Chasing The Vengeful Villainous Heiress-Chapter 53: Denial to the truth

In a bright space where flower petals floated in the air with the gentle breeze blowing through them, Valerie saw a tree. It was a willow tree.

There was no other tree amid such a beautiful meadow so she went there to get shade. But as she approached the tree, she saw someone standing there as well and taking shelter from the sun.

"Frankie, is that you?" She called and the person turned, revealing herself to be Frankie.

She smiled and said,

"I missed you, Valerie." Frankie said.

"Frankie, you... You called my name." Valerie said, surprised. Frankie hardly ever called her by her name. "What’s the occasion? Did something good happen?"

"Valerie," Frankie called, her smile slowly falling. "Do you remember what you promised me?"

Valerie went silent and opened her mouth to speak.

"Yes." She said, "I remember."

"Then," Tears slowly slid down Frankie’s cheeks as she smiled and said, "That’s good. That’s very good. Please, make sure to keep that promise. Then, I can rest in peace."

"Wait, Frankie. I don’t understand." Valerie said and took a step closer but Frankie only took a step back and looked up at the tree.

"You know, I always wanted to sleep under a willow tree." She said and smiled one last time. "Goodbye, Valerie. Take care."

With that, she faded away, turning into petals and joining the rest to float with the wind.

Valerie didn’t understand. She couldn’t understand. What did she mean by goodbye?

"Frankie?" She called in a silent voice. "I know it’s fun to tease me. Max said the same thing. But just come out. This isn’t funny. I won’t leave until you come out. Frankie?" She called, her heart-wrenching and aching in pain. "I’ll cut your paycheck if you don’t come out." She said.

Valerie clutched her chest and kept calling out to Frankie but there was no response. The more she called out, the more pain she felt, and in a slit second, she was pushed out of that space and into reality where she found herself in a dark room and completely bound to a bed.

"Frankie." She called softly.

"Oi, you’re finally up." She heard a lady’s voice and managed to glance to the side. Though it was dark, she could make out a woman sitting on the bed next to hers.

"Men’s been goin in and out, giving you shots and stopping you from regaining consciousness." The woman said. "You seem to have offended some big shot. What’s your name?" She asked but Valerie stayed silent.

Who was this lady? It was so dark and she didn’t want to just talk to anyone. Who knew if they were someone sent by her uncle?

They were despicable people who only knew how to hurt her for their own selfish gain. And now they dragged Frankie into this and killed her.

"Frankie." She muttered, feeling her heartache again. But she didn’t even have time to dwell on that thought as the woman interrupted her.

"So the name’s Frankie?" She asked, "Huh, I could’a sworn it was someone you know since you kept muttering their name every single day but anywho."

Valerie felt stiff. She couldn’t even turn her neck however she wanted.

"Frankie, my name is Tiana." The woman said. "I’ve been here for quite a while. Seven years, to be precise. Got my head messy and was giving my son a little dose of poison on a daily basis. I don’t remember the reason though but I knew I had good intentions since I loved him too much."

She explained but it only got Valerie thinking that she was indeed crazy. Why would she feed her son poison if she claimed to love him? Even her uncle wouldn’t let Lucy’s finger get cut in the slightest and he was a horrible person.

Was she really mad? Well, guess that was how she ended up here.

"You don’t have to tell me your life story but I appreciate it." Valerie said.

"Wow, you’re a talker." Tiana said and laughed. "I like this one."

Valerie rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, ten minutes time, those guys are gonna come back and give you a shot to knock you out again. Whoever you offended doesn’t even want you to be awake to figure out your situation. They can’t kill you so they probably thought this was for the best."

"Do you know how long I’ve been unconscious? How many days has it been since I got here?" Valerie asked and the lady got down.

In the dark, it seemed Tiana could see her way through and stopped in front of the wall, counting.

’What is she doing?’ Valerie wondered.

Tiana walked back to her bed and said,

"It’s been over five days and seven hours since you got here." She said, surprising Valerie. Did she mark the days on the wall? "Oh, I understand you must be impressed but I do this all the time. I mean, newbies are always being brought in here for one suspicious reason or the other. Take you for example, you seem to be sane but you’re here in an asylum. It only means someone was behind it, am I right?"

"Yes." Valerie said, "They want me gone by all means."

"Haha, that’s the thing with power. They always want to get more so they keep hurting others." Tiana said and lowered her head. "Everyone gets hurt because of them."

’Aside from the fact that she was feeding her son poison, she sounds rather sane and smart. Her form of speech was weird but I guess it can’t be helped since she has been in here for over seven years. But I can tell she’s a good person.’

"Now, now." Tiana said, "I think they’ll be here any moment now. If you pretend to be asleep, they might reduce the dosage a bit. They might also take you to your own room too so in case you’re lost or you need someone to talk to, come find me. Room 666."

As soon as she said that, the door opened and three men walked in. Valerie closed her eyes, pretending she was asleep.

The men glanced at Tiana who sat still on the bed watching them quietly with no expression on her face or sign of interest.

Valerie felt the needle dig into her skin but tried her best not to flinch. And then she noticed something. This feeling of haziness and losing one’s senses was similar to what she felt when she got up to her room.

Something similar to this must’ve been mixed into the drink that disgusting pervert forced down her throat. She was sure of it.