Chapter 3

Scarlett’s POV

I’d never in a million years thought I would actually be in a jail. Getting locked up like an animal.

It just never crossed my mind that my desperate bid for survival would end like this. But here I was, caged up like a helpless bird.

While my princess was out there somewhere, and I didn't even know if she was eating, if she was crying, or if she was breathing easy.

The main door finally peeled open with a heavy, dragging creak. A burly guard stepped aside, gesturing sharply, and led me down a sterile, echoing hallway.

Reaching a dismal, gray door at the end, he shoved it open, and I limped inside.

My eyes dropped to the filthy, stained zinc toilet in the corner, and my stomach churned, making me halt in my tracks.

I blinked past the fresh wave of tears threatening to spill, walking toward it and forcing my body to move.

Standing over the sink afterward, I washed my hands, staring at my pale, haunted reflection in the cracked mirror as I blinked against the hot, continuous tears falling down my cheeks.

I just never deserved this.

I was just a terrified normal female trying to live through the worst years of my life until that one fateful night changed everything.

Got pregnant, ran for my life to protect my unborn child, and now here I was—jailed and branded a criminal just for running off with the heiress of the Cole empire.

Just fucking perfect.

A sharp knock echoed loudly on the metal door, snapping me out of my trance. I quickly wiped my wet eyes with the sleeve of my cloth and walked out.

Without a word, the guard grabbed my arm with rough indifference and led me back down the corridor to the sterile white box of a room.

Stepping back inside the cozy, blindingly white prison, I dragged my feet back to the bed and collapsed onto it, pulling my knees to my chest as the darkness closed in around me once more.

I shut my eyes, relaxing uncomfortably against the bed, feeling discomfort due to the pain all over my body.

I peeled my eyes open, a sharp pain shooting through my abdomen. I let out a wince, clutching onto my stomach.

With sweat pooling at my head, I tried to sit up, but it only got worse, so I remained that way, clutching my stomach.

The door peeled open again, and someone dressed in a white coat came in—the plus-sized nurse by his side.

“Anything happen to be the problem?” the man asked.

I sank in a breath, relaxing against the chair and shifting uncomfortably.

“Cramp?” he asked, and I faced him.

“Or is it not?” he muttered, a smile on his face.

Sus.

I tore my gaze away, wiping the sweat from my forehead and looking at the nurse.

“Can I get stuff?” I asked, biting my lips as the pain grew worse again. The nurse stared at the doctor, then back at me, and nodded her head.

The young doctor let out a chuckle, said some stuff to the nurse, and walked out. He didn’t do a thing, so why did he come in here? Is he that jobless?

“Painkillers?” I grunted. She smacked her lips together nodding, walked out, and came back about two minutes later with a bag.

She opened it and handed me a pill, which I swallowed without water, then she passed the bag. I checked it and pressed my hand against it.

Licking my lower lips, I slowly stood up and knocked on the door. Wasn’t about to get stained.

Fixing myself, I walked back to the room, a yawn escaping my lips.

“You’re done there. Heading back to the cell,” the guard said.

Without exchanging a word with him, I was dragged toward my cell. I instantly swallowed hard the minute I was let in.

Avoiding my gaze from dropping to the women in the room, I walked over to my bunk, laying on it and facing the other side.

“Bitch, learn to greet,” a harshed voice sneered.

I snapped my eyes shut.

Not again.

“You should have just stayed away from Cole. You would have been fine,” a voice said, and something hit against my head.

I didn’t bother turning back. Just pressed my lips into a thin line and kept them shut.

“Slut,” another hissed.

“I’m sure that daughter of yours must have the same slutty—”

“Don’t bring my daughter into this,” I muttered, interrupting the voice. I’d take any insult. Not her. She didn’t do them a thing.

“You sound like you wanna skin us? Huh?” Something hit against my head again. I slowly raised my head to glance at the slippers.

My eyes fell on the three inmates.

“The fuck you think you’re doing?” I snapped, throwing the slippers back, and they landed right on one lap.

She immediately straightened up, lunged toward me, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and slammed my head against the wall, sending a blinding white pain through my skull.

I slowly raised my gaze up at her, feeling warm liquid flow from my nose. I wiped it. I kicked against her kneecap, making the bitch stumble.

A muffled groan tore from my throat as her knuckles connected with my cheekbone, making me immediately taste iron pooling in my mouth.

I stood up, gathered the thick, red liquid in my cheeks, looked her dead in the eye, and spat a mouthful of blood straight across her face. Her expression darkened into pure, murderous rage.

“You cunt!” she shrieked, lunging forward and bringing out a knife. My eyes widened slightly. Where did she get that from?

She lunged again, and I tried to save myself, but a hand grabbed mine, pinning me to the wall. I watched in pure terror as the knife was buried deep in my tummy.

A choked, bubbling cough tore out of my chest, blood pouring out of my mouth.

The grip on my arms vanished, and I collapsed forward onto my hands and knees, frantically pressing my palms against my stomach in a desperate, futile bid to stop the flood.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my mind racing back to where this started from. The day my life took a drastic turn.

I heard the cell gates opening. My breathing slowed as I finally gave in to the darkness.