Chapter 3 - The Garden of Secrets
Carla froze in terror as she immediately recognized the voice belonging to one of Dean Foster's personal enforcers.
She grabbed the pill, snatched the cash off the metal table, and threw herself toward the back exit.
She scrambled out the window and ran through the dark, rain-soaked alleyways, her heart pounding violently against her ribs.
When she finally made it back to the Rinaldi estate, she rushed straight to the library without being seen.
She stood trembling before Massimo and told him everything the terrified chemist had revealed about the lethal dosage.
Massimo’s jaw tightened into a rigid line as the horrifying reality of his situation fully set in.
He immediately stopped swallowing the medication, secretly spitting the pills into a silk napkin whenever the doctor turned his back.
The physical withdrawal symptoms hit him like a massive, unstoppable freight train.
For three agonizing days, Massimo endured intense fevers, cold sweats, and blinding headaches in total silence.
He couldn't let anyone in the mansion know he was slowly recovering, not even his beautiful fiancée.
To securely dispose of the evidence, little Nina became his completely oblivious secret courier.
Every afternoon during her innocent foot-washing ritual, Massimo would casually drop the hidden pills into her plastic basin.
Nina would then carry the basin outside to the garden and bury the dissolving pills in the loose dirt near the fountain.
On the fourth afternoon, Massimo felt a sharp, agonizing burn shoot directly through his right thigh.
It was genuine pain, but to a man who had felt absolutely nothing for six months, it was a miraculous sensation.
His dormant nervous system was finally waking up from its chemically induced coma.
He closed his eyes, silently vowing to utterly destroy everyone who had played a part in his suffering.
Meanwhile, outside in the sprawling garden, Camille Ashwood was taking a leisurely walk in her expensive designer heels.
She suddenly noticed a patch of freshly disturbed soil near her favorite bed of white roses.
Frowning in annoyance, she crouched down gracefully and used a small stick to poke at the damp dirt.
She uncovered a small, undeniable cluster of dissolving white medical pills.
Camille's elegant face instantly twisted into a furious, panicked scowl.
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She pulled out her gold-plated phone and immediately dialed Dean's private, encrypted number.
She whispered frantically into the receiver that they had a massive, life-threatening problem on their hands.
