After Rebirth, I Gave My Control-Freak Fiancé to My Stepsister EP

Yayayeye

Transcript

00:00:00My billionaire fiancé, Damien, did not love me. He loved control.

00:00:04In my last life, I tried to become his perfect wife, obedient, quiet, and easy to manage.

00:00:10I gave him everything, but he still chose my scheming stepsister every time.

00:00:15In the end, a car crash killed the woman he had spent years trying to cage,

00:00:19but death sent me back to the start, right before our wedding.

00:00:22This time, I will not beg for love.

00:00:24I am giving my controlling billionaire fiancé to my treacherous stepsister,

00:00:27packing my bags, and leaving New York forever.

00:00:30Their perfect world is going to burn, and I will walk away free.

00:00:35Manhattan's most exclusive VIP mic club was a blur of neon lights.

00:00:40I sat in the center of a private booth,

00:00:45and with perfect intention.

00:00:48Up by the second floor rallying, a paparazzi lens was pointed straight at us.

00:00:52Good. Those photos would be on Damien Blackhood's desk before morning.

00:00:57That was the whole point.

00:01:00Damien needed a wife who was spotless, graceful, and obedient.

00:01:03So I was going to rip his perfect wife fantasy apart with my own hands.

00:01:06If the scandal was ugly enough, he would call off the engagement himself.

00:01:09Then the air around me turned ice cold.

00:01:19In that split second, I could almost hear chains pulling tight from another life.

00:01:23In my past life, I loved him to the point of madness.

00:01:26I told myself his control was love.

00:01:28Then the Blackwood family code was placed in front of me.

00:01:31No nightclubs.

00:01:32No being alone with any man.

00:01:34No leaving New York without permission.

00:01:36He froze my passport and cut off every account I had.

00:01:39Then he clasped a diamond bracelet around my wrist and called it an engagement gift.

00:01:44It was not a gift.

00:01:45It was a GPS tracker.

00:01:47He sanded me down, piece by piece, until I became something quiet and hollow.

00:01:52The perfect Mrs. Blackwood.

00:01:54Then a car crash ended my suffocating life.

00:01:58I had been reborn on the night before our wedding.

00:02:01This time, I did not want Damien.

00:02:03I wanted to be Scarlet Vale again.

00:02:05So the first thing I did was find my father.

00:02:07I want to call off the engagement.

00:02:09What the hell is wrong with you?

00:02:11Marrying to the Blackwood family is the greatest opportunity of your life.

00:02:14If he is so perfect, let Clara marry him.

00:02:16She is the dignified, obedient one.

00:02:18The ideal Blackwood wife, right?

00:02:22You are really willing to give it up?

00:02:24I did not wait for the rest.

00:02:26I booked an international flight and moved my passport somewhere Damien could not reach.

00:02:30And called my best friend Mia.

00:02:32Come drink with me.

00:02:33Which brought me here, to this moment.

00:02:37Who gave you the nerve to come to a place like this?

00:02:40I go where I want.

00:02:41What does that have to do with you?

00:02:58My blood ran cold.

00:03:00That bracelet.

00:03:01The same one that had locked away my freedom in my last life.

00:03:04Don't touch me.

00:03:09GPS tracking, heart rate monitor, entry and exit logs, synced in real time.

00:03:14Every step you take, I will see it.

00:03:16I want a public apology statement by tomorrow morning.

00:03:19You put diamonds on a cage and think that makes it something else?

00:03:25I held his gaze and said it clearly, one word at a time.

00:03:28I am not marrying you Damien.

00:03:30We are done.

00:03:34The car went silent.

00:03:35Damien's eyes snapped mine.

00:03:37Done?

00:03:38Done what?

00:03:39What the hell is that supposed to mean?

00:03:41For a second, I almost told him the truth.

00:03:44That the bride had already been changed.

00:03:46That Clara was the one his family would get.

00:03:48Then I stopped myself.

00:03:49I wanted him dreading every day until the wedding, convinced he was still stuck with me.

00:03:55Forget it.

00:03:56I was just mad.

00:04:02I'm taking you home.

00:04:03Sit properly.

00:04:05I kicked off my heels, pressed my bare feet into his expensive floor mat, and rolled the window down.

00:04:11When are you going to learn to behave like a Blackwood wife?

00:04:15Maybe in my next life.

00:04:16The rose stopped at the Vale Estate gates.

00:04:18I want that apology on my desk by nine tomorrow.

00:04:21And don't waste your time trying to take off the bracelet.

00:04:24I pushed the door open.

00:04:25I looked down at the disgusting thing locked around my wrist.

00:04:28Then you'd better watch closely.

00:04:30I slammed the door and walked inside without looking back.

00:04:33Richard, Monica, and Clara were all waiting in the living room.

00:04:37My father, his ex-mistress turned trophy wife, and the bastard daughter they'd spent years polishing into exactly the kind

00:04:43of obedient, presentable girl Damien wanted.

00:04:46You reek of alcohol, and you wore a Blackwood engagement bracelet to a nightclub.

00:04:51Have you completely lost your mind?

00:04:54Don't be too hard on her, Richard.

00:04:56Though honestly, I'm not sure a family like the Blackwoods can afford that kind of reputation.

00:05:01Scarlet, Dad said he already spoke with the Blackwoods.

00:05:04Are you really sure you want me to take your place?

00:05:06A hundred percent sure.

00:05:08You've always loved picking up what I throw away.

00:05:11This time I'm handing it to you myself.

00:05:14No need to sneak around for it.

00:05:17Watch your mouth!

00:05:18Clara is steadier, smarter, and a far better fit for the Blackwood family than you ever were!

00:05:23Perfect.

00:05:24Just don't come crying to me when the whole thing blows up in your faces.

00:05:29I only hope you won't regret this.

00:05:31I would hate to see you lose everything because of one bad mood.

00:05:38Scarlet Veil never regrets a damn thing.

00:05:44A servant came hammering on my door first thing in the morning.

00:05:47Damien was downstairs.

00:05:48He stood in the living room like last night had never happened.

00:05:51First thing he checked was my wrist.

00:05:53The bracelet.

00:05:55Green light blinking.

00:05:56Then he looked up.

00:05:58The statement.

00:05:59I didn't write one.

00:06:00Blackwood's PR team buried those photos.

00:06:02I need that statement.

00:06:03Your rules do not apply to me anymore.

00:06:05I am not signing anything.

00:06:06When are you going to learn to do or told?

00:06:08Not in this lifetime.

00:06:09Right on cues, Clara appeared in a white dress, eyes faintly red, holding a printed statement.

00:06:14Damien, please don't be angry with Scarlet.

00:06:16She was upset last night.

00:06:17I wrote the statement for her.

00:06:19Will this work?

00:06:20Damien scanned it.

00:06:21When he looked back at me, the disgust was undisguised.

00:06:24Look at Clara.

00:06:25She knows when to be graceful, when to step back, when to put the family first.

00:06:31All you do is create problems.

00:06:35Scarlet just needs more time.

00:06:36The Blackwood Charity Gala is tonight.

00:06:39I can go with her and help her get through it.

00:06:42Help me with what?

00:06:43How to smile on cue?

00:06:46How to play the innocent girl in white while hiding the snake underneath?

00:06:50Enough.

00:06:50Add her name and release it.

00:06:52I did not sign it.

00:06:53You went to a nightclub as the future Mrs. Blackwood.

00:06:55It stopped being your personal guest the second you dragged my family name into it.

00:06:59If you refuse to do the right thing, I will do it for you.

00:07:01Then take Clara.

00:07:02She is always so good at doing the right thing.

00:07:04You are my fiancé.

00:07:06You will be at that gala tonight.

00:07:07Fine.

00:07:08This life, I was going to give him exactly what he wanted.

00:07:10Clara linked her arm through mine, going upstairs.

00:07:12Warm smiles, nails digging into my skin.

00:07:15The second the door closed, I shook her off.

00:07:17Nobody is watching.

00:07:17Drop the act.

00:07:19Damien will be mine.

00:07:20On the wedding day, he will be grateful someone made the switch.

00:07:22A disaster like you has no business near the Blackwood name.

00:07:24Then why didn't you tell him just now?

00:07:25Scared that once he knows, he still won't want you?

00:07:27I won't just keep your mouth shut, Scarlet.

00:07:28I don't care about the you or your control freak fiancine.

00:07:31Happy wedding.

00:07:34The Blackwood Family Charity Gala was packed with Manhattan's most powerful people.

00:07:38Old money, new money, and the kind of influence that could buy both.

00:07:42I showed up deliberately in a floor-long thread backless gown, bold, unapologetic,

00:07:47and everything a Blackwood wife was not supposed to be.

00:07:49Clara wore white couture, pristine as a lily.

00:07:53When the waltz began and every eye in the room drifted toward Damis, Manhattan's most coveted

00:07:58heir stepped forward and reached right past me, his actual fiancée, to offer his hand

00:08:04to Clara.

00:08:05The socialite crowd broke into sharp, delighted whispers.

00:08:07Did you see that?

00:08:09He chose the stepsister?

00:08:11Honestly, I get it.

00:08:12Scarlet is a walking scandal.

00:08:14Clara is everything a Blackwood wife should be.

00:08:16Damien led Clara onto the floor without looking back, then threw me a cold parting shot.

00:08:20You do not know how to dance at this level.

00:08:23Stay where you are and watch Clara.

00:08:25Maybe you will finally learn something.

00:08:29I watched them turn beneath the chandeliers and felt nothing but revulsion.

00:08:34I slipped upstairs to the terrace for air, desperate to breathe something that did not

00:08:38feel like a trap.

00:08:39Of course, Clara followed.

00:08:41Her heels clicked up the stairs like she had been attached to my shadow all night.

00:08:45She wore the face of someone who had already won, and when she spoke, her voice was low

00:08:48and vicious.

00:08:49Poor Scarlet.

00:08:51Your mother could not beat mine, and now you cannot beat me either.

00:08:55Losing must run in your blood.

00:08:57She should have said anything else.

00:08:59Anything but that.

00:09:00She had insulted my dead mother.

00:09:02My eyes went cold.

00:09:03Without a word, I drew back and slapped her heart across the face.

00:09:06The crack cut through the night air.

00:09:07Clara's head snapped to the side, and her cheek flushed red almost instantly.

00:09:11She screamed.

00:09:13You crazy bitch!

00:09:15You actually hit me?!

00:09:16I closed the distance and grabbed her by the neck.

00:09:19Hit you?

00:09:20I can do a lot worse than hit you.

00:09:22I trained in MMA, Clara.

00:09:24Taking apart a fake, fragile little thing like you would barely count as exercise.

00:09:29I whipped one leg up in a clean sidekick.

00:09:38I had not made it three steps before Damien's hand clamped around my wrist like a vice.

00:09:46His eyes were bloodshot with rage, and his voice was cold enough to freeze the air between us.

00:09:50Clara fell from the terrace.

00:09:51Was it you?

00:09:52I met his eyes without flinching.

00:09:54Yes.

00:09:55She had it coming.

00:09:58You are beyond saving.

00:10:00Since she refuses to apologize, she needs to learn a lesson.

00:10:02Throw her into the estate fountain.

00:10:04No one lets her out until I say so.

00:10:05The bodyguards grabbed me before I could fight them off.

00:10:08No matter how hard I struggled, they dragged me across the courtyard and threw me straight into the fountain.

00:10:13The water was freezing cold, but it was liquid water, not ice.

00:10:17The spring night air cut like a blade, and the cold sank straight into my bones.

00:10:21Every time I clawed for the marble rim of the fountain, the guard standing along the edge pushed me back

00:10:26under without a word.

00:10:27The struggle drained me fast.

00:10:29Then something worse hit me.

00:10:31A sharp, familiar cramp twisted low in my abdomen.

00:10:34My period had come early.

00:10:36Blood seeped into the cold water around me, spreading in slow, dark ribbons beneath the surface.

00:10:41I was trembling, barely conscious, when I heard one of the guards call Damien.

00:10:44Sir, Miss Val just got her period.

00:10:46There is blood in the water.

00:10:47Should we keep going?

00:10:48There was a brief silence on the other end.

00:10:49Keep going.

00:10:50She will never learn if she does not suffer the consequences.

00:10:52In that moment, my blood ran colder than the fountain ever could.

00:10:55The despair of two lifetimes crashed down over me, all at once, and the world went black.

00:11:04When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital room that smelled sharply of antiseptic.

00:11:08Damien was sitting at my bedside.

00:11:10When he saw me wake up, he released my hand with an expression of careful indifference.

00:11:14I spoke with your father.

00:11:15He will not give you any more trouble.

00:11:16But do not ever go after Clara.

00:11:20Clara is my father's precious little affair daughter.

00:11:23She is not my problem, and I am not promising you a damn thing.

00:11:30Mr. Blackwood, Clara is getting very upset in the next room.

00:11:34She has been crying and asking for you.

00:11:37I will go check on her.

00:11:39She was hurt because of you.

00:11:41As your fiancée, it is only proper that I go.

00:11:46Go on, then.

00:11:48Run to your real fiancée.

00:11:49On the day I was discharged, Damien forced me back into the car and drove me to the Vale Estate.

00:11:54But when I pushed open my bedroom door, my blood went cold.

00:11:57Clara was sitting at my vanity, dangling a sapphire necklace from her fingertips.

00:12:01My mother's sapphire necklace.

00:12:03The only thing she had left me.

00:12:05I crossed the room in three steps.

00:12:07My voice stripped down to nothing.

00:12:08Put it down and get out.

00:12:12Yours?

00:12:13Scarlet, everything in this house is going to be mine.

00:12:25Daddy, I only wanted to look at Scarlet's necklace, and she shoved me into the floor.

00:12:38What the hell are you smiling at?

00:12:39I looked straight at Clara.

00:12:41You love putting on a show?

00:12:42Fine.

00:12:43I will give you the performance of your life.

00:12:44I grabbed a metal pen from the vanity and drove it straight at the Clara's palm.

00:12:48Clean through.

00:12:49Pinned to the hardwood.

00:12:50You fucking psycho, you old sir!

00:12:53Get out!

00:12:53Get this animal out of my house!

00:12:55You are no longer welcome in the Vale family!

00:12:57The servants dragged me to the door and threw my luggage into the mud.

00:13:00I bent down, pulled my mother's sapphire necklace out of the dirt, and held it tight.

00:13:04It was raining.

00:13:05I stood sosed under an ornery until a black rose pulled up.

00:13:08Damien got out without a word, put me in the car, and drove me to his house.

00:13:11He came back with a first aid kit, and started treating the mark my father had left on my face.

00:13:16Then the doorbell rang.

00:13:18Clara, banded hand, fragile expression.

00:13:20She walked straight into Damien's arms like she belonged there.

00:13:22Damien, I had to come.

00:13:23I was worried what she did to me.

00:13:24She is still...

00:13:25Damien's face darkened.

00:13:26Apologize to her.

00:13:27Right now, Scarlet.

00:13:28Not a chance in hell.

00:13:30We started arguing by the entryway.

00:13:31Damien reached for my arm, and I shoved him off.

00:13:33In the struggle, his elbow knocked into the glass kettle sitting on the side cabinet.

00:13:37The kettle reacted to the floor and shattered.

00:13:39Scalding water exploded across the marble.

00:13:40He threw himself around Clara and covered her completely.

00:13:43I was on the other side.

00:13:44The boiling water splashed across my legs and arm.

00:13:46My skin turned red almost at once, then started to blister and peel.

00:13:49Damien checked Clara first.

00:13:50She was fine.

00:13:51Then he glanced at me on the floor, bent down, and picked Clara up.

00:13:54Leave her.

00:13:54A little pain might teach her to think before she goes after you again.

00:13:58He left me alone on the floor, with scalding water still spreading around me.

00:14:04I sat on that floor, holding myself together through the pain, and called 911 myself.

00:14:08I got out of the hospital just in time for Clara's birthday party.

00:14:11Richard used the occasion to make a grand announcement.

00:14:14The majority of the Vale family's trust assets and shares would be transferred to Clara.

00:14:17In front of every guest in the room, took out a velvet box, and clasped a diamond necklace

00:14:21worth a small fortune around Clara's neck.

00:14:24Clara's socialite friends swept over with their glasses, making sure to spill red wine across

00:14:28my dress.

00:14:28Look at the ex-fiancé.

00:14:30You clean up like somebody's charity project.

00:14:37The bottle shattered.

00:14:39Blood and liquor ran together.

00:14:40The room erupted in screams.

00:14:43Damien was on me in seconds, crushing my wrist in his grip, his eyes loaded with contempt.

00:14:48Scarlet, what the hell is wrong with you?

00:14:50Apologize to them.

00:14:51Now.

00:14:52In your dreams!

00:14:53Damien laughed, but there was no humor in it.

00:14:56It was the laugh of a man who had run out of patience completely.

00:14:59He knew exactly what I feared most.

00:15:01Since you refuse to listen, you can sit in the dark and think about what you have done.

00:15:04Locker in the wine cellar.

00:15:06Nobody opens that door without my permission.

00:15:07They dragged me into the estates' basement wine cellar.

00:15:10Stone walls.

00:15:11No windows.

00:15:12No light.

00:15:13The heavy iron door slammed shut, and total darkness swallowed me whole.

00:15:17Three days and three nights.

00:15:19No water.

00:15:20No food.

00:15:21The fear nearly broke me.

00:15:22On the fourth day, the door finally opened, but it was not Damien.

00:15:26It was Clara, pushing in a piece of equipment I did not recognize.

00:15:30She was smiling like something out of hell.

00:15:32Damien said you needed to learn a real lesson, so I brought something to make sure it sticks.

00:15:37Two men in black dragged me to a metal chair and strapped me down.

00:15:40They pressed electrode pads to my temples.

00:15:43Clara hit the switch.

00:15:44The current ripped through me.

00:15:46The pain had no words.

00:15:47It only had sound, and the sound was mine.

00:15:51Then there was nothing at all.

00:15:55I woke up in the main house, in a proper bed.

00:15:58Damien was sitting beside me, frowning.

00:16:00I told you to stay in there and think.

00:16:02Three days.

00:16:02How are you this week?

00:16:03I opened my eyes and looked at him.

00:16:06Your precious Clara brought men into that cellar with an electric shock chair and used it on me.

00:16:09Do you believe me?

00:16:13Impossible.

00:16:14Clara's gentle.

00:16:14She would never do something like that.

00:16:16Scarlet, there is a limit to how far you can take a lie.

00:16:19He would never believe me.

00:16:20Fine.

00:16:21I would collect that debt on my own.

00:16:23That night, I hired a team and made the arrangements myself.

00:16:26That night, Clara had been bound, suspended in the open air through the entire night.

00:16:32Damien kicked my door in, the vein in his temple visible from across the room.

00:16:35You left Clara hanging off a rooftop all night.

00:16:37If it were not for the safety net at the base of the building, she would be dead.

00:16:40I sat by the window, trimming my nails without looking up.

00:16:43Damien slammed his hand on the table hard enough to rattle it.

00:16:45The wedding is in a few days.

00:16:47You are staying in this house until then.

00:16:48You are not going anywhere.

00:16:50Do you understand me?

00:16:51The night before the wedding, a still-shaking Clara was brought back to the Vale estate.

00:16:55Richard took one look at me and started screaming.

00:16:57Stay away from the wedding tomorrow.

00:16:58Don't you dare show your face and humiliate this family.

00:17:00I picked up the luggage I had already packed and smiled at him.

00:17:05Trust me.

00:17:07That suffocating circus is the last place I would ever want to be.

00:17:10You could not pay me to go.

00:17:16Wedding morning.

00:17:17When I came downstairs, Damien was already in the house.

00:17:21At Clara's insistence, the ceremony had been planned as an elaborate, old-fashioned church wedding.

00:17:27Damien couldn't see who was underneath it.

00:17:29He assumed his lessons had finally worked, that the sharp edges had been worn down,

00:17:33and the woman walking toward him had learned to obey.

00:17:37He stepped forward and took the bride's hand gently.

00:17:39Don't be nervous, Scarlet.

00:17:41I'm right here.

00:17:41I will teach you everything you need to know to become the perfect Mrs. Blackwood.

00:17:47Go on, Damien.

00:17:48Marry your dream wife.

00:17:50Consider it my wedding gift to you both.

00:17:52Once the procession left for St. Hart Cathedral, the Vale estate went completely quiet

00:17:59and flagged a cab to JFK.

00:18:02Inside the car, I pulled a small remote from my coat pocket

00:18:05and looked back at the house one last time.

00:18:08My mother had designed it.

00:18:10Now it sheltered the woman who had replaced her

00:18:12and the daughter who had spent years making my life hell.

00:18:15I was done with it.

00:18:19Miss, was that your house?

00:18:24Yes.

00:18:25I blew it up.

00:18:29St. Hart Cathedral.

00:18:31The vaulted ceiling soared overhead,

00:18:32and the pipework and filled the nave and grand with something.

00:18:34Every name that mattered in Hatton had shown up.

00:18:36At the end of the aisle, Damien stood in a perfectly tailored suit,

00:18:39precise, untouchable, watching the bride walk toward him.

00:18:41Today's bride was the long usual lace veil fell all the way down,

00:18:44hiding her face completely.

00:18:45Damien assumed all those cold lessons had finally worked.

00:18:48He assumed I had finally been worn smooth,

00:18:49and that the woman walking towards him had learned how to submit.

00:18:52The priest began the vows.

00:18:53Damien lowered his voice, speaking only to the bride in front of him.

00:18:55After today, I will personally teach you how to be a proper Mrs. Blackwood.

00:18:59He took the bride's hand and guided her toward the altar.

00:19:01As camera flashes stirred across the room,

00:19:03then came the moment everyone had been waiting for.

00:19:05The groom lifted the veil.

00:19:07Damien reached up with calm, certain fingers,

00:19:08caught the edge of the lace and swept it back.

00:19:10For one breath, the cathedral seemed to freeze.

00:19:13The face in front of him was not the one burned into his memory.

00:19:16It was not the proud, defiant face he had spent years trying to control.

00:19:19It was Clara, flushed with excitement,

00:19:21her eyes bright with smug satisfaction.

00:19:23The cathedral went silent for one stunned second,

00:19:26before the whole room broke into chaos.

00:19:28Why is the younger veil daughter wearing the wedding dress?

00:19:30The half-smile on Damien's face frozen, then vanished completely.

00:19:34His pupils tightened like someone had struck him.

00:19:37In one violent motion, he flung the veil away as if it had burned his hand.

00:19:41Clara had no warning.

00:19:42The force sent her stumbling back and crashing to the floor,

00:19:46her headpiece crooked,

00:19:47and her white gown tangled around her legs in front of the entire congregation.

00:19:52Damien's voice tore through the cathedral.

00:19:54Where is Scarlet?

00:19:55Tell me where she is!

00:19:58The most prestigious society wedding in New York

00:20:01had just turned into the city's biggest scandal.

00:20:05Damien, just finish the ceremony.

00:20:07Richard told us a few days ago that the bride was being changed to Clara.

00:20:11We thought Clara was more suitable, more composed.

00:20:15The arrangement benefits both families' trusts and shareholding,

00:20:18so we agreed to it privately.

00:20:19She had assumed he would be relieved.

00:20:20His reaction told her she had never understood her son at all.

00:20:23Damien's personal istint pushed past security and sprinted into the hall,

00:20:27his face drained of color.

00:20:28Sir, it is bad.

00:20:29The veil estate exploded half an hour ago.

00:20:31The entire mansion is gone.

00:20:32There is nothing left but rubble.

00:20:34That sentence snapped the last thread of Damien's composure.

00:20:37If I had not come to the wedding, I had to be at the estate.

00:20:40That reckless, insane woman.

00:20:42Did she burn herself alive in there?

00:20:43It was enormous and bottomless, the kind of fear that only came when loss had already reached

00:20:47for your throat.

00:20:48He shoved his mother aside, ignored every voice calling after him, and ran.

00:20:52The black rolls tore through red lights one after another before screeching to a stop in

00:20:56front of what remained of the veil estate.

00:20:58Damien stumbled out of the car and stood before the scorched ruins, feeling as if something had

00:21:03been carved straight out of his chest.

00:21:05He screamed my name into the rubble until his voice broke.

00:21:08Then he shoved past the emergency crew and tore into the debris with his bare hands.

00:21:13The entire structure could have caved in at any second, but he did not stop.

00:21:17Get off me!

00:21:18She might still be in there!

00:21:20Let me through!

00:21:23His designer suit was shredded where the debris had caught it, but he did not notice.

00:21:27Rebarm sliced his palms open.

00:21:28Smoldering cinders burned blisters straight into his skin.

00:21:31Blood dripped into the sut, but he did not flinch once.

00:21:34There was only one thought left in him.

00:21:36He had to find her.

00:21:38His voice had gone raw.

00:21:40Scarlet, answer me!

00:21:41Come out here!

00:21:43I will never make you write another apology.

00:21:45I will never lock you down again.

00:21:48Whatever you want, I will give it to you.

00:21:50Just answer me.

00:21:51In the area where my bedroom had been, he finally dug out a small jewelry box, warped

00:21:56and half-melted, with the blackwood crest barely recognizable on the surface.

00:21:59His hands shook as he pried it open.

00:22:01Inside lay a diamond necklace fused into a molten shape.

00:22:04He closed his fist around it.

00:22:05The scorched, twisted metal cut into his palm, but he held on anyway.

00:22:09Guilt hit him like drowning, cold and total, with no way back to the surface.

00:22:12For the first time, he understood what his control had done to the woman he to love.

00:22:16I had always been bright, defiant, but he had spent years trying to grind that fire out of me.

00:22:21His certainty, his rules, and his need to own every part of my life had driven me to this.

00:22:25Then his assistant came sprinting across the debris field, holding a tablet and barely able to breathe.

00:22:30Sir, we found something.

00:22:32You need to see this.

00:22:33It was security footage from a discreet camera at a side exit near the estate.

00:22:36The timestamp was ten minutes before the explosion.

00:22:39A slender figure in a plain coat, pulling a small carry-on, walked out of the Vale estate at an

00:22:43easy pace.

00:22:44She flacked a cab on the street.

00:22:46Just before getting in, she looked back at the house, raised her hand, and pressed something.

00:22:50Behind her, the fireball rose.

00:22:51The image was grainy, but Damien Profford knew that face had burned into him for years.

00:22:55It was me, alive and untouched, walking out of the house by my own choice.

00:23:01The relief and a deeper, darker panic hit him at the same time, nearly knocking him off his feet.

00:23:06She was alive.

00:23:07That was everything.

00:23:08But she had done this with clear eyes and steady hands.

00:23:10She had blown up the house she had grown up in, set up a wedding day decoy, and walked away

00:23:14without looking back.

00:23:15This was not a tantrum, and it was not a cry for attention.

00:23:18She truly did not want him.

00:23:19She hated him enough to erase her old life in one morning, and she had meant every word she said.

00:23:24Damien pulled himself up from the wreckage.

00:23:26His eyes shot through with red, and his voice scraped raw.

00:23:28But there was something in it now beyond rage.

00:23:30Something dangerously close to desperation.

00:23:32Listen to me.

00:23:33Use every private aviation resource and every security network the Blackwood family has.

00:23:37I want every private terminal and border crossing in this country locked down.

00:23:40He locked eyes with his assistant.

00:23:42Track that cab.

00:23:43Pull passenger manifels and facial recognition data from every transatlantic departure.

00:23:47Search every route, every airport name she could have used.

00:23:49I want her found, and I want her found now!

00:23:51After giving the orders, he drove straight to the Four Seasons where Richard's family had taken a suite.

00:23:56Inside, Richard, Monica, and a shaken, pale-faced Clara were still trying to recover from the morning's disasters.

00:24:01Damien kicked the door open and walked in like something feral.

00:24:04Hands raised, we scrambled.

00:24:06Damien, please, let me explain.

00:24:07Scarlet refused the marriage herself.

00:24:08She voluntarily handed the contract over to Clara.

00:24:10We had no choice.

00:24:11Clara is gracious.

00:24:12She is well-behaved, and she is far more appropriate for you than that reckless girl.

00:24:15She handed it over.

00:24:16Damien laughed.

00:24:17Low and terrible was the look you gave something already dead.

00:24:20Do you have any idea what you have done?

00:24:22Do you think I am some piece of property your family can pass around whenever it suits you?

00:24:25He overturned the marble coffee table.

00:24:28Shards scattered across the carpet.

00:24:31There is one woman who carries the name Damien Blackhold's wife.

00:24:35That woman is Scarlet.

00:24:36She has always been Scarlet.

00:24:38Now tell me where she is.

00:24:42Clara had been terrified from the moment Damien walked in.

00:24:46But watching him fall apart like this over the woman who had run away made her envy curdle into something

00:24:52vicious.

00:24:53It became stronger than fear.

00:24:55She threw herself forward and grabbed the leg of his trousers, looking up at him with tears streaming down her

00:25:01face.

00:25:03Damien, what does she have that I do not?

00:25:05I love you more than she ever did.

00:25:08I will follow every rule in that family code.

00:25:11I will be the perfect Mrs. Blackwood.

00:25:16Just look at me, please.

00:25:18Look at me for once.

00:25:20Damien looked down at her.

00:25:21There was nothing in his eyes.

00:25:22Not anger, not pity.

00:25:24Just naked, undisguised disgust.

00:25:26He stepped back, then kicked her away from him.

00:25:28Clara crashed into the corner of the sofa and gasped from the impact.

00:25:31Do not ever compare yourself to her.

00:25:34You do not even get to come close to a single hair on her head.

00:25:38The only reason you and your entire family ever mattered to me was because of Scarlet.

00:25:43Without her, you are nothing.

00:25:44I would waste a second looking at her.

00:25:46He did not stay to hear Richard and Monica beg.

00:25:49Clara!

00:25:50No, sir!

00:26:05Sir, we found new records.

00:26:13Miss Vale filed an expedited single-entry-exit visa through a private channel one week before the nightclub incident.

00:26:20One week before the nightclub?

00:26:22His feet stopped moving.

00:26:25The realization hit him like ice water.

00:26:28The nightclub, the dancer, the paparazzi, and even the bracelet had all been part of the same plan.

00:26:35Every time she pushed him, provoked him, and refused him.

00:26:39It had never been recklessness.

00:26:42It had never been a tantrum or some desperate game for attention.

00:26:45She had planned everything carefully, putting every piece in place long before he had ever thought she was capable of

00:26:51it.

00:26:52She had not stumbled into freedom by accident.

00:26:55She had built her escape step by step, and she had never once intended to come back.

00:27:03Damien braced himself against his desk, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

00:27:08He stared at the date on the file as if it were the last thing left in the world.

00:27:12His stomach twisted violently, and regret hit him so hard it felt almost physical.

00:27:18He suddenly remembered how different I had been during those days.

00:27:22I had screamed the same thing at him again and again.

00:27:25I told him I was not marrying him.

00:27:27I told him we were done.

00:27:28Back then, he had thought it was just a spoiled heiress throwing a tantrum.

00:27:32He thought all he had to do was snap a tracking bracelet around my wrist,

00:27:36lock me up for a few days, force me to sign a public statement,

00:27:40and I would stay trapped inside that beautiful cage.

00:27:44But the truth was that I had already decided I did not want him anymore.

00:27:49Was it the insane family code that had driven me away?

00:27:52Was it the way he kept taking Clara's side and blaming me every single time?

00:27:59Was it the night he threw me into that freezing fountain while I was bleeding?

00:28:04Or was it the simple fact that he had never once believed me?

00:28:08The question spread through Damien's mind like poison, but none of it changed the only thing he cared about now.

00:28:15No matter what it took, even if he had to use every dirty trick the Blackwood family had, he had

00:28:22to get me back.

00:28:23Even if I hated him, even if I resented him, even if I made him suffer for the rest of

00:28:28his life,

00:28:28he was going to keep me by his side forever.

00:28:34Keep searching. Don't stop until you find it.

00:28:36He told him to use every connection the Blackwood family had, from finance circles to private security networks.

00:28:43He did not care what it cost. He did not care who they had to pressure.

00:28:47They were going to find me.

00:28:52The entire month that followed turned into a manhunt.

00:28:55I had vanished without a trace.

00:28:57There was no record of me on any private jet manifest, no ferry log, and no clean departure route anyone

00:29:02could find.

00:29:04Anxiety burned through Damien's nerves every second of every day.

00:29:07Since he could not take that rage out on me, he poured all of it onto the already broken Vale

00:29:11family.

00:29:15Blackwood Group launched a full-scale commercial attack on the Vale businesses.

00:29:19Their methods were merciless, and they left no room for survival.

00:29:23The Vale company had already been falling apart.

00:29:26Within two weeks, its assets were liquidated, its stock price collapsed, and bankruptcy was waiting at the door.

00:29:38Richard was completely losing his mind.

00:29:41He went to Blackwood Tower several times, begging for a meeting, but he could not even get past the elevator

00:29:47on the ground floor.

00:29:48After the bankruptcy, Clara became the easiest target for Damien's despair.

00:29:56She could not accept it.

00:29:59She kept trying to use the media to get Damien's attention.

00:30:02She even stood outside Blackwood Tower in the pouring rain, waiting there like someone with nowhere else to go.

00:30:07Finally, she threw herself in front of Damien's stretch limousine, and refused to move.

00:30:14Clara pressed her face against the rain-streaked window, crying so hard she could barely speak.

00:30:19She begged Damien to stop destroying the Vale family.

00:30:22She said she was sorry.

00:30:24I promised I would find that bitch Scarlet and bring her back.

00:30:29All I wanted was for him to look at me.

00:30:31The window rolled down only a crick, revealed Damien's cold, hollow face and the stubble along his jaw.

00:30:37He did not even give her a proper look.

00:30:42Get her out of my way.

00:30:47The guards got out and dragged Clara away like she was nothing, ignoring her screams.

00:30:54The limousine drove off, leaving Clara sitting in the mud, sobbing in the rain.

00:31:00Damien closed his eyes and let the alcohol and sleepless nights swallow him whole.

00:31:04He had started relying on heavy doses of sleeping pills just to get a few hours of rest.

00:31:10But every time he fell asleep, the same nightmares came back.

00:31:14He saw me in the fountain, bleeding and pale.

00:31:17He heard me screaming in the wine cellar while the current tore through me.

00:31:23He saw the explosion and the fire swallowing the Vale estate.

00:31:27Every time, he woke up drenched in cold sweat, his heart pounding with terror and regret.

00:31:33He became darker and more violent with each passing day.

00:31:37Everyone in Blackwood's upper management walked on eggshells around him.

00:31:41One week later, Damien's mother forced him to attend a top-teal private charity gala in Manhattan.

00:31:47No one had expected that after Scarlet Veil left, she would take the soul of Manhattan's most powerful air with

00:31:52her.

00:31:52Damien stood in a corner with a glass of whiskey, staring blankly at the dance floor.

00:31:55Then, for one second, he thought he saw a familiar figure in a bright red dress, laughing with that proud,

00:31:59dazzling profile he could not forget.

00:32:02He called my name.

00:32:04His heart almost stopped.

00:32:06He lost every trace of composure, pushed through the crowd of politicians and billionaires, and grabbed the woman's wrist.

00:32:15What the hell are you doing? Let go of me!

00:32:16It was not me.

00:32:17The light in Damien's eyes went out instantly, replaced by despair and humiliation.

00:32:21He released her as if all the strength had left his body.

00:32:23The wealthy guests around him stared with confusion and thinly hidden mockery.

00:32:27Sir, please. You need to be careful. This is not appropriate. It does not meet Blackwood family standards.

00:32:32Damien repeated the word with a bitter laugh.

00:32:36Standards?

00:32:36To hell with the standards. I do not care about any of it anymore. I only want Scarlet.

00:32:42Then he pulled his fist back and slammed it into the decorative stone pillar beside him.

00:32:47His knuckles split open immediately, and blood ran down the column.

00:32:52But he did not feel the physical pain.

00:32:54All he felt was the hollow space in his chest where something vital used to be.

00:33:02Another week passed.

00:33:04The thick curtains were drawn shut.

00:33:07The ashtrays were overflowing with cigar beads.

00:33:10The air smelled of tobacco and bitter coffee.

00:33:13Inside the top floor office of Blackwood Tower, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt like the silence before a

00:33:19storm.

00:33:19Damien had been sitting there for five days without real sleep.

00:33:22Every hour felt like torture.

00:33:24His desk was covered with reports from private investigators, and they all said the same thing.

00:33:32They could not find me.

00:33:34Just as he was about to lose the last of his sanity, his assistant walked in carefully with a black

00:33:39coffee.

00:33:42He swallowed hard before speaking.

00:33:45Sir, we have new information.

00:33:48We cross-checked blurry facial matches from every non-standard exit channel over the past three months.

00:33:53We found someone who looks a lot like Miss Vale.

00:33:56Damien's head snapped up.

00:33:57His blood-shart eyes locked onto the assistant like a starving wolf.

00:34:01The assistant quickly continued.

00:34:03She appeared in the transit area of Heathrow Airport in Blackwood.

00:34:08The timing matches.

00:34:10It was three days after the mansion exploded.

00:34:15Damien grabbed the classify file from his assistant,

00:34:18his fingers shaking so badly from desperation and excitement that he could barely hold it steady.

00:34:23He stared at the enlarged surveillance photo.

00:34:26The image was blurry, but it showed someone in a coat,

00:34:30walking towards a quieter boarding gate, with a small suitcase.

00:34:33The figure was familiar enough to burn through his bones.

00:34:37He knew it was a new lead on me.

00:34:39Hope lit up the near-extinctive madness in his eyes like the last lifeline thrown to a drowning man.

00:34:45Where was the connecting flight going?

00:34:47We are still working on it.

00:34:49Heathrow transit records are complicated,

00:34:51and she seems to have avoided the major national flights that required strector identity checks.

00:34:55She chose smaller, cheaper airlines that attracted less attention.

00:34:58It will take time. We do not have time.

00:35:03Get the jet ready. We are leaving for Heathrow right now.

00:35:06Yes, sir.

00:35:06Sir, the Federal Reserve Board meeting is this afternoon.

00:35:10Cancel it. Cancel everything.

00:35:12Nothing matters more than finding her.

00:35:14Three hours later, the Blackwood family's private jet tore through the clouds above Manhattan

00:35:18and landed at Heathrow Airport in London.

00:35:20The plane had not even fully stopped before Damien was already opening the door.

00:35:24He could not wait for the stairs to lower all the way and jump down.

00:35:28His tie was crooked.

00:35:29His shirt collar was torn open and deep circles shadowed his eyes.

00:35:32Messy stubble covered his jaw.

00:35:33He looked nothing like the perfectly dressed, untouchable CEO he used to be.

00:35:37Damien repeated the city name under his breath as he ran through the crowded airport,

00:35:41his sharp eyes scanning every woman he passed.

00:35:43Finally, he saw the boarding gate just as it was about to close.

00:35:49Damien's eyes locked onto the end of the boarding line.

00:35:51The slender figure in a cream linen dress, wide-brimed hat and sunglasses was the woman

00:35:56he had been hunting for an entire month.

00:35:59Scarlet?

00:36:00He ran toward her, not caring that travelers around him were staring in shock.

00:36:04He grabbed my wrist and held on like his life depended on it.

00:36:08My body went stiff.

00:36:12Let go of me, Mr. Blackwood.

00:36:14Grabbing a woman in public like this is not very appropriate, is it?

00:36:18I thought your precious family code cared about appearances.

00:36:21The cold sarcasm in my voice hit Damien like ice water, but he did not care anymore.

00:36:27Scarlet, come back with me.

00:36:29Please.

00:36:30I know I was wrong.

00:36:31I screwed up.

00:36:32I will fix it.

00:36:33Just come home with me.

00:36:35I laughed and pried his fingers off me, one by one.

00:36:40Come back to what?

00:36:42That cage with three thousand stupid rules?

00:36:45Am I supposed to go back and play Mrs. Blackwood again?

00:36:47His face turned paler.

00:36:49I looked at him with open disgust.

00:36:51Did you forget your perfect bride is Clara now?

00:36:54Your sweet, sensible little bride is waiting for you.

00:36:58Chasing your ex-fiancee through an airport is a bad look, Damien.

00:37:01The man who had once been Manhattan's coldest and most untouchable heir fell to his knees in that foreign airport,

00:37:06surrounded by cameras and strangers, looking smaller than dirt.

00:37:10Damien looked up at me, and tears finally broke through.

00:37:12The wedding did not count.

00:37:14I never wanted her.

00:37:15I do not care about the family code anymore.

00:37:18If you come back with me, you can do whatever you want.

00:37:20I will agree to anything.

00:37:22Just do not leave me like this.

00:37:23I took a step back, as if avoiding something filthy.

00:37:27Your apology came too late.

00:37:29And honestly, I do not need it.

00:37:32Then I turned around, handed my boarding pass to the gate agent, and walked straight into the jet bridge with

00:37:37my back straight.

00:37:38Damien tried to follow, but airport security and his assistant held him back.

00:37:43Scarlett!

00:37:44He screamed my name toward the closing door, sounding like a man being torn apart.

00:37:53Three months later, in Monaco, inside the Monte Carlo Casino, money and desire blurred together under the glittering lights.

00:37:59The sound of poker chips never stopped.

00:38:01At a crowded Bacarmo table, every man nearby had his eyes fixed on the woman sitting across from the dealer.

00:38:08That woman was me.

00:38:11I wore a black silk slip dress with thin straps and a high clip that revealed my pale ankles and

00:38:17silver heels.

00:38:18The next round of cards came out.

00:38:20I barely glanced at my hand before tapping my fingers lightly on the table.

00:38:26Raise.

00:38:26Player wins.

00:38:28Then he pushed a mountain of chips toward me.

00:38:31The crowd around us broke into amazed whispers.

00:38:34They said the socialite from New York had won seven hands in a row.

00:38:38They said my psychological game was terrifying.

00:38:41I took a sip of champagne and almost laughed at the irony.

00:38:44This was not luck.

00:38:46It was probability, statistics, and psychology.

00:38:49All the things Damien had once forced me to learn so I could become the perfect high society wife.

00:38:54I never thought those lessons would become my best weapon for burning through money in a place like this.

00:38:58Just as I was about to place another bet, a drunk local heir named Charles shoved through the crowd.

00:39:04His face was red from losing too much money, and he reeked of alcohol.

00:39:08Come play with me tonight.

00:39:11I will split my winnings with you.

00:39:13Before his hand could touch me, I stepped back and lifted my right foot in its seven centimeter heel.

00:39:17Then I kicked him hard and precisely between the legs, using every bit of strength I had built through years

00:39:23of training.

00:39:25I was about to leave with my chip card when the crowd suddenly parted.

00:39:28A young mixed-age man walked toward me with his hands in his pockets.

00:39:31He wore a black suit with the top three buttons undone, looking relaxed and arrogant in a way that came

00:39:35naturally to men who had never been told no.

00:39:37A limited edition watch gleamed on his wrist.

00:39:39It was Nathaniel.

00:39:42Nathaniel had an unlit cigar between his lips.

00:39:44He used the polished tip of his shoe to nudge Charles, who was still curled up on the floor, groaning.

00:39:49His expression was pure contempt.

00:39:50You put your hands on someone I am interested in, in my casino.

00:39:54That is not flirting, Charles.

00:39:56That is a death wish.

00:39:59If I ever see you near her again, what she broke tonight will be the least of your problems.

00:40:04Charles scrambled away with the help of his friends, too scared to look back.

00:40:08Then Nathaniel turned to me.

00:40:10His deep, flirtious eyes landed on mine, and he did not bother hiding his interest.

00:40:13He stepped forward naturally, slid one arm around my waist and pulled me closer with a confidence that was almost

00:40:18insulting.

00:40:19His hold was intimate, possessive, and far too practiced.

00:40:23My body tensed, and I tried to pull away, but his arm stayed relaxed while still leaving no room to

00:40:27escape.

00:40:28He lowered his head close to my ear, his warm breath brushing my skin.

00:40:32I have been watching the little wildcat from New York for a while now.

00:40:35Those claws are impressive.

00:40:37Then he lifted his head and announced it to the whole casino with the kenless arrogance of a spoiled playboy.

00:40:42Damien Blackwood was blind enough not to want her.

00:40:45Lucky me, because I do.

00:40:47The Monaco socialists watching from nearby immediately started buzzing with gossip.

00:40:52Everyone knew Nathaniel had impossibly high standards, and now he was publicly chasing a runaway bride from New York.

00:40:59I looked up at him, met his burning gaze, and smiled.

00:41:05I appreciate the offer, but do I look like I need a man to get whatever I want?

00:41:10Nathaniel did not get angry.

00:41:12Instead, he pulled me a little closer, and the admiration in his eyes almost overflowed.

00:41:17That mouth of yours is dangerous.

00:41:19I like dangerous.

00:41:24I stayed in Monaco for a while, and Nathaniel kept his word.

00:41:27He pursued me loudly, aggressively, and with absolutely no shame.

00:41:31The next morning, a limited-edition bright yellow Lamborghini was parked outside my apartment building.

00:41:35The keys were delivered with a card written in messy handwriting.

00:41:37It was just a way to get around.

00:41:39If you crash it, I will pay for it.

00:41:40A few days later, he rented a massive luxury yacht and threw an extravagant party on the water,

00:41:45insisting that I be the center of it.

00:41:52Have fun anywhere you want.

00:41:54Use my name if anyone gets in your way.

00:41:56He took me skydiving, deep-sea diving, and even snuck us onto an F1 track to race cars in the

00:42:02middle of the night.

00:42:02He did every crazy, dangerous, reckless thing with me,

00:42:05and none of it had anything to do with family codes, rules, or proper behavior.

00:42:09What got to me most was that he never asked me to be gentle, quiet, or obedient.

00:42:12He never wanted me to behave.

00:42:14Whenever I pushed a race car up to 200 miles per hour, showing every wild edge I had,

00:42:18he sat in the passenger seat, whistling and cheering like he had never seen anything better.

00:42:22After we landed on the soft sand from a 10,000-meter skydive, Nathaniel pulled off his goggles.

00:42:26His hair was a mess, and he was smoking a cigarette while looking at my flushed face with a chalky

00:42:30smile.

00:42:31This is how you are supposed to live, Scarlet.

00:42:32Wild, loud, and impossible to leash.

00:42:34It suits you a hell of a lot better than playing some polished fake heiress in New York.

00:42:38Looking at this loud, arrogant man, I felt something inside me start to loosen.

00:42:41A frozen part of my heart, locked away by Damien for two lifetimes, began to thaw just a little.

00:42:46When I was with Nathaniel, I did not have to pretend.

00:42:48I did not have to be careful.

00:42:49I could let every sharp edge show.

00:42:51One night, we were playing a huge game of Texas Hold Us at a private club, and I had lost

00:42:54several hands in a row.

00:42:56I was hesitating over whether to call the bet when Nathaniel lazily pushed more than half of his kips towards

00:43:00me.

00:43:00Call it. Do not get scared now.

00:43:02If you lose, it is on me.

00:43:04If you win, it's your fun life.

00:43:06On the way home that night, with the wind blowing through the car, he was quiet for once.

00:43:11Then, he said something I did not expect.

00:43:15You know, we met a long time ago.

00:43:21I turned my head in surprise and looked at his handsome profile.

00:43:28Nathaniel kept his eyes on the road and let out a bitter laugh.

00:43:32Years ago, at a horse track in New York, you were 18.

00:43:38Richard, Monica, and Clara there to embarrass you in front of half the social crowders.

00:43:43Do you remember what you did?

00:43:46You jumped your horse over the highest obstacle and beat the guy who had been looking down on you all

00:43:50day.

00:43:50You were sitting on that horse, laughing like you owned the whole world, loud, arrogant, impossible to ignore.

00:43:57I remember thinking, damn, that girl is something else.

00:44:02I was stunned.

00:44:03I had almost forgotten that miserable day when Richard had tried so hard to humiliate me.

00:44:10Too bad your eyes were only on that fake gentleman, Damien Blackwood.

00:44:14I was wild back then, too, but I knew one thing.

00:44:18You cannot force someone to want you.

00:44:21So I did not step in just to get rejected.

00:44:26His words landed like a stone dropped into the dead-still lake of my heart.

00:44:30So there had been someone watching the real Scarlet Vals all along, even when I had not known it.

00:44:37What truly changed the way I saw him happened during a dirt bike accident.

00:44:40We were racing on a mountain road in southern Europe.

00:44:42On the way down, the pavement was wet and I was going too fast.

00:44:45My tire lost traction on a sharp turn, and both my bike and I flew toward a steep drop hundreds

00:44:49of feet below.

00:44:51In that split second, Nathaniel was right behind me.

00:44:54He did not hesitate.

00:44:55He hit the gas and shot toward me, using his heavier bike to slam into mine and change the direction

00:44:58of my fall.

00:44:59But because of the force and the rebound, he and his bike went tumbling down the steep slope instead.

00:45:03When I scrambled down the hill and found him among the rocks, his right leg was pinned under the heavy

00:45:06bike.

00:45:06Blood covered his forehead, and his face was white from pain.

00:45:09Do not cry.

00:45:10I am too damn tough to die like this.

00:45:12Even then, he forced an ugly, cocky smile, like he was still trying to make me feel better.

00:45:41I know Black Hill broke you with his rules and chains.

00:45:48I am not asking you to get over it from me.

00:45:50Take all the time you need.

00:45:52I can wait.

00:45:53I can wait.

00:45:55When you are ready to want someone again, I want you to think of me first.

00:46:00His honesty, the way he had risked his life to save me, and the way he accepted every wild part

00:46:04of me without trying to change it all hit me at once.

00:46:06It felt like hot sunlight breaking through the frozen walls around my heart.

00:46:10For those times, I did not answer with something sharp.

00:46:11I only lowered my eyes and felt some of those cold, hard chains inside me begin to crack.

00:46:15But the peace did not last long.

00:46:17A few days later, the nightmare found me again.

00:46:20Late one night, after I had been out dancing with Mia, I was walking back to my apartment when the

00:46:25air around me turned cold in a way I knew too well.

00:46:28A thin, worn-out figure stood under the shadow of a streetlight.

00:46:31His eyes red with endless obsession.

00:46:33Damien Blackwood.

00:46:34He looked terrifying.

00:46:35His suit was wrinkled, his eyes were bloodshot, and violent desperation seemed to radiate from his entire body, like he

00:46:40was one step away from losing his mind.

00:46:41He stepped forward and grabbed my arm, squeezing so hard it felt like he was trying to break it.

00:46:46His voice was rough, like sandpaper dragged over concrete.

00:46:50Scarlet, are you done playing games?

00:46:52Come back with me.

00:46:53Now.

00:46:56Let go of me, Mr. Blackwood.

00:46:58Do we even know each other?

00:47:01Do we even know each other?

00:47:10Just as Damien was about to force me into his car, a hand with long, defined fingers and a limited

00:47:15-edition watch cut through the air faster than anyone expected.

00:47:18It caught Damien's wrist with a sharp smack and held tight.

00:47:23A Blackwood CEO should know better than to put his hands on my woman in public.

00:47:29Even a three-year-old knows you cannot force someone to want you.

00:47:33He twisted Damien's wrist with sudden, explosive strength, forcing him to let go of me.

00:47:39At the same time, he slid his arm around my waist and pulled me behind him, natural and protective.

00:47:46Damien's eyes shot to Nathaniel's hand on my waist like poison daggers.

00:47:50The jealousy and rage burned through the last thread of sanity the New York air had left.

00:47:55Damien's veins stood out on his forehead, and he spat Nathaniel's name through his teeth.

00:47:59Take your hands off her.

00:48:01You are a spoiled piece of trash who changes women more often than cars.

00:48:06Do not touch her with your filthy hands.

00:48:08If you do not let go, I will destroy your entire family in Europe.

00:48:17I am a mess, sure.

00:48:19I sleep around, and I have never pretended to be a saint.

00:48:23Then his tones changed completely, and every word came out cold and poisoned.

00:48:28But I have never been sick enough to make a woman write a 10,000-word tumbleck apology.

00:48:33I have never locked her in a dark wine cellar for three days without food or water.

00:48:37I have never thrown her into a freezing fountain at a gala.

00:48:41Watched her bleed in the water, and then told my guards to keep going because she needed to learn a

00:48:46lesson.

00:48:54So tell me, Blackwood, what the hell kind of man do you think you are?

00:49:02Every word out of Nathaniel's mouth cut open the guilt Damien had been trying not to face.

00:49:07Right there on a foreign street, Nathaniel stripped away every pathetic excuse Damien had ever made about love, discipline, and

00:49:13protection, leaving him with nothing to hide behind.

00:49:16The color drained from Damien's face.

00:49:18His lips trembled, and he tried to argue back, but his throat was so dry that not a single word

00:49:22came out.

00:49:23Two months of guilt and regret crashed over him all at once.

00:49:26His vision went dark, and he could barely stand.

00:49:29Then he snapped.

00:49:31Shut up.

00:49:33His voice was hazy and shaking.

00:49:39Shut your mouth!

00:49:40The last thread holding him to get broke.

00:49:43He pulled his fist back and charged forward, trying to tear me away from Nathaniel.

00:49:48Nathaniel had run out of patience.

00:49:50His eyes went cold, and he lunged forward, throwing a punch straight at Damien.

00:49:55Two powerful men who were used to commanding boardrooms and making entire markets move, started brawling on the streets of

00:50:00Monaco like common street thugs.

00:50:02The heavy sound of fists hitting flesh and the raw grails of age made casino guests scream and scattered.

00:50:07In the chaos, Damien used that reckless, almost suicidal force to break through the guards and reach me again.

00:50:14Come with me.

00:50:15I am not losing you again.

00:50:17He grabbed my shoulders with his bloody hands, his eyes obsessive and unhinged.

00:50:21Damien forced me into the black armored car waiting on the street, and ordered his men to clear a pay.

00:50:26Clear the way, now!

00:50:30Drive to the private airport.

00:50:31Now, we are leaving for New York.

00:50:36By the time Nathaniel ran back into the street with blood on his face, all he could see were the

00:50:40taillights disappearing toward the coast.

00:50:46Find Blackwood's private flight path across the Atlantic.

00:50:49Get my people ready.

00:50:50I am going to New York, and I am tearing his tower down if I have to.

00:50:5512 hours later, the Gulfray landed a heavily guarded private estate outside New York City, completely isolated from the outside

00:51:01world.

00:51:02It was Damien's most hidden asset, a beautiful golden cage built with the best security systems money could buy.

00:51:08I was locked inside the luxurious living room, but I stayed completely silent.

00:51:12I did not cry.

00:51:13I did not scream.

00:51:14I did not make a scene.

00:51:16I only looked at Damien with a coldness that made it clear he was already dead to me.

00:51:21Damien's heart cracked piece by piece under that look.

00:51:24He desperately wanted to make things right.

00:51:28Then he suddenly remembered that I had once mentioned liking a certain French dessert.

00:51:32He had never been in a kitchen in his life, but he took off his jacket and walked into the

00:51:36kitchen anyway,

00:51:38clumsily cutting ingredients with his ruined hands.

00:51:40Hot oil splashed up and burned blisters across the backs of his hands, but he did not seem to notice.

00:51:44An hour later, he came out carrying a plate of dessert that looked terrible and slightly burnt.

00:51:48He walked up to me with a tired, worn-out face that carried a pathetic kind of hope.

00:51:52His whole body was shaking.

00:51:53His eyes were red, and he could barely stand as it helped it played out to him.

00:51:57He used to say you liked this.

00:51:59I made it myself.

00:52:00Please, Scarlet, just try one bite.

00:52:02I leaned against the couch, completely different, and did not even bother to look at him.

00:52:07I treated him like he was invisible.

00:52:08Damien's heart sank deeper into that frozen silence until there was nothing left but despair.

00:52:12All his pride fell away as he dropped to his knees in front of me and looked up like a

00:52:16beggar.

00:52:30I know that now.

00:52:48His face was the frozen cold of two lifetimes.

00:52:59You really want to know why?

00:53:01You protected her from the boiling water and left me on the floor while my skin peeled off.

00:53:07His breathing turned unsteady because you locked me in that dark wine cellar and gave Clara the perfect chance to

00:53:14torture me with an electroshock chair.

00:53:16When I told you the truth with injuries all over my body, you called me a liar.

00:53:21His face went pale.

00:53:23Every time you had to choose between me and Clara, you chose her.

00:53:29You chose your family's reputation.

00:53:31You chose control.

00:53:33And now you are kneeling here asking me to believe you loved me?

00:53:37Every word struck Damien like a judgment.

00:53:39Damien's face was completely pale.

00:53:41His body shook so hard he could barely stay upright.

00:53:44He tried to argue, to say I had misunderstood.

00:53:46But in front of those brutal facts, he realized words meant nothing.

00:53:49Regret tore through him.

00:53:50He tried to stand but accidentally knocked over the bag tucked between the couch hips.

00:53:55Everything inside spilled onto the floor.

00:53:58As he scrambled to pick it up, his fingers touched a medical file hidden deep inside.

00:54:06Damien opened the medical report from the private hospital in Monaco before he could think better of it.

00:54:12Large area deep second degree burns with severe PSTD caused prolonged psychological computer and pressure.

00:54:17Burns.

00:54:19Boiling water.

00:54:21He stared at the date on the report.

00:54:24It was the same day he had knocked over the hot water and carried Clara away from the mansion.

00:54:29That was how badly I had been hurt.

00:54:31It had not only been my body, my mind had been damaged too.

00:54:35And what had he been doing then, the man who claimed to love me?

00:54:38He had been holding Clara, the person at the center of all of it, asking if she was okay.

00:54:43Meanwhile, he had left me in boiling water to suffer.

00:54:45Damien completely lost control.

00:54:47He punched the wall so hard that the crack of his knuckles breaking was audible.

00:54:50Blood splattered across the wall.

00:54:52But the physical pain was nothing compared to the feeling of his heart being crushed piece by piece.

00:54:56He crawled back to my feet like a dying dog and grabbed the hem of my dress with his broken,

00:55:00bleeding hand.

00:55:01His voice was wrecked as he apologized over and over again.

00:55:05I did not know it was that bad.

00:55:07Scarlet, I swear I did not know.

00:55:10Kill me if you want.

00:55:11Take a knife and do it right now.

00:55:13Just give me one chance.

00:55:15Please.

00:55:16Just one chance.

00:55:19I looked down at him, my long lashes casting cold shadows over my eyes.

00:55:25There was no emotion in them at all.

00:55:27I heard your apology, Damien.

00:55:29I just do not forgive you.

00:55:35At that moment, the roar of Moletter cycle engines, screaming security alarms exploded outside the villa.

00:55:41Through the chaos of guards yelling and fighting, the thick bulletproof front door of the living room was slammed open

00:55:46from the outside.

00:55:47Nathaniel burst in covered in injuries, his eyes wild with rage, carrying the kind of fury that looked ready to

00:55:52kill.

00:55:55Nathaniel strode in over the shattered glass, his black leather jacket stained with the blood of Damien's guards.

00:56:01The usual lazy charm in his eyes was gone, replaced by something savage and deadly.

00:56:09He pulled me behind him in one swift motion.

00:56:14His right fist trembled from the force he was barely holding back.

00:56:21Damien Blackwood, you really had the nerve to take her right under my nose.

00:56:26You think because your family runs New York, I cannot touch you?

00:56:30Damien was still on the floor.

00:56:32His broken hand hung at his side, blood dripping from his fingertips onto the expensive wool carpet.

00:56:37Slowly, he stood.

00:56:38His proud, untouchable spine looked bent now.

00:56:40But the moment he saw Nathaniel, jealousy and violence flared back to life in his hollow eyes.

00:56:45Let her go.

00:56:46Nathaniel, this is New York.

00:56:52This is my territory!

00:56:54When the council I'm assailed, you are not taking her anywhere!

00:56:59Nathaniel looked as if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world.

00:57:06He stepped forward and grabbed Damien by the collar, lifting him with brutal force.

00:57:11Your territory?

00:57:12Look outside.

00:57:14Beyond the windows, countless armored vehicles flashed with warning lights, surrounding the private estate.

00:57:20Nathaniel's men had already formed a standoff with Blackwood's guards.

00:57:24I am not just taking her out of here today.

00:57:29I am going to go and collect.

00:57:31I collect the life you should have lost in Monaco, right here in New York.

00:57:39Damien did not fight back.

00:57:40He let Nathaniel hold him by the collar, but his eyes stayed locked on my face over Nathaniel's shoulder.

00:57:46There was no trace of his old arrogance left in that look.

00:57:49Only a plea so desperate it had sunk into his bones.

00:57:52Scarlet, do not go. I am begging you.

00:57:58Stay, even if all you want is to kill me.

00:58:01I looked at him without emotion, as if I were looking at something already dead.

00:58:06Damien, the moment you threw yourself in front of Clara, we became enemies in both lifetimes.

00:58:12Do not make me hate you more than I already do.

00:58:15Then I turned and took Nathaniel's blooded hand myself.

00:58:19Nathaniel, let's go.

00:58:21Nathaniel froze for half a second, then clasped my hand tightly, locking his fingers with mine.

00:58:26With a look of disgust, he shoved Damien away as if pushing aside trash.

00:58:30Damien staggered back and crashed into the luxury wine cabinet behind him.

00:58:35Countless bottles shattered across the floor, and dark red wine spread over the wreckage like blood.

00:58:41He sat collapsed in the ruin, able to do nothing but watch as Nathaniel shielded me and led me out

00:58:47of that beautiful golden cage without looking back.

00:58:51Nathaniel shielded me and led me out without looking back.

00:58:58The door slammed shut behind us.

00:59:01Behind it came Damien's broken, desperate growl.

00:59:12The suffocating gloom of New York was left behind on the other side of the Atlantic.

00:59:18Nathaniel did not take me back to Modico and its glittering, noisy world of money and pleasure.

00:59:23Instead, he put me on his private jet and flew me straight to an extremely private estate in the south

00:59:28of France.

00:59:29The estate sat deep in the quiet Prevenge countryside, far away from the world.

00:59:36When I opened the windows, I could see endless fields of lavender.

00:59:41The air smelled clean, full of grass, sunlight, and peace.

00:59:46There was no Richard Will calculating what I was worth.

00:59:48There was no Damien Blackfield haunting me with his obsession.

00:59:51There was only a silence gentle enough to make breathing feel easy again.

00:59:56Cancel all meetings.

00:59:58Nathaniel threw away every bit of his Southern European playboy image and became surprisingly patient.

01:00:04He canceled business mootings, turned down parties, and simply sat with me during breakfast in the flower-filled garden.

01:00:11At sunset, he would lie half on the grass beneath the grapevines with a book in his hand.

01:00:15Every now and then, he would look up and flash me that lazy, troublemaking smile.

01:00:20He never mentioned New York.

01:00:22He never mentioned Damien Blackwood.

01:00:24He never mentioned any part of the past that hurt me.

01:00:27With that strange, reckless tenderness only he had, he slowly chased the shadows of my last life from between my

01:00:34brows.

01:00:37The skin burned by deep second-degree scalds still arced at night, and the PTSD left by my past life

01:00:45often dragged me awake from nightmares.

01:00:47Every time I sat up covered in cold sweat, I saw a faint light glowing outside on the terrace.

01:00:51Nathaniel was always there, guarding my bedroom from the soap outside the glass doors.

01:00:55He held an old guitar in his arms, his long fingers moving over the strings.

01:00:59The melodies were never perfect, but somehow they were gentle enough to calm my heart.

01:01:05Nightmare again, wildcat?

01:01:07Do not be scared.

01:01:08I am right here.

01:01:10Not even God gets past me tonight.

01:01:15Paint whatever you want.

01:01:17Turn my face into a pig if it makes you happy.

01:01:23During the years, Damien controlled me.

01:01:26Painting had been dismissed as a useless distraction.

01:01:29But here, it was freedom.

01:01:31It belonged to Scarletta Vale.

01:01:35Under Nathaniel's shameless indulgements and steady companionship, I smiled more and more.

01:01:40It was the kind of joy that came from being accepted without conditions and encouraged to release every part of

01:01:45myself.

01:01:46One day, he secretly arranged a 10,000-meter skydive.

01:01:49The helipter climbed higher and higher with a violent roar.

01:01:52Beneath us were the jewel-blue Mediterranean and the distant line of the Alps.

01:01:55Wind poured in through the open cabin door, whipping my hair into chaos.

01:01:59The instructor checked our gear one final time.

01:02:01I looked at the shrinking world outside the door, took a deep breath, and felt the brightest rush of anticipation

01:02:06I had known since my rebirth.

01:02:08Nathaniel Hulma hailed my tightly, his palm burning hot at against mine.

01:02:11He leaned close to my ear and shouted over the engine.

01:02:14He grinned, wild and dazzling.

01:02:16Just as the green light came on and the instructor signaled that we were ready to jump, he suddenly gestured

01:02:20for him to wait.

01:02:21He turned to me and stared straight into my eyes, deep and burning.

01:02:25Above the deafening engine, his voice somehow reached me clearly.

01:02:28Scarlet, before we jump.

01:02:30Scarlet Vale, I know you are hurt.

01:02:32I know that bastard in New York broke something in you.

01:02:35I am not going to feed you pretty lies.

01:02:37I am asking you straight.

01:02:39Give me a chance.

01:02:44Let me take care of you.

01:02:46Everything Damien Blackwood did to you, I will spend the rest of my life helping you heal from it.

01:02:54If the sky falls, I will hold it up for you.

01:02:57If you want to walk through the world like you own it, I will clear the road.

01:03:00If you want the stars, I will build you a damn ladder.

01:03:04I have never been this serious about anyone, Scarlet.

01:03:08I choose you.

01:03:09His conflation was direct, arrogant, and rough around the edges just like him, but it burned through me like sunlight,

01:03:15melting the deepest ice inside my heart.

01:03:17There was no prophet binding us together.

01:03:19No rules.

01:03:20No cage.

01:03:21Only the purest kind of desire to love someone as they were.

01:03:24I looked into those flirtious eyes, now filled with love and nervousness, and the string that had been pulled in

01:03:30my heart for two lives finally snapped loose.

01:03:33The heavy chains were scattered by the wind 10,000 meters above the earth.

01:03:38Yes!

01:03:39I will give you that chance!

01:03:42Alright, loveards, time to jump!

01:03:55The wind thundered past my ears as I opened my arms to freedom.

01:03:59This time, my guardian was falling beside me.

01:04:05The sun in southern France was warm and gentle.

01:04:08But the top floor of Blackwood Tower in New York, the heavy curtains were drawn tight, shutting out every trace

01:04:14of daylight.

01:04:14Damien Sack collapsed in his oversized leather chair, surrounded by empty vodka bottles.

01:04:18He had grown painfully thin.

01:04:20His face was hangered, his eyes sunken, and the hair he had once kept perfectly styled for the sake of

01:04:25the family code now hung in a mess.

01:04:26His phone screen was still lit.

01:04:27On it was a blurry Pemperazzi photo taken in southern France.

01:04:30Sunlight poured over an outdoor cafe.

01:04:32I was wearing a bright yellow dress, laughing with Nathaniel a spoonful of ice cream.

01:04:36Nathaniel was looking at me with open affection, gently tapping my nose with his finger.

01:04:39The photo was beautiful enough to hurt.

01:04:41Scarlet, I only found out recently that Clara used an electroshock chair on you in the wine feller.

01:04:46I have locked her away.

01:04:48I will make her pay back every bit of pain she caused you.

01:04:54Scarlet.

01:04:55Scarlet.

01:04:57Scarlet.

01:04:59Tears mixed with blood at the corner of his mouth.

01:05:02He whispered my name like a prayer and a punishment.

01:05:07I was smiling, bright and unrhynd, but that happiness no longer belonged to him.

01:05:13That place beside me should have been his.

01:05:16He was the one who had pushed me away with those damned rules.

01:05:29He wrote like a madman.

01:05:31Sometimes his handwriting was messy.

01:05:33Sometimes it was painfully neat.

01:05:36Before long, the white paper was covered in tear marks and bloody fingerprints from his broken hand.

01:05:42He wrote about how stupid he had been to believe the Vale family's act.

01:05:46He wrote about forcing me to write apologies, locking me in the wine cellar, I bled and bound me standing

01:05:51right and spilled about, then hot water to protect Clara while leaving me with second degree burns and PTSD.

01:05:58Scarlet, I only found out recently that Clara used an electroshock chair on you in the wine cellar.

01:06:14The letter was sent by international courier to southern France and eventually reached my hands.

01:06:21I did not read a single line.

01:06:23I threw it straight into the roaring fireplace.

01:06:26The pages curled in the flailed in the flames and turned to ash.

01:06:36No answer ever came.

01:06:40After the letter was sent, no reply came back.

01:06:44Damien's last bit of hope died completely.

01:06:46Ignoring the furious objections of his private doctor, he tore the IV from his hand and booked the nearest flight

01:06:52to the south of France.

01:06:53Through the Blackwood family's underground channels in Europe, he eventually located the quiet estate surrounded by lavender fields.

01:07:00But he did not dare go near it.

01:07:02He was afraid of disturbing me.

01:07:04Even more than that, he was afraid of seeing the disgust in my eyes.

01:07:07So he stayed outside the thorny fence like a ghost, watching from far away day and night.

01:07:12He saw Nathaniel's Lamborghini come and go.

01:07:14He saw us walking hand in hand along the country road at sunset.

01:07:17At night, he saw Nathaniel's shadow on the second floor balcony as he gently held me in his arms.

01:07:21Every scene was a dull knife, slowly cutting through his body and soul.

01:07:25One day, a violent storm broke over southern France.

01:07:27Lightning split the night sky.

01:07:29Damien stood outside the fence without moving, letting the cold rain soak him through.

01:07:33He was running a fever of 104 degrees, his body burning under the creasing rain, but he stood there like

01:07:38a statue and refused to leave.

01:07:42In his sick, desperate mind, he imagined that maybe the rain was heavy enough to soften my heart.

01:07:49Maybe I would come out with an umbrella and look at him just once.

01:07:53Only when his body finally gave out did he collapse into the muddy water.

01:07:58Before he lost consciousness completely, he thought he saw the curtain move in a second floor window.

01:08:13Scarlet, let me see her.

01:08:17Keep dreaming, Blackwood.

01:08:19She does not want to see you.

01:08:21She would feel dirty wasting even one second on you.

01:08:29She told me to give you four words.

01:08:32No forgiveness.

01:08:34No pity.

01:08:36No return.

01:08:41Keep whatever dignity the Blackwood family still has.

01:08:45Every word struck Damien like an icepook through the heart, shattering the last bit of hope left in him.

01:08:51He understood.

01:08:52I was not even willing to waste hatred on him anymore.

01:08:55Between us, everything had ended in the second of the car crash in my last life and in the moment

01:08:59he ordered the guards to keep me in the fountain in this life.

01:09:02After his fever broke, he was put on a plane back to New York by Nathaniel's private guards.

01:09:08He left like a puppet with its soul pulled out.

01:09:17Damien's forced departure did not stop the next storm from arriving.

01:09:21After recovering in southern France, I was no longer the weak woman from my past life who could only endure

01:09:27pain.

01:09:27With Nathaniel's financial power and international underground network behind me, I personally planned the final reckoning against the Vale family.

01:09:34Using hackers, I gathered hard evidence of Richard's years of tax evasion, money laundering, embezzlement of my mother's trust assets,

01:09:41and massive commercial brubering.

01:09:42Then I anonymously submit everything to the highest federal prosecutors in New York.

01:09:49The evidence was overwhelming.

01:09:51Richard was arrested by federal agents during a Vale group board meeting, right in front of the cameras and the

01:09:56entire press.

01:09:57The Vale family trust and company collapsed overnight.

01:10:00Their assets were seized and liquidated, and bankruptcy followed almost immediately.

01:10:05In the visiting room of New York's first federal prison, I sat behind thick bulletproof glass and looked coldly at

01:10:11Richard.

01:10:11He had gone white-haired overnight. He looked old, broken, and frantic.

01:10:15Scarlett, I am your father! My blood runs in your veins!

01:10:19You sent your own father to hell with your own hands! You'll pay for this!

01:10:22Pay for it?

01:10:23Richard, did you think about payback when you brought Monica into my mother's house?

01:10:26Did you think about it when you let tried to sell me into the Blackwood family like a piece of

01:10:30property?

01:10:33This is your payback.

01:10:35Spend the rest of your life repenting in there.

01:10:43Monica could not survive the shock of the Vale family collapsing overnight.

01:10:48Her mind broke completely, and she was forced into the cheapest psychiatric hospital in New York.

01:10:54Every day, she wandered with tangled hair, muttering nonsense to herself.

01:11:04Damien, please save my mother. Please save the Vale family. I know I was wrong. I will bring Scarlett back

01:11:10if you want. I will beg that bitch to come back. Just look at me once.

01:11:13The iron gate slowly opened. Damien came out with a cane. He looked down at the woman kneeling at his

01:11:21feet like she was filth on the road. There was no emotion in his eyes. Only disgust.

01:11:26Love? Clara, I know exactly how you and Monica schemed your way through Manhattan society and bullied Scarlett for years.

01:11:34I did not touch you before because you were not worth dirtying my hands.

01:11:39Also, I was saving you for Scarlett.

01:11:44Now that she has made her move, I am satisfied. Get this disgusting woman out of my sight.

01:11:54After that, a filthy, ragged woman appeared on the underground streets of Manhattan.

01:11:58She smelled rotten, laughed at strangers, and screamed at shadows.

01:12:02Damien had his men watch her from a distance.

01:12:04He did not allow her to die.

01:12:05He made sure she stayed alive long enough to suffer every humiliation the bottom of society had to offer.

01:12:10It was exactly what I had wanted for her.

01:12:12She would live like a rat in the gutter, slowly and painful.

01:12:17After hearing how everything ended, I stood before the floor-to-clear windows of the estate in southern France and

01:12:22watched the sun sink below the horizon.

01:12:24For the first time, my heart felt strangely calm.

01:12:27The nightmare and karma that had followed me through two lifetimes had finally come to an end.

01:12:31Bad people got what they deserved.

01:12:33From now on, baby, let me be the only one who gets to spoil you.

01:12:36Over the next half year, Nathaniel and I grew closer and closer.

01:12:39We traveled from country to country, enjoying our freedom and love anywhere in the world we wanted.

01:12:44We both thought the blood and storms were finally behind us.

01:13:04But no one expected Clara, who had long gone mad and been forgotten in the trash-filled corners of New

01:13:10York, to be planning one last act of revenge.

01:13:27Nethanthil reacted instantly, with a low growl he shoved open the car door and threw himself into the fight, doing

01:13:31everything he could to protect me.

01:13:32But there were too many of them, and they had come prepared.

01:13:35Nethanthil was soon cut across the arm while shielding me, then forced to the ground under several guns.

01:13:39His face was covered in blood, and his eyes were wild with rage.

01:13:42Do not touch her! Let her go!

01:13:51A burst of crazed applause rang out. Clara slowly stepped out from behind one of the vants.

01:13:55She wore a filthy, torn dress stained with grime. Her hair was a tangled mess, and her eyes were cloudy

01:13:59and insane.

01:14:00In her hand, she gripped a loaded glock. Her ruined face twisted like something out of a nightmare as she

01:14:03laughed at me.

01:14:11At that deadly moment, just as one of the thugs was about to pull the trigger, the roar of an

01:14:14engine ripped through the sea wind.

01:14:16A black-armored SUV came crashing in from behind, ramping the van, blocking the road, and screeched to a stop

01:14:20in the middle of the chaos.

01:14:22A thin figure with a slight limp stepped out, carrying an automatic rifle and surrounded by cold, murderous, and tate.

01:14:27Damien. He had been following my movements from a distance all along.

01:14:31When he found out Clara had disappeared under strange circumstances, he sensed something was wrong and tracked the rive route

01:14:36here for the sea.

01:14:42Let her go, Clara. Get that filthy gun away from her head.

01:14:52Damien, you came too? Good. Perfect.

01:14:54The head of the Blackwood family and Nathaniel's family are both here.

01:14:58I can send all of you to hell together.

01:15:00What do you want?

01:15:02I will give you every Blackwood trust, every share, every asset I have.

01:15:07Take my life if you want.

01:15:10Just let Scarlet go.

01:15:12That's it.

01:15:13I do not want anything anymore.

01:15:15I want her to suffer.

01:15:18I want you, the high and mighty king of Manhattan, to watch with your own eyes while I tear her

01:15:23apart.

01:15:25Watching both men suffer because of me tore my heart open, and tears blurred my vision.

01:15:29Stop! Nathaniel, Damien, just go! Do not worry about me!

01:15:32You want her alive? Fine! Damien, king of Manhattan, get on your knees! Kneel and beg me!

01:15:37Damien looked at my deathly pale face and did not hesitate for even a second.

01:15:40He threw away the rifle in his hand and dropped to his knees on rough, gravel-covered road.

01:15:43The heavy sound of his bones hitting the ground tore through the sea wind.

01:15:46This was a man who had been pathologically proud in both lifetimes, a man who had never lowered his head

01:15:50to anyone.

01:15:50For my life, he threw away every last bit of dignity.

01:15:59Look at you!

01:16:00You finally know what it feels like.

01:16:04Beat him.

01:16:05Beat him until he cannot move.

01:16:09The thugs rushed forward.

01:16:10Iron rods and fists fell on Damien like rain.

01:16:13He curled tightly around himself, blood pouring from his mouth.

01:16:15But he stubbornly kept his body angled toward me, blocking the sand and gravel that flew in my direction.

01:16:20Stop! Please, stop!

01:16:36In that split second, no one saw where Damien found the strength.

01:16:39Like a black panther burning through its last breath, he threw himself up from the ground and slammed me with

01:16:44that ounce of life he had left.

01:16:45He knocked me hard onto the road and covered completely with his broad, bloodied back, leaving no gap between me

01:16:49and the bullet.

01:16:50The sound that followed tore into his back, exploding only a few millimeters from his heart.

01:16:54Blood sprayed across the air and instantly stained my white dress, a shocking red.

01:17:05For a moment, the whole world seemed to stop.

01:17:07Damien's heavy body pressed down over mine.

01:17:09With impossible effort, he slowly raised his head.

01:17:11His deathly pale face was covered in blood.

01:17:14When he saw that I was safe, Claire Crenbuthum, without a capture of his mouth lifted into a relieved smile.

01:17:18In that smile was a kind of longing and regret I had never seen from him in either lifetime.

01:17:22He struggled to raise his bleeding hand, as if he wanted to touch my face one last time.

01:17:27But his fingers shook violently in the air, never quite reaching me, before falling wheatly into the mud.

01:17:32He looked at me as the light in his eyes began to scatter.

01:17:35Scarlet, I am sorry.

01:17:40This time, I finally protected you.

01:17:45Live well with Nathaniel.

01:17:48Goodbye.

01:17:58Damien!

01:17:59Damien!

01:18:01Oh!

01:18:08But I only held the blood-covered man-in-arms, tears streaming down my face.

01:18:12Did I hate him?

01:18:13Did I resent him?

01:18:14The moment that bullet tore through his body, the chains from my past life and the hatred from this life

01:18:18were shattered with it.

01:18:19With his own life, he completed a redemption that had come two life teams too late.

01:18:25Above the Southeast Asian island, the roar of a rescue helicopter tore through the humid air.

01:18:29A team of top international medics carefully lifted Damien, covered in blood and deep in shock, onto a stretcher.

01:18:35His face had turned acid, almost like a corpse.

01:18:37His breathing and heartbeat were so weak the machines could barely detect them.

01:18:41I stood beside the helicopter, his warm blood still on my face and clothes.

01:18:44My fate's control of snow, wrapped in bandages and looking grim.

01:18:47Poor self threw the pain of his fractures and pulled me hard into his arms, using his broad chest to

01:18:51hold me up.

01:18:51His eyes were complicated as he watched Damien, he'd always despised he'd really been willing to trade his life for

01:18:56my freedom.

01:18:56The helicopter rushed toward the nearest international medical center.

01:19:00The doors of the operating room stayed shut, and the red light above them burned for 12 full hours.

01:19:08Nathania and I waited in the hallway as time stretched until it felt like a century.

01:19:14The surgery succeeded, the bullet is out, but he's not out of danger.

01:19:19Recovery will be long, the damage, it's severe, irreversible.

01:19:34Damien remained unconscious in the sterile ICU for more than half a month.

01:19:39During that time, with no one in control of Blackwood Group, rival financial powers in New York began tearing into

01:19:44it.

01:19:44The stock price plunged, and the company started from the inside.

01:19:46Through Nathaniel's underground channels, Iannoy passed Damien's confidential medical trial to a relatively loyal elder inside the Blackwood family.

01:19:52That elder stepped in and barely stabilized the chaos in New York.

01:19:56Half a month later, Damien finally opened his eyes to the beeping of medical machines.

01:20:00His vision slowly focused until he's standing outside the satiral glass.

01:20:04Our eyes met, and the air in the room seemed to freeze.

01:20:06My gaze was complicated. There was concern in it. There was release.

01:20:10There was no love left. There was no hatred left either.

01:20:13Damien wore an oxygen mask.

01:20:14His dry lips parted as if he wanted to say my name, but only a weak, hoary breath came out.

01:20:18He saw the calm in my eyes.

01:20:20He also saw Nathaniel behind me, covered in casts and bandages, still gripping my shoulder in a posture of absolute

01:20:25protection.

01:20:26Damien understood.

01:20:27The last faint, impossible hope in his soul went out like a candle in the wind.

01:20:30Two silent lines of tears slid from the corners of his eyes into his hair.

01:20:34He had used his life to save me.

01:20:36Whatever remained between us had died with that redemption.

01:20:41Three months later, at Geneva International Airport in Switzerland, morning fog covered up the runway bound for one of Switzerland's

01:20:47top private rehabilitation plants waited in silence.

01:20:50Damien could barely sit in a wheelchair now.

01:20:51He looked older and thinner than any disability in his left leg.

01:20:54For the rest of his life, he would have to rely on a cane and a wheelchair to move.

01:20:57His body had been drained almost beyond repair.

01:20:59He never tried to contact me again.

01:21:01He even refused visits from the core members of the Blackwood family.

01:21:05Before boarding, he calmly signed every equity transfer document and full management authorization agreement, handing away the business empire he

01:21:13had once treated as his life.

01:21:14He sold all of his Manhattan properties, poured every dollar into a newly established Global Wildlife and Freedom Photography Trust.

01:21:21It was an anonymous gift that would benefit me forever without requiring my signature.

01:21:25The medical plane's engines roared.

01:21:27Damien leaned beside the window and looked out at the endless, freezing white cloud sea above the Alps.

01:21:31His eyes held nothing but quiet acceptance and deathly stillness.

01:21:33He had finally removed himself from my world.

01:21:36Scarlet, I love you.

01:21:37Not because I want to lock you in a house like some pretty bird and not because want you following

01:21:40Ong any damn family rules.

01:21:42I love you exactly like this.

01:21:44Wild, proud, bright, and impossible to tame.

01:21:47Let me be the man who protects you for the rest of your life.

01:21:50Marry me.

01:21:56Yes.

01:21:57I will marry you.

01:21:58The last light of sunset wrapped around us in gold as he pulled me into his arms.

01:22:02The chains for my past life were finally broken.

01:22:06In this life, I finally had the wide open sky I deserved.

01:22:09Mid- Corporation.

01:22:09See you next week.

01:22:10Mr.

01:22:1014.

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