Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 544

"Karma? If karma actually existed, the Mercer bloodline would have been eradicated decades ago. How do you think you survived this long?

When I was thrown out of the Mercer estate, my mother was already dead, and I had absolutely nothing.

No home, no food, no warm clothes...

I was only ten years old. I was just a child, and my own grandparents tossed me out into the cold.

I couldn't understand it. Were their hearts made of stone? Did they never stop to think how a ten-year-old boy was supposed to survive on the streets?

I looked for work, but who would hire a child? To keep from starving to death, I had to join a pack of young beggars.

You grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth, surrounded by a small army of servants. A spoiled rich heir who got whatever he wanted. You could never understand what it feels like to claw your way up from the very bottom.

I could have scraped by, but for some reason, I was constantly targeted. I was always the one getting beaten. The other street kids rarely faced the same brutality if they just kept their heads down.

Once, I starved for an entire day just to beg a handful of change. The second I tried to buy a cheap piece of bread, it was ripped from my hands. I cried for hours.

Back then, I lived with a few other kids in an abandoned sewer pipe.

We scavenged torn clothes from dumpsters, piling them up to use as blankets. It was the only way to survive the freezing rain and wind.

When I went back that night, I told them what happened. They said it was normal for unwanted strays like us.

One of the kids broke off a tiny piece of the stale bread he had saved. 'Eat it. Keep your strength up so you can try again tomorrow.'

But the exact same thing happened the next day. The other kids managed to scrounge up some food, but mine was always stolen.

They saw I was on the brink of starvation and took pity on me. Every kid broke off a tiny piece of their own food, and that was the only reason I survived."

Furious and desperate for answers, I secretly tailed the men who took my food.

They turned a couple of corners and immediately threw my bread into the trash.

One of them complained, 'If Mrs. Mercer wasn't paying us so well, I wouldn't waste my time watching this little street rat. It's bad luck.'

The other laughed, 'What bad luck? What other job pays this much for doing nothing?'

'But she specifically ordered us to make sure he starves.'

'It's not hard. We just cut off every food source he finds.'

That was when I knew. Someone was actively orchestrating my slow, agonizing death."