Chapter 25

Gigi awakens bound on a freezing cement floor in the hospital’s basement, recognizing storage shelves and a plastic-wrapped bed. Everett arrives with Alex Benson carrying an unconscious, injured Maisy. Terrified for her daughter and Jess, Gigi pleads, but Everett’s demeanor is cold and hateful.

Everett admits he runs the town’s prescription pill ring and plans to eliminate Scottie Pierce for talking and failing a test. He sends Benson to kill Scottie with an overdose. Gigi realizes Everett intends to remove competition after Wes’s death and learns Benson killed Wes.

Ida appears, revealing her complicity: she confirms Scottie is “done,” supplies more oxy, and departs to wait upstairs. With hope fading, Everett turns to Maisy, vowing to end her pregnancy by forcing pills down her throat and threatening to slit Gigi’s throat if Maisy resists.

While Everett pins Maisy, Gigi seizes a moment and body-slams him, giving Maisy a chance to move. Everett recovers and punches Gigi to the floor, but Maisy finds a scalpel on the shelves. As Everett prepares to strike again, Maisy drives the scalpel into his throat, spraying blood and staggering him.

Gigi urges flight. Shaken but determined, Gigi and Maisy sprint from the storage room, up the stairs, and through the door, fleeing the basement while Everett bleeds behind them.