Maxine thanked her and took the ledger, quickly flipping through its pages. Inside, meticulous records detailed all the transactions between her and Gabriel over the past few years, including bank transfers, remittances, and cash dealings.

    She might not know exactly why these records existed, but they were more than enough.

    Cleo looked at her and said, “If you need to, maybe you should pay Kathleen a visit.”

    Maxine looked up at Cleo. Cleo exined, “Kathleen may be at odds with you, but she’s the vindictive type, if you tell her Gabriel will walk free thanks to the Jenson family pulling strings, don’t you think she might help you?”

    Maxine thought to herself, ‘It does sound like a good idea, but would Kathleen really help me? And if the Jenson family found out, what kind of trouble might that bring?‘

    Cleo clicked her tongue dismissively and said, “What’s there to worry about? Even if you tell her you want to take down the Jenson family, what can Kathleen do to you from behind bars? She’s already locked up, and her family disowned her after she got imprisoned. Nobody’s going to help her now.”

    Maxine pondered for a moment and thought to herself, ‘This really is a solid n. After all, the Jenson family already has their eyes on me, turning back now.‘

    Before long, Maxine applied to the prison for a visit.

    there’s no

    Three dayster, Maxine sat outside the thick ss partition, watching as Kathleen, in heavy shackles, was led into the visitation booth bby /bba /bguard.

    Kathleen had been told a woman wasing bto /bvisit her, but seeing Maxine was thest thing she expected.

    She had heard that Maxine was long dead.

    She knew Maxine came to see her because of that car ident years ago. Before Kathleen got locked up, Sebastian even came to confront her in a rage, making it crystal clear, both in his words and between the lines, that he med her for Maxine’s death and for deceiving him.

    To think Maxine survived while she was stuck rotting in there for life made her feel ridiculous.

    Kathleen took a deep breath. She wasn’t really surprised, Maxine was like stubborn weeds she could never fully uproot. That car ident not only failed to kill her, but it probably gave iher /isome special advantage.

    Years behind bars had long since robbed Kathleen of her youthful beauty, but Maxine looked exactly the same, not a single wrinkle to be seen.

    Kathleen sized her up for a moment before taking the seat opposite Maxine. She ced her shackled hands on the table, the metal cuffs nking against the wooden surface.

    Kathleen stared at her in disbelief and blurted out, “Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

    Maxine arched an eyebrow. “Truth be told, the old Maxine did die that day,” she said, “I’ll give you that, your methods were ruthlessly efficient.”

    Kathleen sneered, “It was someone from the Soto family who saved you, right? I knew you two must’ve been hooking up all along. Aren’t you afraid Sebastian will find out iyou’ve /ibeen lying to him?”

    Maxine shrugged. “Sebastian isn’t as clueless as you think. He knew everything, he just didn’t want to hurt you, out of added, “At least, that was before he discovered you’d deceived him.”

    lings.” She paused, then

    At the mention of this, Kathleen’s emotions erupted. She clenched her fists and mmed them violently against the table, screaming, b“/bIt was you! You told him!”

    Maxine stared at her coldly. “I didn’t say anything. I’m not the type to cash in favors.”

    “You!” Kathleen shot up from her chair, jabbing a finger at Maxine. “You fucking bitch!” she screamed.