00:27One of his pant legs
01:00:28hung empty.
01:00:29Half of his face
01:00:30was covered in ugly burn scars.
01:00:32Matthew,
01:00:33the moment he saw me,
01:00:34his hands started shaking
01:00:36on the wheels of his chair.
01:00:38He tried to turn away,
01:00:39but one will got stuck.
01:00:40between the stones
01:00:41and he fell face first
01:00:43into the mud.
01:00:44I simply stood there
01:00:45and watched him struggle.
01:00:46Do not look,
01:00:47Nora, please.
01:00:49Do not look at me like this.
01:00:51He tried to crawl back
01:00:52into his wheelchair,
01:00:54covering the burned side
01:00:55of his face with one hand.
01:00:56His voice broke like a man
01:00:58who had lost everything.
01:01:00The social worker beside him
01:01:02sighed and looked at me
01:01:03with pity.
01:01:04Mr. Shaw was released early
01:01:06for good behavior
01:01:07two years ago.
01:01:10After that,
01:01:12he took a case
01:01:14for a young girl
01:01:15who was killed
01:01:16by a wealthy drunk driver.
01:01:19The case made him enemies
01:01:22with some dangerous people
01:01:24in Boston.
01:01:26They broke his leg
01:01:29and burned his face.
01:01:30The settlement money
01:01:32he received afterward,
01:01:33he donated all of it
01:01:36to a domestic violence foundation.
01:01:40Honestly,
01:01:41I think he has been trying
01:01:42to make things right with you
01:01:44in the only way
01:01:45he knows how.
01:01:48After hearing
01:01:48the social worker's words,
01:01:50I felt nothing.
01:01:51My heart was calm.
01:01:53Matthew pulled a dry,
01:01:55wilted bouquet
01:01:56of white lilies
01:01:57from his jacket
01:01:57and placed it on the ground
01:01:59a few feet away from me.
01:02:00His hands were shaking.
01:02:02Matthew looked up at me
01:02:04with hollow,
01:02:05regret-filled eyes.
01:02:06Nora,
01:02:06I am not asking you
01:02:08to forgive me.
01:02:12I just wanted to use
01:02:13whatever is left of my life
01:02:16to help people
01:02:17who were as desperate
01:02:18as you were back then.
01:02:19As if he were waiting
01:02:20for me to say something.
01:02:22As if he were waiting
01:02:23for me to pass judgment.
01:02:25But I only looked away.
01:02:27Regret that came too late
01:02:29was worth less than weeds.
01:02:31An apology after years of silence
01:02:33could not bring back the dead.
01:02:35I took Alex's arm
01:02:37and did not say a word to Matthew.
01:02:39I simply turned
01:02:40and walked toward
01:02:41the cemetery gates.
01:02:42There was no space left
01:02:44in my world for that man.
01:02:46Not anymore.
01:02:49Back at the estates,
01:02:50the sunset painted
01:02:51the mansion gold.
01:02:52But the moment we got home,
01:02:54the powerful president
01:02:55of Sterling Capital
01:02:57turned into a jealous child again.
01:02:59Leo Sterling,
01:03:00I am warning you
01:03:00one last time.
01:03:03Let go of my wife's hand
01:03:05and go back
01:03:06to your room.
01:03:08No!
01:03:09Mommy is mine!
01:03:11Mommy hugged me
01:03:12at the cemetery
01:03:13today
01:03:14and she did not
01:03:15hug you.
01:03:17Daddy is a meanie!
01:03:19Big meanie!
01:03:20All because our son
01:03:21had held my hand
01:03:22in the car.
01:03:23The little boy
01:03:23clung to my leg
01:03:24and stuck his tongue
01:03:25out at Alex.
01:03:26Alex laughed,
01:03:27but it was the kind of laugh
01:03:29that meant trouble.
01:03:30He walked over,
01:03:31picked Leo up
01:03:31like a kitten
01:03:32and handed him
01:03:33to the butler.
01:03:34Then,
01:03:35without another word,
01:03:36he scooped me
01:03:37into his arms
01:03:38and carried me
01:03:38toward the master bedroom.
01:03:40Alex!
01:03:41What are you doing?
01:03:42Do not get jealous
01:03:43of a four-year-old.
01:03:45Put me down.
01:03:46No.
01:03:48Our son can find
01:03:50his own wife someday.
01:03:53You are mine.
01:03:54I hit his chest lightly,
01:03:56half laughing
01:03:57and half helpless,
01:03:58but my heart felt
01:03:59so sweet
01:03:59it almost hurt.
01:04:02As night fell,
01:04:03waves crashed
01:04:04against the black rocks
01:04:05beneath the castle.
01:04:06I stood on the balcony
01:04:08of the master bedroom.
01:04:09The wind carried
01:04:10the smell of salt water
01:04:11and the faint sweetness
01:04:12of white roses.
01:04:14Alex came up behind me
01:04:15and wrapped his arms
01:04:16around me.
01:04:17What are you thinking
01:04:18about,
01:04:18Mrs. Sterling?
01:04:19His palm resting gently
01:04:20on my lower stomach.
01:04:21I looked down at his hand
01:04:23and felt a brief wave
01:04:24of emotion.
01:04:25Five years ago,
01:04:26I ran from Boston
01:04:27with nothing.
01:04:28My parents were gone.
01:04:29Grandma Helen was gone.
01:04:31The Whitaker family
01:04:32had pushed me so far
01:04:33into a corner
01:04:34that even staying alive
01:04:35felt impossible.
01:04:36But now,
01:04:37all of them
01:04:38had paid their price.
01:04:39Sophie was dead.
01:04:40Richard had died in prison.
01:04:42The Whitaker family
01:04:43had been destroyed completely.
01:04:49I wrapped my arms
01:04:50around his neck
01:04:51and kissed him first.
01:04:54Then he lowered his head
01:04:55and kissed me back.
01:04:58his arms tightening
01:04:59around me
01:05:00like he would
01:05:01never let me go.
01:05:08Nora,
01:05:10promise me
01:05:11you will never leave me.
01:05:12His voice was low
01:05:14and rough.
01:05:14I saw the fear
01:05:15in his eyes
01:05:16and laughed softly,
01:05:17even as my own eyes
01:05:18started to sting.
01:05:27Kissed the corner
01:05:28of my eye.
01:05:29I leaned into his chest
01:05:31and listened to the waves
01:05:32in the distance.
01:05:34For the first time
01:05:35in so many years,
01:05:36I felt completely safe.
01:05:38The slander,
01:05:39the pain,
01:05:39and the betrayal
01:05:40were all over.
01:05:41From now on,
01:05:42I was not anyone's
01:05:43abandoned pawn.
01:05:44I was not anyone's joke.
01:05:46I was Nora Sterling.
01:05:48I was Alex's wife.
01:05:49And I was the owner
01:05:50of my own life.