Chapter 206
Ever since she had joined the Mercer family, every meal was a gourmet spread of premium ingredients and delicacies. She had nearly forgotten what cheap, plain food tasted like.
She blamed it all on Mira. If her classmates hadn’t worshipped the ground Mira walked on, Mara would never have hired thugs to smash the EcoRide bikes, and she wouldn’t be stuck in this hellhole.
She swore to herself that every ounce of suffering she endured would be repaid tenfold—no, a hundredfold-upon Mira’s head.
One of the inmates glanced up. “Why aren’t you eating p>
“If you’re not going to eat that roll, give it here p>
This was a detention center, not a luxury resort. Rations were strictly portioned to just barely fill your stomach. Those with bigger appetites were perpetually starving. Another inmate leaned in and warned Mara, “Since you gave me some of your snacks earlier, I’ll give you a tip. Force it down now, or you’ll be starving until the next meal.
And trust me, the next meal isn’t any better p>
Heeding the warning, Mara managed to gnaw off a few more bites.
But eventually, she couldn’t swallow another mouthful and handed the rest away.
By the time lunch arrived, she was so weak from hunger she could barely stand in line.
She had heard they were serving pasta soup, and foolishly hoped it would be somewhat palatable.
But to her horror, the so-called pasta soup was just plain water with boiled dough strips, a handful of wilted greens, and nothing but salt for flavoring.
Accompanied by yet another stale roll.
For an average person, this was just a basic, no-frills meal.
But Mara considered herself high-society royalty.
At the Mercer estate, she only ate the freshest, most tender cuts of vegetables, and her carbs were strictly artisanal and refined.
This watery broth lacked even a trace of egg, green onions, mushrooms, let alone shrimp or meat.
Mara forced down half a bowl of the liquid and choked down a few bites of bread. When night fell, the rock-hard wooden cot dug painfully into her spine.
She asked for an extra blanket for padding, but the guard coldly replied, “This is a detention center, not a hotel p>
She thought of her lavish bedroom
at the Mercer estate-the velvet mattress topper, the imported down
mbroidered
comfor the hand-embroidered
pillows p>
Compared to her normal life, this place was absolute hell.
The more she dwelled on it, the more impossible sleep became.
Eight women shared a single,
exposed toilet in a sugly net
small room. Every time
used it, filled the air the stench
Mara desperately tried to hold it in, but halfway through the night, stomach cramps forced her hand.
The next day, Adrian and Lacey
Mercer came to visit. Exhaustedet
starving, bruised from the beating, and wearing dirty wrinkled clothes, Mara looked like a wreck.
Lacey’s heart shattered seeing her daughter in such a state, and she nearly fainted.
“My precious girl, what happened to you? What kind of torture have you been enduring p>
“Mom, Dad, when am I getting out? This place is inhumane,” she sobbed.
But Adrian’s expression remained stern. “EcoRide refuses to settle, which means you have to serve your full thirty-seven days p>
“Dad! Please think of something! If I stay here any longer, I’ll literally die, boohoo p>
Mara tearfully recounted the brutal ‘treatment’ she had faced over the last two days. Lacey’s heart shattered listening to this, her tears flowing freely.
Adrian, however, shook his head. “It’s just a little over a month. Tough it out.
I’ve pulled every string I can, but the other party is relentless. We can’t make this go away p>
“That bike company is despicable! It was just a few ruined bicycles! We already paid for the damages, what more do they want p>
Lacey fumed, aggressively wiping away her tears.
Her usually immaculate, well-maintained face was completely ruined, her eyes
swollen and makeup smeared.
“Mom, Dad, you saw my sister that day, didn’t you?
Did she refuse to forgive me? Is that why the bike company won’t settle p>