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Short filmTranscript
00:00Mermaids hide among humans, one iron law. Exposure means death.
00:05The clan sent me to make Morris Chadwick fall in love. I made him love me. I fell in love
00:10too.
00:11But the sudden car accident made him suffer from amnesia.
00:15Every December, Morris forgot who I am.
00:18Five years ago, a car crash, I protected my hands from the glass.
00:22Morris' amnesia began that same day.
00:26Who are you? Why are you in my house?
00:29I'd explain every time.
00:31I am your girlfriend!
00:33He never remembered. He'd lock me in the cold storage room, where for a mermaid the cold is suffocation.
00:39Ice seeps through my skin, pushing scales to the surface.
00:44Every breath feels like the ocean draining from my lungs.
00:47Blue scales shimmered on the backs of my hands, fighting to break through.
00:51I pressed my palms against the frozen floor and burned my mermaid essence to force them back down.
00:56The suppression tore through me like knives.
00:59But the iron law was absolute.
01:01Exposure meant extinction.
01:02So I paid the price in silence year after year.
01:06Then he'd smash my perfuming tools every bottle I'd blended with mermaid aura.
01:11Shattered on the floor, and I'd pick up the pieces and tell myself it was okay.
01:15He was sick.
01:16When the amnesia passed, he'd hold my cracked hands and whisper.
01:21I'm sorry. I didn't mean it.
01:24I believed him. Five years of this cycle.
01:27I never left, because I thought his illness was real and his tenderness was genuine.
01:32Then one night, I heard his voice through the half-open door. He was laughing.
01:37I pressed against the wall outside the study.
01:41Morris sat with his friends.
01:43How much longer are you going to keep up this act?
01:46Rachel's the only one who believes his fake amnesia.
01:48She's such an idiot.
01:51Every time, she kneels in the snow, begging us to help you remember.
01:56She really thinks you'll marry her.
02:01Laughter rolled through the room.
02:05You're going to pretend not to know her again next week, aren't you?
02:08How many years has it been now? Five.
02:11Morris' voice cut through the door, cold and sharp.
02:15During the car crash, to save her precious hands,
02:20Rachel let the glass slice through Lena's hands.
02:23She should burn in hell!
02:25Through the crack, I saw Jacqueline sitting next to him.
02:28The clan sent her to monitor me.
02:30Here, she called herself Lena.
02:33He reached over and gently fixed her hair.
02:36Gently held her bandaged hands.
02:38I'm going to make sure she suffers far worse than you ever did.
02:42For five years, I worried about him and gave him everything.
02:45The freezer.
02:46The scales.
02:47The destroyed tools were all just his way of punishing me.
02:50It wasn't amnesia.
02:51It was punishment.
02:52Then someone added.
02:55By the way, Maurice,
02:56you had someone switch Rachel's perfume sample at the competition.
03:00Put Lena's name on it instead, right?
03:04She deserves it.
03:06My formulas.
03:07Three months of testing until my hands bled.
03:10Jacqueline was the brand ambassador for Chadwick Perfumes.
03:13It took everyone for granted that she can make perfume,
03:15all stolen by one word from him.
03:19I sat on the floor for three days without eating or sleeping.
03:23I used to kneel in the snow, begging his friends to help him remember me.
03:28Because I thought he was lost.
03:29He was never lost.
03:31I was.
03:32Last year, after the perfume competition destroyed me,
03:35he held me through those terrible nights.
03:37He told me I was a born perfume genius.
03:40He said no matter what people said, he'd always believe in me.
03:43His kindness was just a trick.
03:45He built up my confidence just to break it completely.
03:50I went to the mermaid elder.
03:52I knelt on the stone floor of the coastal cave,
03:54where the sound of waves echoed from below.
03:58I want to erase everything.
04:01Every feeling, every memory of Maurice, all of it.
04:04The mermaid elder studied my face for a long time.
04:08Last month, you begged me for more time.
04:10You traded years of your life to stay with him.
04:12Now you want to erase him?
04:13The ritual takes five days.
04:15Once it's done, you won't feel anything about him anymore.
04:17No love, no hate, no grief, nothing.
04:20But the clan doesn't erase memories for personal reasons.
04:22Your mission isn't over.
04:23I grabbed his sleeve.
04:25Please.
04:27He pulled away, then my phone rang.
04:32Ratch, your brother is in the O.R.
04:36I was sitting on the curb outside the clinic, freezing, when Maurice walked up.
04:40He shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around my shoulders.
04:44What happened?
04:45Are you okay?
04:49He pulled me into his arms.
04:51He always showed up right when I was at my worst.
04:53He knew I depended on him.
04:56That's why I never left.
04:57I grew up alone in the sea with my brother.
05:00Now I was alone in the human world.
05:02Hiding my identity every day.
05:04I needed someone to anchor me.
05:06Even after he locked me in the freezer.
05:08Even after he destroyed my hands.
05:10I still forgave him.
05:12Right now, I was so exhausted that for one second, I let myself be held.
05:19Maurice?
05:20Maurice?
05:20Jacqueline's voice came from behind us.
05:25Maurice let go of me immediately and stepped back, like I was something inconvenient.
05:30Jacqueline looked at the billing screen through the clinic window.
05:34rachel do you seriously not even have three thousand dollars did you gamble away the monthly
05:39allowance maurice gives you her voice was loud on purpose people on the street turned to stare
05:44so she's a kept woman gambling away her sugar daddy's cash while her brother's sick
05:50disgusting don't embarrass lena maurice didn't defend me he leaned in and whispered a warning
05:56something inside me went quiet not broken just done five hundred thousand dollars he stared at
06:02me and shock dot in five years together i never asked him for a cent over five years you took
06:09my
06:09perfume formulas put jacqueline's name on them and sold them for way more than five hundred thousand
06:14dollars you owe me
06:20over five years you took my perfume formulas put jacqueline's name on them and sold them for
06:26way more than five hundred thousand dollars maurice stared at me like i had just spat on his shoes
06:32your formulas you're nothing but a perfumer's assistant rachel nothing more my formulas the
06:39ones i had created by blending my mermaid aura with human spices the only bridge between my world and
06:45this one he had taken every single one and given them to jacqueline jacqueline stepped forward with a
06:50smile that didn't reach her eyes rachel i know you're struggling here this should help with your
06:57brother's bills she pulled out four thousand dollars in cash and held it out to me as my fingers reached
07:02for the money she tilted the cup in her other hand hot water poured directly onto my hand first for
07:08a
07:08mermaid on land human skin is only a thin layer of disguise the heat sank deeper than it would on
07:13any
07:13human i gasped and yanked my hand back blisters swelled instantly the skin peeling back from the burn
07:20jacqueline dropped to the floor and screamed
07:25rachel pushed me she pushed me the cash scattered across the cold tile morris stepped between us
07:31is this how you act when you're begging for money rachel
07:36i held up my blistered hand
07:42she poured hot water on my hand first look morris cut me off before i could finish
07:47don't tell me lena fell on purpose again
07:53i lowered my hand he would never believe me the cash was still scattered across the floor
07:59the money i needed to keep samuel alive
08:03i squatted down and started picking up the bills one by one morris's leather shoe came down hard on
08:08my hand the blisters popped under his weight blood and clear fluid spread across the floor
08:14the pain shot up my arm and into my spine for a mermaid hands are survival destroyed hands mean
08:20exposure exposure means death every time the cold cracked my skin i had burned my own life force to
08:27keep the scales hidden now his shoe was doing the same damage from the outside he pressed harder
08:32apologize to lena neil i'm sorry miss bray i was wrong i dropped to my knees on the cold tile
08:39floor
08:39i turned my face up toward morris my voice flat and empty is that enough mr chadwick he froze
08:45his expression shifted not anger something he couldn't name he lifted his foot pulled at his tie
08:51and shoved the remaining cash into my arms this is the last time rachel don't take your anger out
08:59on lena again i kept my eyes on the floor there won't be a next time and there really wouldn't
09:07be
09:08that night morris called he had contacted the coastal clinic and pulled every string he had
09:13the full treatment cost would be covered the payment would process by tomorrow afternoon samuel had a chance
09:22the next day i sat beside samuel's bed in the clinic
09:26his breathing was shallow the monitors beeped in a rhythm only our kind understood
09:32the treatment was supposed to start at noon morris's payment had to clear first
09:37noon came no payment i checked my phone nothing
09:45the nurse came in and shook her head without the funds they couldn't begin
09:52samuel's hand twitched in mine his pulse was slowing if he died on land clan protocol was absolute
09:59destroy the remains leave nothing human eyes could find
10:05i called morris no answer i called again and again
10:11on my 99th try someone finally picked up his assistant
10:16ms heaton mr chadwick can't talk right now ms brain is upset
10:21she went to the roof jacqueline
10:25she had been faking damaged hands for five years
10:28and now she was on a rooftop threatening to jump
10:30morris was with her instead of sending the money that would save my brother
10:34the payment deadline was 30 minutes away
10:36i kissed samuel's forehead and ran
10:4130 minutes had passed
10:43the mermaid clan had already ordered the destruction of samuel's remains
10:47jacqueline's delay gave them time to execute
10:50i snatched the consent form from the assistant's hand and ran back to the hospital
11:00the hallway stretched forever a white sheeted gurney at the end
11:06the doctor looked at me
11:09miss the window by 10 minutes samuel didn't make it
11:13he died because two forces struck at the same time jacqueline's delay the clan's destruction order
11:19my legs gave out i fell to my knees on the cold tile floor i cried silently
11:25right then my phone buzzed a location pin for a high-end restaurant
11:35then morris called
11:39rachel the payment went through samuel will be fine
11:42he didn't know he had been on that rooftop with jacqueline the whole time
11:46the payment cleared but the treatment window had already closed
11:49i didn't correct him i couldn't form the words
11:53samuel was dead and this man was talking about designer dresses
11:57he paused
11:58lena is emotionally unstable i couldn't just leave her on that roof
12:03i'll pay for whatever samuel needs you know that
12:05his voice shifted back to that familiar arrogant tone
12:08you got the designer dress right
12:10wear it tomorrow night meet me at the glass conservatory
12:12i have something important to tell you
12:15i knew exactly what he was doing
12:16tomorrow would be the fifth time he faked getting his memory back
12:20the fifth time he would confess love like it was real
12:23those first few times i had cried tears of joy
12:26i had thought it meant he finally loved me back
12:29but it was always a staged scene he would cry
12:32blame his illness and i would stay
12:34i had even fallen deeply in love with him
12:37the kindness and cruelty and alternation had made me dependent on him
12:41i swallowed hard
12:42the game is over morris
12:44i don't want your money anymore
12:46and i don't want you
12:48the next day i didn't go
12:50i threw the expensive dress in the dumpster
12:54i went to the clan and demanded samuel's body back for a proper farewell
12:58the elder agreed but only on one condition
13:01the cremation must happen within 24 hours
13:07i was at the funeral home handling the cremation paperwork when morris's assistant arrived with two men
13:18they grabbed my arms and forced me into a waiting car
13:22mr chadwick has been waiting for you
13:24you can't just give up now
13:26he went all out for the proposal this time
13:29you've been through this for years
13:30you can't walk away
13:34the glass conservatory was full of white roses
13:39the smell hit me before i even stepped inside
13:41for a mermaid
13:42the olfactory system is hypersensitive
13:45white roses were worse than any human allergy
13:49every breath was a sharp sting behind my eyes
13:51a wave of nausea rolling through my skull
13:55i had been dragged through this exact setup for times before
13:58those first few times
14:00i had cried tears of joy
14:01now the rose smell made me sick
14:04morris stood in the center
14:05wearing the same tailored black suit
14:07he recited the same confession he had used every time before
14:11i raised my hand and swatted the jewelry box away
14:14the diamond ring flew across the room and hit the marble floor
14:21the loving look on his face disappeared
14:27rach do you you don't want to marry me
14:29just then his assistant rushed over in panic
14:32holding a tablet
14:35he glanced at the screen and quickly tried to hide it against his chest
14:40i burst through the rooftop door and the wind hit me like a wall
14:43morris stood near the edge one arm around jacqueline
14:46she was draped over the railing fake sobbing into the wind
14:49i didn't look at either of them
14:51i ran straight for morris
14:53the payment you promised
14:56samuel is dying
14:58two bodyguards grabbed me and shoved me onto the concrete
15:03he grabbed my hair and yanked my head back
15:05everyone is blaming her for the clinic
15:07calling her a liar a manipulator
15:09she can't bear it she's threatened to jump
15:11you need to record a video right now
15:14tell everyone you were the one who ruined her life
15:17i stared at him
15:18tell them what
15:20that i protected her from the glass and you two blamed me for it
15:23he slapped me
15:26you're still refusing to admit it rachel
15:30if lina doesn't come down from that rail
15:32you don't get the payment
15:34no payment means no treatment for samuel
15:38he was holding samuel's life hostage for jacqueline's tantrum
15:42samuel was still lying in that clinic
15:44dying by the second
15:46i opened my ig live stream and screamed the lie he wanted
15:50it was me i was cruel i'm the reason jacqueline's hands were damaged it's all my fault
16:00jacqueline kept fake crying while morris coaxed her down from the railing
16:07i stayed on my knees the wind cutting through me
16:10the payment authorization form was still in the assistant's hands unsigned
16:17i pushed past morris and grabbed the tablet
16:19it was the funeral home where samuel's body was being held
16:29a crowd had broken into the main hall and was live streaming the whole thing
16:36after the rooftop confession went viral jacqueline had been stoking the outrage for days
16:42she told her followers samuel helped rachel plan the crash that destroyed her hands
16:47that the heaton siblings tried to murder her for her perfume empire
16:50she posted the funeral home's address
16:52called it justice
16:53her followers showed up with cameras
16:57the mob came for revenge
16:59they thought they were avenging an innocent woman
17:01and punishing a criminal who escaped justice by dying
17:08i stumbled out of the greenhouse and flagged down a taxi
17:11in the back seat i sent messages in the live chat over and over
17:16please stop
17:18don't touch him
17:20nobody read them
17:23the leader sneered right into the camera
17:25rachel
17:27admit what you did to lena
17:29someone like you deserves to watch your brother's remains get destroyed
17:33a loud crash came through the speaker
17:36they smashed the cremation container
17:38ash and fragments scattered across the floor
17:40dirty water from a broken pipe mixed with the debris
17:43people stepped on it
17:45ground it into the concrete
17:48then i saw it
17:49a scale fragment
17:50still glistening with the last trace of mermaid essence
17:53it flickered once
17:54twice
17:55then faded to gray
17:57samuel's scale
17:58the last proof he was one of us
18:00trampled by humans who had no idea what they were destroying
18:03i opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out
18:08i rushed to the hospital on the surface
18:10it looks like a regular coastal clinic
18:14but behind a hidden door on the second floor
18:16there's a mermaid medical facility that no human knows about
18:20samuel shouldn't even be on land this long
18:24the clan forced him to stay
18:25they needed him to run errands in the human world
18:28and when he almost exposed our secret
18:30they made him stay as punishment
18:33now the land is killing him
18:35every day without seawater
18:36his body decays a little more
18:38the doctor met me at the iq door
18:41samuel's degradation is accelerating
18:43he's near death
18:45his merd pipiology is breaking down
18:47samuel lay on the specialized pod
18:49his skin pale
18:50faint scale lines visible along his jaw
18:53the mermaid specific pod was the only thing keeping him stable
18:56and it cost more than i could earn in a year
18:59i walked to the payment desk and handed over every card i had
19:03one by one the cashier swiped them
19:05insufficient insufficient insufficient
19:08i begged her
19:09save my brother first
19:11i just need to have a few days to get the money together
19:15morris sold my perfumes under jacqueline's name
19:17he must give me money
19:19she looked at me with cold eyes
19:21no money
19:22no treatment
19:25no samuel wouldn't survive another week
19:28the people behind me grew impatient and called the security guard
19:33security dragged me out and shoved me onto the street
19:40then i heard a familiar voice behind me
19:43morris
19:47my phone buzzed out it was the mermaid elder
19:51rachel your time is up
19:52the mission has failed
19:54we will now perform the memory wipe ritual
19:57i didn't argue there was nothing left to argue about
20:01samuel was dead
20:02his remains were trampled into concrete by humans who hunted our kind
20:07my hands were destroyed my mission had failed
20:09the man i loved for five years had been lying from the start
20:15i walked to the coastal cave where the elder waited
20:17the elder stood at the water's edge her silver hair streaming in the wind
20:24once this is done it cannot be undone
20:27you will lose every emotion and memory tied to maurice chadrick
20:31you will remember the mission you will remember the facts
20:35but you will feel nothing
20:37i closed my eyes
20:40do it
20:41the elder placed her hand on my forehead blue light flowed from her palm
20:45it moved through my skull like water through stone images rose and shattered one by one
20:51morris wrapping his coat around my shoulders in the freezing wind
20:54gone
20:55his hand gripping my hair on a rooftop while i screamed a lie
21:00gone
21:01his leather shoe crushing my hand until the blisters popped and bled
21:06gone
21:06five years of love and pain gone
21:09like bubbles breaking on the surface of still water
21:11i opened my eyes
21:14the cave was dark the tide was coming in
21:16the elder was gone i felt nothing no sadness no anger
21:21no love
21:23i walked out of the cave and into the morning light
21:26the mission had failed a new one would begin soon
21:33morris had meant to go after me
21:35he was standing by the door when his phone rang it was jacqueline
21:41she was crying again complaining about a splitting headache and the online harassment
21:46he hesitated then he put down his keys and headed to her apartment instead
21:53jacqueline clung to him the moment he walked in
21:55he couldn't pry himself away and ended up sleeping on her couch
21:59the next day at noon a message popped up in his private group chat
22:03morris are we starting the fifth fake amnesia routine
22:07he stared at the screen his finger hovering over the keyboard
22:11jacqueline shifted beside him wrapping an arm around his
22:17keeping his face blank he typed a single word in reply
22:21yes
22:24after freshening up he ordered his bodyguards to lock rachel in the sub-zero cold storage
22:30just like he had done the last four times
22:33only this time annoying anxiety built in his chest
22:37he found himself staring at the cold storage door
22:39he remembered the way my hands shook after each session
22:43the way i still smiled at him the next morning
22:48he couldn't sit still two hours later his bodyguard called
22:56mr chadwick miss heaton is missing
23:02morris frowned a living person doesn't just vanish
23:06where else would she go besides the hospital he flashed back to the tablet footage from last
23:11night they destroyed her brother's remains at the funeral home didn't leave a trace
23:18morris knocked over his black coffee he thought it was just a stunt never thought
23:23they'd destroy everything
23:26where is rachel we checked the funeral home and her apartment no sign of her
23:32find her tear the city apart if you have to
23:37he hung up
23:40jacqueline walked up and wrapped her arms around him from behind
23:47maurice rachel probably just left
23:49if she wants to go let her go she was sick of playing the victim
23:54she had noticed morris's gaze on me shifting from disgust to desire
23:57she had to end this now
24:01back in the clan she was always the second choice
24:04i was the one sent to capture morris's heart
24:06jacqueline was only sent to watch
24:11in the human world she had tasted power wealth and devotion
24:17she was not going back to being nobody's first pick the clan's mission meant nothing to her anymore
24:23morris was her ticket to staying on land forever and i was the only thing standing in her way
24:29morris went quiet she made sense
24:33but a sharp suffocating tightness in his chest made it hard to breathe in the end he cancelled the search
24:43life went back to normal he took jacqueline to evening galas and helped her pick out dresses
24:48she was a mermaid manipulating him and he had no idea the same way i had once hidden my true
24:54nature
24:54from him only jacqueline's manipulation was all calculation no heart
25:03a month later a thunderstorm rolled through the city
25:07jacqueline showed up at his apartment claiming the storm terrified her the vibe shifted she stood on
25:13her tiptoes closed her eyes and went in for a kiss morris jerked his head away on instinct and pushed
25:19her back
25:21he knew she was crossing a line he'd known about her feelings and played dumb figuring it
25:26was harmless if unspoken but right then a wave of intense irritation washed over him
25:32his body was rejecting something he didn't understand what looking down at jacqueline's tears
25:38he laid it out cold i only see you as my sister ignoring her shocked expression and the tears
25:45spilling over her cheeks he grabbed his car keys and bolted out the door he drove without thinking
25:52by the time he snapped out of his haze he was parked outside an abandoned villa
25:59the basement the perfumery he had torn apart
26:03the exact same room where he used to lock me up to punish me whenever he was faking his memory
26:08loss
26:09his hand wrapped around the rusty doorknob that severe tight ache hit his chest again
26:15it took everything he had just to shove the heavy door open
26:20a blast of stale dust hit him laced with my faint familiar scent his composure shattered the cramped room
26:27was still packed with my things perfume formulas plastered the walls smashed beakers and glass droppers
26:34littered the corner mixed in with inexpensive little gifts i had given him over the years
26:39for the first time it actually hit him my entire universe for the last five years had revolved around
26:45him then he saw it at the hand-knit navy blue cashmere scarf he had demanded rare mountain cashmere just
26:52to be cruel i had dragged myself through the snow to get the materials ending up with frostbite
26:57so bad i almost needed an amputation he had tossed that scarf into the dog's bed morris's eyes burned
27:04quickly filling with tears then he saw an unopened bottle of custom blended perfume the label was written
27:12in my neat careful handwriting till you marry me i had worked myself to the bone formulating it
27:19planning to give it out at our wedding he had dumped it down the drain in front of a crowd
27:24just to
27:24humiliate me i had forced a smile and said i'll wait for the day you're willing to marry me
27:31but he had never intended to marry me the memory of that smile made his knees buckle
27:39he leaned against the freezing concrete wall and slid down to the floor his hands were shaking so badly
27:45he could barely light a cigarette the small red glow illuminated the tears streaming down his face
27:52but he had locked me in a freezer destroyed my career used my brother's treatment as leverage
27:59let strangers trample his remains
28:03every item in this room was a confession none of it made sense anymore the revenge the five years all
28:10of
28:10it crumbled a jagged gasp tore from his throat he stumbled to his feet knocking over the box of my
28:18things
28:20the basement door was heavy just like it had been every time he locked me inside
28:27he pulled himself up he had to find me he pulled out his phone to call the number he still
28:32knew by heart
28:33then a notification from his group chat flashed across the screen morris it's over i checked the
28:39hallway security footage rachel heard everything we said in the private room about you faking your amnesia
28:44his hand stopped mid-dial
28:49he tapped the video attachment there was me standing just outside the heavy door
28:55my face was pale the thermos slipped from my grip and shattered against the floor
29:00i slapped a hand over my mouth spun on the heel and ran in absolute despair the cherry of his
29:06burning
29:07cigarette broke off and landed on the back of his hand scorching the skin he didn't flinch
29:12dot then his foot clipped an old box on the floor inside sat a semi-transparent scale and a small
29:17c
29:18crystal he picked up the scale it was cold and moist against his fingers like it had just been pulled
29:25from the ocean the surface shimmered with a faint blue light that pulsed once and faded
29:32his hand went still this was not a human thing his mind raced
29:40her unnatural talent for perfumes the way she always seemed to carry the ocean in her scent
29:46she was not human she was a mermaid
29:52the weight of it crushed him morris buried his face in his hands
29:57for all those years i hid what i was and stayed by his side while he locked me in that
30:02basement and
30:03used the cold to break me his family had always been in marine industries
30:10he had heard the stories about mermaids
30:15he just never thought they were real never thought one was standing right beside him
30:20the deeper things he would never understand
30:25but the one thing he knew now was this cold was not just cold for us it was agony
30:32a raw guttural wail ripped from his throat
30:34rash i was wrong i was so wrong i love you his agonizing cries echoed off the concrete walls of
30:43the empty basement no one heard him the regret had come way too late
30:51morris's eyes welled up as if he were the victim
30:55rish i know you hate me i know you're a mermaid and i know you didn't stay with me by
31:00choice
31:02i was wrong to fake my amnesia and torment you but my feelings are real i love you
31:08don't punish me by pretending you've lost your memory even without emotions i recognize the absurdity
31:16you treat someone like garbage for five years then get teary-eyed and claim you love her the psych
31:21horde is down the hall on your left get out
31:27morris's face went pale because i once shivered in the snow to warm his hands now looked at him
31:32with open hostility he reached out to touch my face i grabbed a glass dropper and pointed it at his
31:38throat
31:39morris stumbled back he forced a tight smile it's okay i'll win you back make up for everything
31:47you changed your number can i have the new one he pulled out his phone
31:54i was about to tell him to leave when i saw a tall guy walking toward the glass doors
31:59i smiled took his phone and started tapping in numbers before i could finish a large hand
32:05reached over and slapped it out of my grip the phone hit the floor with a sharp crack
32:09and the screen totally shattered morris's temper flared up instantly
32:15you looking for a fight broderick didn't even look at him he just glared straight at me
32:22rachel yesterday you told me you liked my scent best and today you're giving your number to another
32:27guy where's your professional integrity
32:31i laughed at how obviously annoyed he was i mean i appreciate your talent for making perfumes but
32:38that doesn't mean i can't humor a salesman i tilted my head looking right into broderick's striking eyes
32:45besides mr marfley what gives you the right to tell me what to do broderick's face flushed red
32:51but he was way too stubborn to admit that he liked me i don't care i'm your lead investor
32:57and i say no he pulled me behind him shifting into fiercely protective mode as he glared at morris
33:05hey old man aren't you a little too old to be harassing women don't you have any shame i'll have
33:11my legal team sue you into bankruptcy morris's voice was ice cold i was talking to my future wife
33:18broderick laughed out loud she wouldn't even give you her number are you stupid or just delusional
33:25i reached under the counter and pulled out a small jar of custom blended rosin
33:29i held it out to broderick here i made this for you
33:37he took it his eyes lighting up like a kid on christmas morning morris's lips were trembling
33:44you you used to say you'd never make perfume for anyone else
33:50broderick raised an eyebrow and wrapped his arm around my waist
33:54she used to have terrible taste she's my perfumer now she makes whatever she wants for whoever she
34:02wants i only care about making her successful and letting the world experience her work something
34:07stirred inside me a faint ripple in the emptiness where emotions used to be broderick guided me toward
34:14the exit morris grabbed his arm let go of her broderick yanked his arm free in disgust
34:28he pulled out a checkbook wrote an enormous figure and threw it in morris's face
34:33that covers the phone use the rest to book a psych appointment morris's fist clenched purple spots
34:40appeared on his face he clutched his chest and collapsed broderick rolled his eyes heart problems
34:46and he still wants to fight he called an ambulance then turned to me
34:54do you have any sanitizing wipes i touched a trash person and i feel dirty
34:59that night i went home to the small rented room where samuel used to sleep
35:03i sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the empty space the elder texted me
35:13rachel there's something i need to tell you about samuel
35:18i went still what about him the night he was declared dead i moved him before the clinic could
35:24process the paperwork i had my people report his death to follow planned protocol
35:28but i preserved his consciousness his body is in a medical pod at a secure location
35:34he has been alive this whole year at rachel my hands started shaking what the clan ordered the
35:42destruction of his remains because he was too close to exposure i followed the order on the surface
35:48but i couldn't let him die i helped you fake the cremation what jacqueline's followers destroyed at the
35:53funeral home was a decoy container the scale fragment you saw in the debris was placed there
35:59to make the remains look authentic i couldn't breathe thought samuel was alive my brother was alive
36:05i had grieved for a year over a decoy why didn't you tell me sooner his condition was too fragile
36:11i
36:12needed to be sure he could recover before giving you hope i won't deny it i felt pity for you
36:16even
36:17though it broke clan law i didn't want you to lose everything thanks thank you can i see him my
36:24voice
36:24broke soon he's getting stronger every day i pressed my palms against my face and cried for the first
36:31time since the memory wipe i felt something real one year later
36:40rachel the mermaid elder's face appeared on my screen brodicton marston is clearly attached to you
36:47keep up the good work i smiled waving a perfume testing strip in the air to let it dry i
36:53jotted
36:54down cedarwood essential oil in the final column of my formula sheet the very last ingredient
37:00this capture emission will be over soon just then a rough trembling voice called out from behind me
37:11ratch i turned around a tall man reeking of stale tobacco yanked me into a crushing hug
37:17it really is you i looked everywhere for you a whole year his hands clamped down on my waist
37:23with an aggressive desperate strength i frowned and shoved him back i gave him a flat impassive
37:29one sober his face stirred absolutely no emotion in me who are you he went completely rigid
37:36utter disbelief washing over his eyes ratch what's wrong it's me maurice the elder texted me again
37:44rachel this is your previous capture target morris chadwick so this was the scumbag who had
37:49manipulated me nearly got me killed and let people trample on samuel's remains
37:57the elder had already provided me with a text summary of my past mission to prevent me from
38:02being manipulated again i knew every detail of his five years of abuse keeping my face entirely
38:09deadpan i casually brushed off the spots on my clothes where he had touched me and took a huge
38:14step back excuse me but i don't know you at all please step aside or i will call security morris
38:24started showing up outside my apartment building every day he cancelled international meetings and
38:29conferences he stood in the freezing wind for hours holding bouquets of white roses
38:36i threw every single one in the trash the smell made my head pound and my stomach turn for a
38:45mermaid
38:45with hypersensitive olfaction white roses were a slow grinding headache that wouldn't stop morris had
38:52known i was a mermaid since he found my scale but he still didn't know roses were poison to my
38:56kind
38:58he just kept sending them day after day one night he stood in the ice wind for a full 12
39:04hours
39:07i watched from the window as frost formed on his coat he didn't leave the elder texted me
39:14roderick marbury is at the edge one more push and the mission reaches full completion
39:21the next morning a sports car engine roared outside my building i opened the window
39:28morris looked up his face lighting up with desperate hope rash you finally looked at me five years was too
39:35cruel as long as you come back i'll do anything for the rest of my life he was soaked from
39:39the ice
39:40rain shouting into the wind i really need you roderick stepped out from behind his car
39:47you say you need her but you don't even know why white roses trigger her allergy morris went pale
39:53roderick held an umbrella in one hand and a cup of hot cocoa in the other
39:58he pulled out the backup door card i had given him and walked straight into the building lobby
40:09morris could only stand in the rain watching he had no right to follow that evening after dinner
40:15morris's horse voice came from the street below
40:23rage please come down and see me one last time
40:28i dried my hands and headed for the door broderick's face went dark his knuckles whitened around his coffee
40:34cup
40:37i'm going down i reached for the door handle
40:40broderick suddenly pushed me against the door he lowered his head and bit down hard on my collarbone
40:47don't you dare go soft on him do you hear me his voice was rough and possessive
40:53he had smelled morris's lingering scent on me another man sent on my skin his jaw tightened his
41:00instinct reacted like his territory had been invaded
41:05i pushed him off and opened the door the ice wind hit me first then the rain
41:11morris rushed toward me from across the street in his hand he held a bottle of perfume
41:18till you marry me
41:22i pulled my sleeve over my scarred hand
41:28you let people trample on samuel's remains you think a little warmth
41:32erases everything morris swayed like a man who had just been hollowed out
41:39then let me hold you one last time just once i took one step closer to him i lowered my
41:46voice so
41:46only he could hear you lied to me for five years morris
41:53now it's my turn to use you to boost brockett's affection thanks for cooperating
41:59his face crumpled dot before he could respond the apartment door opened behind me
42:05broderick stepped out under an umbrella morris's eyes went wide
42:10the shock and pain on his face swallowed his last shred of hope
42:15roderick pulled me under the umbrella and kissed me hard in the pouring rain
42:21rachel you're mine
42:24i wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back
42:27my phone buzzed elder texted me i looked into it roderick marbury filed a prenup request with his
42:34family you're the one named on it rachel you are no longer a failed operative you are a mermaid who
42:40completed her mission right then another notification popped up
42:45samuel had regained consciousness he was awake
42:50morris's voice was forced and broken rash please just see me this one last time
42:57he held up the bottle
43:03you spent three months making this perfume you said you'd use it at our wedding
43:07how could you forget the bottle was the one thing i had left behind in the basement
43:13he must have kept it all this time i looked at the bottle then at his rain-soaked face my
43:19expression didn't change i didn't forget i just don't care anymore morris's arm dropped to his side
43:28rash come home with me tomorrow we'll get the marriage certificate i'll transfer all my shares to
43:34you i took a cold step back maurice i'm only gonna say this once we are completely done i raised
43:42my right
43:42hand the frostbite scars from five years in the freezer were still there white puckered lines across
43:48my knuckles and fingertips these scars are because you locked me in a freezer for a mermaid ice is
43:55suffocation every time you put me in there i was dying from the inside out my hands will never precisely
44:03extract another drop of essence again every winter i burned years of my lifespan to force the scales back
44:09under my skin you never even noticed you destroyed everything i had morris looked like he had been punched
44:17in the chest tears mixed with rain on his face is there really no chance to start over none
44:28from that night on morris fell apart he stopped going to work he drank from morning to night
44:38social media called him a pathetic loser
44:46jacqueline moved in she was a mermaid who had betrayed the clan
44:52she was no longer permitted to return to the sea she could only cling to morris and live in hiding
45:02she cooked his meals poured his drinks and held him when he cried
45:12a month later jacqueline announced she was pregnant
45:20to protect the chadwick family reputation morris married her without a single feeling in his heart
45:31the wedding was grand and hollow he signed the papers with a blank expression
45:39she smiled like she had won everything and for a while it looked like she had
45:47but the truth has a way of catching up three months into the marriage morris hired a private
45:52investigator the investigator the investigator found the child she was carrying belonged to another
45:56wealthy man
46:00morris sat in his study staring at the investigator's report his mind went blank
46:05jacqueline lied to him too
46:12he dragged jacqueline to the basement of the old villa the same cold storage room where he had
46:17locked me for five years he tied her to the chair and turned the temperature dial to maximum
46:28the cold hit her like a wall then the cold did what it always did to our kind blue scales
46:34shimmered on the backs of her hands pushing through her skin
46:39she thrashed against the ropes and her bandages unraveled
46:42the hands beneath were perfect unscarred fully intact morris stared at the scales then at her hands
46:50a mermaid hands never damaged five years of revenge built on a lie
46:56maurice please she held up her perfect hands scales pushing through her fingers
47:01our hands keep the scales hidden without them i'll be exposed i'll die he went completely still
47:09our hands kept the scales hidden our hands kept us alive on land and he had crushed mine under his
47:15shoe he had destroyed me for nothing he had locked me in this exact room and made me burn years
47:20of my
47:20life to survive what he was doing to her right now jacqueline's eyes went wide with terror
47:29maurice please i'm pregnant he looked at her with dead eyes the child isn't mine
47:37he wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed until she stopped moving
47:43then he poured the industrial chemicals stored in the corner across the floor
47:49he lit a match and dropped it the fire spread fast he sat down on the floor and watched the
47:55flames
47:55climb the walls he didn't try to leave the last thing he saw was the blue shimmer of a mermaid
48:01scale
48:01fragment on the concrete then the fire took everything the news the next day reported a
48:08suspicious fire at an abandoned villa two bodies found no survivors new york's biggest scandal
48:16the clan moved quickly any trace of mermaid biology in the ashes was quietly removed
48:22the clan's iron law held no human would ever know what had really burned in that basement
48:33six months later paris the top floor of the polydillo perfumery
48:38i stood behind my display table adjusting the final row of bottles the label on each one rebirth
48:47the scent was my mermaid aura fused with human spices at their purest every note carried the ocean every
48:54breath told a story of survival
48:59critics called it the most extraordinary perfume of the decade they didn't know the half of it
49:10the exhibition hall was packed dot buyers journalists competitors they all leaned in when they passed my
49:17booth drawn by something they couldn't name my mermaid aura blended into every bottle
49:24the crowd parted broderick walked up his hands in his pockets grinning like he owned the place
49:31you made them all cry didn't you three buyers already called me to negotiate exclusive rights
49:41i told them the perfumer decides not the investor he stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist
49:52he pulled a small velvet box from his jacket and opened it a custom diamond ring
50:00mrs marbury samuel just called he wants us back for dinner
50:08i looked at the bottle labeled and rebirth and on the display then i leaned back against broderick's chest
50:16okay let's go home
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