The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back) novel Chapter 337

The Cellblock Trap 

MARY’S POV: 

“My daughter picks out my shampoo.” 

“Aw. That’s sweet.” Her fingers trailed down my hair to my shoulder, then to my collarbone. “You know, we don’t get a lot of your type in here. Most of the women who come through are like us. Hard. Broken. Used to fighting” 

“I’m not broken.” 

“Not yet.” 

Her fingers stopped on my collarbone. I could feel the heat of them through the silk of my blouse. 

“The thing is,” she said, “we’ve been told to make an impression on you. Someone wants you to remember this. Someone wants you to understand that you’re not in control anymore.” 

“Who?” 

She shrugged. “Does it matter?” 

“Yes.” 

“It matters to you. It doesn’t matter to us. We just do what we’re told.” 

She stepped back, and the tall one stepped forward. 

They were trading places, I realized, taking turns and playing with me like cats with a mouse. 

“It’s her,” the tall one said. She was looking af me, but she wasn’t talking to me. She was talking to the others. The one they told us about.” 

The woman with braids nodded. “It’s her.” 

The two older women exchanged another glance, then nodded as well. 

“It’s her,” one of them said again. 

I didn’t know what they meant. I didn’t know who “her” was or what I had supposedly done to deserve this. But I understood, in that moment, that I was not getting out of this cell without a fight. 

The tall one reached out and touched my face. 

Her fingers were rough, calloused, smelling of smoke and something metallic. They traced the line of my jaw, then my cheek, then my lips. I stood frozen, my body screaming at me to move, my mind telling me to stay still. 

“Soft,” she said. “Real soft. Like a baby.” 

“Take your hand off me.” 

“Or what? You’ll scream?” She smiled. “Go ahead. Scream. See who comes.” 

I tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. The cell was too small, the walls too close, the other women were blocking every exit. Her hands closed around my arms, and she threw me to the ground. 

The concrete slammed into my back. The air left my lungs in a rush, and I lay there, gasping, staring up at the flickering fluorescent light. 

The tall one loomed over me. Her face was inches from mine. I could see the rage in her eyes, the humiliation, the promise of violence. 

“You’re going to regret that,” she said. 

Her hand raised. I saw the fist coming, saw the shadow of it cross my face, and I closed my eyes. 

And my thoughts went to my daughter, Elowen, her small hand on my cheek, wiping away my tears. About her voice, small and scared, asking if I would be okay. 

I thought about Alistair. About the man I had married, the man who had held me and promised to protect me. I wondered if he had known this would happen. I wondered if he had wanted this to happen and I wondered if he would even care. 

The fist started to fall and then- 

“Stop!” 

The voice was sharp and commanding, cutting through the cell like a blade. 

The tall one froze. Her fist hung in the air, inches from my face and everyone turned toward the door.