Chapter 5. Flashback

[Flashback: two years ago]

After Steve and Nick were transferred from Z Prison to the mental hospital, Steve, who was severely mentally disturbed, was suffering from delusions while Nick was being treated for his trauma. Suddenly, Max received a phone call from the chief warden of W Prison, where Giselle was being held.

"Hello, Mr. Max?" the warden greeted in a subdued tone.

"Ah yes, how are you? I'm just on my way over, there's something I need to discuss with you," Max replied, getting straight to the point.

He wanted to get Giselle out of prison immediately and into a rehabilitation center.

"Very well, Mr. Max, I'll wait for you here because I also have something important to discuss with you," the female warden replied.

"All right," Max decided, ending the call and walking to his car to drive to W Prison. Meanwhile, Steve and Nick would be taken directly by the hospital staff, who were friends of Austin's.

After a considerable distance and about fifty minutes, Max finally arrived at W Prison, a women's facility.

Brake!

Max got out of the car and closed the door behind him. Without waiting long, he went straight to the office where the warden was.

Knock knock knock

Creaking

"Mr. Max? Please come in," greeted the Chief Warder, a woman in her forties.

"Thank you," Max replied shortly.

Max took a seat on one of the couches in the room.

"So, what brings you here that Ms. Whitney felt the need to contact me?" Max asked, getting right to the point.

Whitney, the woman, sat down on the sofa in front of Max.

"Perhaps it would be better for Mr. Max to begin by stating the purpose of his visit to W Prison," Whitney suggested.

"Hmm, very well. To get right to the point, I want to get Giselle out of this prison. I believe I am going to revoke her sentence," Max explained his purpose for coming, intending to get Giselle into counseling, just like Steve and Nick, hoping that all three would find healing for their mental problems and become better individuals.

Instead of answering, Whitney immediately got up from her seat and bowed ninety degrees in front of Max.

Max furrowed his brow, waiting to hear what the woman before him would say.

Still bowing her head, she said, "Mr. Max, as Chief Warden of W Prison, I offer you my deepest apologies."

Max raised an eyebrow, "What is it, Ms. Whitney? Get to the point."

"Earlier this afternoon, we found Giselle Anastasya dead shortly after lunch. We suspected she was poisoned, so we quickly contacted the medical team to examine Giselle. And indeed, she was poisoned. However, when we checked the food on her plate, everything was clean and safe," Whitney explained.

Max stood up abruptly, "So you mean Giselle ingested poison of her own volition?" he asked, his face filled with anger.

"Did she commit suicide? Is that what you mean?" a man exclaimed, his face contorted with surprise.

"After a thorough examination by our medical team. This is the only answer we can give, and I once again apologize and mourn the death of Giselle Anastasya," Whitney explained in detail.

The burly man sighed deeply and said, "How did she get poison into a prison like this?"

Whitney nodded understandingly, "You are right, sir, we will investigate with all the inmates of this prison."

"Hmm, very well, Mrs. Whitney." Finally, Max looked at Giselle's body. After leaving Prison W, Max immediately contacted Austin.

Tuuttt... tuttt... tuttt

"Sir, I have some unexpected news," Max began.

"What is it?" Austin asked, confused.

"Giselle died today, sir. She drank poison and ended her life, but I'm still investigating where she got the poison from," Max explained.

"Hmm... Okay, Max. Don't let my wife know. She's still recovering from giving birth," Austin said.

"Understood, Sir Austin."

After Max left, Giselle's body was immediately removed by hospital authorities without the knowledge of Prison W authorities. The ambulance took a different route.

The ambulance was seen entering a mansion.

"Get her down!" a man disguised as an ambulance driver ordered his fruit sellers.

"Ready, boss!" the two disguised officers replied.

"Right upstairs, the big boss is waiting for you! And bring that woman with you," the man shouted as he entered the house.

"Sir, the woman has arrived," he said to his master, who was reading the newspaper and smoking a cigarette.

"Hmm, take her to the room immediately and give her the antidote injection for the dr*g she took, it shouldn't be more than 24 hours after she took the dr*g. It must be administered immediately," the man called Sir explained respectfully.

"Alright, Sir, the antidote is already in my hand."

"Hmm..." he replied briefly.

And not long after, two men were pushing a stretcher with Giselle's motionless body on it.

"Put her in that room over there," the man instructed his subordinates.

"All right, Boss Tobby!" they replied.

After Giselle's body was transferred from the gurney to the bed, Tobby, the man's trusted assistant, approached and pulled out a syringe filled with a liquid antidote for Giselle's body.

He deftly injected it into Giselle's crease.

And he left the woman alone on the bed, waiting for the antidote to take effect, which would take about three to five hours.

Tobby, who was his boss's trusted assistant, immediately erased the CCTV footage in Prison W, where he had visited Giselle several times to convey his boss's intentions and their final meeting to provide her with the poison.

At great risk, Giselle dared to gamble with her life, because for her at that moment it was like living in hell, and considering she had nothing left to lose.

So when such an offer was made, she took it without hesitation, ignoring the risk of losing her life if she drank the poison.

More than four hours had passed, indicating that it was five o'clock in the afternoon.

"Yuk... Cough cough cough... Cough cough cough!" Giselle awoke with a dry throat.

She slowly opened her eyes and felt her body go numb. She couldn't feel her hands or feet. It was like experiencing paralysis. But since the effect of the potion didn't paralyze immediately, it wasn't a big problem.

"You're awake...?" Tobby asked as he entered the room and saw Giselle trying to open her eyes.

"Is that you, Mr. Tobby?" Giselle asked when she heard Tobby's voice.

"Hm... yes," Tobby walked over to Giselle and helped her to sit up, reaching for a glass of water on her nightstand.

"Here, drink this first," Tobby said.

Giselle struggled to sit up and drank the water Tobby gave her.

"Fix your hair a little, the master will see you soon," Tobby added.

Giselle nodded slowly.

Tap tap tap

Footsteps were heard and a handsome man about her age entered.

"Get ready, we're going back to England right away."

And here was a drastic change in Giselle's life. Harvesting a glimmer of hope to become a career woman again. Changing all her identities and appearances. With the support of her master.

With a common goal, but for different people.

Giselle looked at her body and her perfectly made-up appearance in front of the large mirror.

"Perfect, with this I will find you and destroy your happiness!"