Chapter Five - Release

One year later

It had been a year since Jason was locked up in prison. A year without a single visit. A year of constantly watching the guy next to him in case he pulled out a kinife or any other weapon. A year without Diana.

In that year, he got stronger—not by choice but by necessity. His first night there, he was beaten mercilessly by inmates. No doubt they were sent by Stephen.

"Please, I didn’t do anything or cause trouble with anyone." Jason cried that night, but all the men did was laugh in his face.

“My chain," the one who seemed to be the leader of the group said to his goons.

They brought out a long metal chain and handed it over to the man. Two others held Jason down and poured ice-cold water on his back. Jason squirmed when the cold liquid made contact with his skin.

“Please I… I'll do anything. I’ll be your slave if you want me to-“. His words were cut short by a wrenching scream when the chain made contact with the bare, wet skin of his back.

By the eighth whip, he was numb to the pain, and he didn’t scream or make a sound. The pain being inflicted on him didn’t come close to the ache in his heart from the Sinclair's betrayal.

By the time he was unconscious, they left him there for dead, and he would’ve died if not for a warden who found his almost lifeless body.

Since that day, he has vowed to get tougher. He went to the gym religiously, and now his body was a far cry from what it used to be. Once lanky and boyish, his figure has transformed into a much more muscular and manly one. He had even gotten a tattoo—a dragon on his back.

Now he lay on his bed, counting the number of tiles on the floor. He already knew the number. One hundred and fifty-two. He had done this every day for a year. He never knew boredom would be the worst part of being locked up.

"Grey, your nail has been posted!”

Jason kept lying on his tiny bed in his cell without moving an inch.

Surely he had started to run mad. He’d been in this prison for a year without as much as a visit from someone, and now someone has paid ten million dollars for his bail? impossible.

Everyone had abandoned him. Every day he hoped that the warden would tell him he had a visit and he would see Diana’s face, but that never happened.

But when the warden banged on the cell bars, Jason jolted up.

“Have you gone deaf? I said your bail had been posted. You’re free to go,” the warden yelled.

Jason got up, and his mind was in a frenzy trying to think of who’d pay it. No one even knew he had been arrested.

“Diana”he whispered.

Of course she’s smart; she must’ve figured out what her father did and paid my bail. he thought.

His heart warmed at the thought. His dear Diana. She didn’t give up on him like he thought she did.

He went to claim his items and clothes that he had been arrested with. A shiver went down his spine when he put on the clothes and remembered that day.

Every day that he was locked up, he kept his guard up. He feared that Stephen had arranged for him to be killed, so he made alliances with as many inmates as possible in order to secure his protection.

But that was all over now.

Once Jason walked out of the prison gates, his eyes searched the area intently for his wife.

He went all around the compound, but he couldn’t find Diana anywhere.

"Diana!” he shouted and crouched down on the sidewalk in defeat.

“If it wasn’t her, then…”

“Young Master,” a man dressed in an expensive-looking black suit and sunglasses, called out as he approached Jason.

He turned his head backward, thinking that the man was addressing someone behind him, but no one was there.

“He can’t be talking to me." Jason shook his head, but the man continued to advance towards Jason until he stood in front of him.

Jason lifted his head up and furrowed his brows in confusion. “Do I know you, sir?"

“Good morning, Young Master,” the man bowed as he greeted him.

Jason finally stood up. "Sir, I’m very sure you have the wrong guy. I'm no one’s master. Have you taken a good look at me?"Jason waved his hands over his body and his ragged, worn-out clothing.

"No, Young Master Jason. I'm sure it’s you. We’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

Jason scoffed, “Is this some kind of setup? Did Stefan Sinclair put you up to this? Is that bastard trying to kidnap me and kill me once and for all?!"

"No, Master Jason, please don’t get upset. No one is trying to kidnap you. Your family paid your bail.”

Jason’s heart sank. So it wasn’t Diana.

“Family? What family? The only “family” I have are the Sinclairs, who basically put me in here, and Christopher, who’s probably thrilled that I was thrown in jail.” Jason didn’t even realise that his voice was raised at this point.

“Even my wife, who I thought would try to find out what happened to me, didn’t show up one fucking day,” Jason’s voice cracked, and his eyes began to tear up.

“So please do tell me what family paid ten million dollars to get me out of that hell hole."

The man gave Jason a sympathetic look and put his arm around his shoulder. “Please follow me, Mater; I’ll explain everything to you.”

“I can’t follow you; I don’t even know you.”

The man pulled a picture out of his pocket and showed it to Jason.

"Yes, sir, you do know me; you may not remember, but you do.”

He took the picture from his hands and saw a young boy, about 2 years old. Then he saw a younger version of the man in front of him as well, but the last face was the one that made Jason’s mouth go wide.

He looked at the woman in the photo for what felt like forever, making sure it was really her. His tears dropped to the photo as he stared into the woman’s hazel orbs.

“Mom?”

"Yes, Master, that’s your mother. Now will you come with me?”

Jason simply nodded and followed the man into his car.