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