Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 594

"What a tragedy. You're far too young to rot in a place like this. Your whole life is ruined."

The older man looked at her with profound pity.

"No, I refuse to accept this."

Mara declared, her stubbornness flaring.

"Let me out! Hey, open the door! Just let me leave, and I'll do whatever you want!"

The door crashed open. "Who's screaming?"

Several hulking guards loomed in the doorway. Their muscles bulged beneath their shirts, and they gripped heavy iron batons, scanning the room with predatory gazes.

"Not me, it wasn't me."

Mara trembled violently, shrinking back into the shadows.

Seeing the entire room cowering in silence, the lead guard sneered. "The next person who makes a sound gets dragged out and fed to the dogs."

He slammed the door shut.

They were locked in that oppressive room for a full twenty-four hours, completely deprived of food and water.

The suffocating silence shattered when a stunningly beautiful woman in the corner broke down into agonizing sobs.

She wept through her devastating story, recounting how she had been lured across the border with the promise of a lucrative acting career, only to be cast into this nightmare.

Tears and mucus streamed down her flawless face as she cried.

Her despair was contagious. Two other women joined in, their sobs echoing in the cramped space.

"I can't stay here anymore. I just want to go home."

Mara watched them cry. A twisted sense of validation settled over her. At least she wasn't suffering alone; she had company.

The thought brought her a sick measure of comfort.

Beyond the heavy iron gates lay a vast courtyard. A brutalist five-story building loomed in the center, flanked by several smaller three-story blocks. Imposing concrete walls topped with electrified barbed wire enclosed the entire perimeter.

It looked like an abandoned industrial park, but felt like a high-security prison.

Mara thought it was far worse than any state penitentiary. Entire chunks of plaster had rotted off the grim, decaying walls.

Spotting a brief gap in the patrol, the urge to run flared in Mara's chest. But instinct held her back. It couldn't be this easy. She wasn't about to be the guinea pig.

Right then, a tall, gaunt man scanned his surroundings. His eyes gleamed with the exact same desperate thought.

"Run!"

Mara read his mind and leaned in, whispering the single command.

Emboldened by her words, a sudden surge of adrenaline seized him, and he bolted for the perimeter.

He barely made it forty feet before a deafening gunshot ripped through the air.