Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 205

"You know why she reacted so fiercely? You struck a nerve."

"I am not, and I did no such thing!"

Mara defended herself frantically, but no one was buying it.

Everyone in this cell had committed a crime; none of them were pushovers.

Except for their brief yard time, they were confined to this tiny, suffocating room.

Oppressed, bored, and restless, they sought out cheap thrills to satisfy their darker impulses.

The fresh meat, Mara, was the perfect target for their twisted entertainment.

"You're already locked up with the rest of us. Stop acting so high and mighty!"

The women encircled Mara, eyeing her like an animal in a cage.

Mara was still protesting when someone violently snatched her wrist.

The woman didn't hit her; she just held Mara's hand up to the harsh light.

"Look at this. These hands haven't worked a day in their lives. Not a single callus. She's definitely no thief."

The inmate practically paraded Mara's hand for the others to inspect.

"So young and looking like a total seductress—she was probably turning tricks."

They casually tore her down, analyzing her like a piece of meat.

"You're all delusional! I am not! I'm the heiress to a powerful family!"

"Ha! The lies just keep getting better. An heiress? You've got some wild fantasies.

More likely she was some rich guy's mistress, got beaten black and blue by his actual wife, and then tossed in here."

"If you're an heiress, then I'm the Queen of England."

Laughter erupted across the cell.

"This is slander! I'm going to tell the police!"

"Oh, you're going to tattle?"

The women closed in on her, their expressions turning menacing.

"What are you doing? Ah!"

Mara was violently shoved onto a cot, a hail of fists reigning down on her.

"Let me go! I won't tell, you psychos!"

"What did you call us?"

The punches struck her with bruising force.

Internally, she was seething. Who would ever want to be friends with filthy criminals like you?

"Yeah, sure. From now on, any good stuff you get goes to Brenda first, and then the rest of us split it."

One of Brenda's cronies laid out the new world order for her.

"Of course. Whatever you say."

Soon, mealtime rolled around.

The cell doors rattled open, and the inmates eagerly grabbed their bowls to line up.

Mara dutifully followed with her own container.

But their rations consisted of a stale roll, a bowl of thin broth, and a side of pickled cabbage.

What was this? The servants at the Mercer estate ate ten times better than this.

The bread looked vaguely gray and utterly unappetizing, while the cabbage lacked even a drop of oil.

It looked completely inedible.

Yet the other women devoured their food like starving wolves.

Mara forced herself to take a tiny bite, but she chewed and chewed, unable to force it down.