Ninety

Chapter 90

Prisons for serious crimes do have a more tense atmosphere when compared to prisons at other levels. As the perpetrator of a premeditated murder case, Ace was given a heavy sentence. Ace was placed in a special prison for serious criminals.

Ace's murder case had been going on since he was seventeen years old when he was attending Golden High School and living his life as a teenager.

Ace was now twenty years old. He missed his birthday yesterday, but Ace didn't care about that. Because all his thoughts were filled with Alicia.

Knock! Knock!

The sound came from the iron fist of a prison officer at work. The man hit the prison door to wake up the sleeping Ace. It had been three hundred and sixty-five days since Ace had been in the cell. He occupied a prison room with no luxurious amenities like the one in his flat.

"You have a guest."

Ace looked up, seeing a large man in his black uniform. The man's eyes were slanted like a Chinese descendant, but his body was large like the American race. "Who's visiting me this time?"

"You'd better see for yourself."

The prison guard was Mike. The man with the dragon tattooed on his big, muscular right arm. Without waiting for Ace's reply, Mike pulled out a key from his pants pocket. He opened the cell and backed up, making way for Ace.

Ace's tanned eyes saw the path before him. This was his first time receiving a visit. Deep in Ace's heart, the man really hoped that the person visiting him in prison was Alicia.

Ace stood up from the metal chair in the corner. He blinked his eyes, having just woken up from a sleep that lasted no more than three hours, before walking out of his cell. Ace had the privilege of status and money. This allowed him to occupy the cell alone, while other inmates were forced to live with three to four people in the same cell.

Mike walked behind Ace, as Ace looked over his shoulder. They walked to a room reserved for visitors.

The visiting hours were set. Every Monday through Friday. Other than family, relatives or lawyers, they were not allowed to enter. Prisons specializing in serious crimes do have tight security. Their security team is complete and structured. Inmates in this class are filled with criminals who have committed serious crimes such as murder, pedophiles, terrorism, large drug networks and the illegal weapons mafia.

Ace's steps stopped when the man's hazel eyes found a familiar figure ahead. He's speechless. His mouth seemed to freeze, his tongue suddenly unable to move like before.

Until Mike's heavy voice broke Ace's reverie there. "You only have five minutes to talk. I'll be back after your time is up."

And without waiting for Ace to answer Mike's words, the big man had already turned and left. He closed the door to the room, leaving Ace with a woman sitting in the center of the room. There were no guards accompanying them. This was quite strange and Ace realized that.

Ace swept his gaze across the room and found it quite strange that the woman who hadn't visited him in a long time had suddenly come. That woman was... Angela.

"How are you, Son? It's been a long time since we've seen each other."

Angela lowered the sunglasses that covered her brown eyes. The woman's eyes really looked like Ace's. Ace got the best eye genes from his mother and that was good. Angela grinned, then placed the sunglasses on the table.

"Are you going to just stand there and look at me with that unhappy expression of yours, Ace?"

Ace didn't answer. He closed his mouth tightly. He was still speechless, not knowing what to say since they had been separated for so long. It had been a long time. Ace had even almost forgotten about the mother figure who was supposed to stand by him in difficult times like this.

"What are you doing here?"

Angela raised both eyebrows, looking slightly surprised. Or, she was putting on an artificially surprised face. Ace couldn't see the difference.

The woman was good at hiding everything, including herself.

"You don't know why I'm here?" Angela let out a long sigh, then crossed her arms over her chest. Raising one eyebrow, she grinned and continued with her words. "I thought you'd have a lot of privilege with everything you have from your father. You really haven't learned much, Ace."

Ace let out a short breath. He didn't seem to like Angela's presence in front of him. But in the next second, Ace walked over. He sat on a chair directly opposite Angela, with a square table separating them. The room wasn't big, so Ace could smell the roses, orchids and Bougainville from his mother's perfume. It was an expensive perfume, Ace could guess from the distinctive and hard-to-find aroma.

His mother loved flowers. She even knew the names of flowers from all over the world, and represented her love of flowers in her own perfumes.

Angela was a councilor who loved flowers. Everyone knows that. But no matter how fragrant the flowers Angela carried on her body, Ace could only smell the falseness and betrayal that was already inherent in Angela.

"I got your punishment reduced, My Son. I thought it was better than seeing you on the gallows or seeing your body riddled with bullets," Angela said. She lifted her face haughtily. Her voice turned serious. "But of course none of that is free."

"I don't need your help."

"Really?" Angela was silent for a moment, she seemed to be considering. Before smiling and pulling out some photos of Alicia from inside her expensive Gucci bag. "You must be familiar with this face, right? The face that's probably been filling your head all this time."

"Don't involve Alicia in our business. She's already had a hard life."

Angela laughed mockingly. "Unfortunately, you're making me more interested in Alicia. How about I give you Alicia in return for our deal?"

"Stay away from her, or I'll kill you."