spanng="EN"Joyce’s POV

    spanng="EN"That little b***h has hemmed us in so good, we both knew we were toast. I was just d that I hadn’t taken the stand yet. Sasha hadmitted perjury on the stand, but I should be safe. I hadn’t made the same mistakes that they had. I believe that with a little creative wordy, I would be home free. Sasha was grasping at straws now. If she can’t get this to work, she’s done.

    spanng="EN"She had wanted Ana’s designs all along to build a bigger name for herself as a designer. She had been the one pressing Roger to move forward against Ana since she arrived. I still have total deniability at this point. I did cause problems, but not to the same extent as Sasha. She lied from the start, so maybe it’s justice for her to have to give birth in prison. She’d better call that baby’s daddy and get him toe get it when she does. We’re not taking care of her bastard child.

    spanng="EN"“Your honor, part of our im was that Ana Caldwell had been working on those design drafts while working at Cook Custom Jewelry. She also worked on her own designs while she was there. She had a great deal of downtime toe up with her designs. Designs that were created while she was on the clock. Due to her making those designs while at work. That makes them the property of Cooks‘ Custom Jewelry,” he announced.

    The hours passed slowly.

    Long. Agonising. Suffocating.

    I had no idea what time it was anymore. There were no clocks in the cell, no sunlight slipping through windows to measure the day. Just the same dim, artificial glow from the ceiling panel that buzzed faintly when the silence dragged too long.

    And God, it dragged.

    I hadn’t heard a single sound from the corridor since I sat back down on the bed. No voices. No footsteps. Not even the distant ng of a door mming. It was like I’d been dropped into some vacuum – sealed bubble where time stretched into infinity and I was the only one left breathing.

    The only one left in the entirepound!

    My stomach growled again – louder this time. A deep, aching twist that folded me over where I sat.

    Just when I was getting used to the three meals a day routine…

    I pressed my hand t against it, as if that would quiet the sound, but the hollowness only seemed to deepen. I hadn’t eaten all day – not a bite or a sip.

    I’d skipped breakfast due to sleeping in with Coban – the memory seeming humorous now amongst what was currently going on between us.

    Lunch had also most definitely been missed entirely too, swallowed up by the gym disaster and everything that followed.

    Now it had to be nearing dinner time, if it hadn’t already passed…

    I was being starved again, which I realised quickly…

    Was it intended as a new punishment from him? For revealing too much skin in a male dominated zone? For not listening to him? For not understanding most of this ce yet?

    Starvation as a punishment was something I was ustomed to living back with my father. I figured it would mostly be down to poverty and not having money, but even when there was food, he never shared it…

    The thought made my stomach churn in a different way now, an array of fresh tears rising to my eyes…

    I stood up quickly, unable to sit still a second longer trapped in my thoughts of the past and how they linked with my present.

    My legs were stiff from how long I’d been curled on the bed, but pacing felt better than just waiting for him.

    Back and forth.

    From the edge of the bed to the locked cell door.

    Back again.

    Each step was deliberate, but frantic.

    I chewed the edge of my thumbnail until it bled, forcing myself to stop only when I tasted copper.

    I couldn’t read. The book I’d started yesterday sat unopened on the desk, the corner of the page still folded neatly from when Ist dog–eared it.

    A fantasy novel twisted with a romance – a vampire love story.

    I’d been so eager to escape into it before, to let myself believe in some other world beyond this one. But now?

    Now it felt too cruel to allow myself the pleasure…

    I kept ncing at the door like it might swing open any second and reveal him standing there – Coban. With that unreadable look in his eyes. That brooding, predatory stillness in his body.

    The memory of the gym kept shing behind my eyes. The way he grabbed me. The sound of my own breath catching in my throat as he dragged me away. The sharp m of the cell door behind me like a cage snapping shut.

    He hadn’te back since.

    And that wasn’t like him.

    Coban didn’t leave me alone often.

    He loomed. Hovered. Controlled me.

    He always needed to be watching.

    So where was he now?

    The silence pressed in harder now. I paused at the door again, straining to hear anything – any sign of life beyond these four concrete walls.

    Nothing.

    Had the ce been evacuated? Had everyone been set free? It felt like I had been isted entirely now… the only prisoner left here to rot…

    I wondered if Coban was still furious, somewhere in the gym or tearing up another inmate just to cool himself down…

    Would I rather him rage at me or disappear entirely? It was hard to say…

    I pressed my forehead against the cold metal of the door, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, trying to calm the rising dread I couldn’t shake.

    I couldn’t sleep.

    I couldn’t read or breathe or think or do anything other than wait.

    Wait for him toe back.

    Wait for the moment my nickname would be barked like a curse.

    ‘BELLA!’

    The pet name sent shivers through me every time…

    But what if he never came back?

    What if he handed me off to someone else, asked for a swap?

    Decided I was too much hassle for him?

    –

    Thest one twisted something sharp inside me because I knew that was the worst case scenario – being paired with another inmate.

    Coban had be myfort in this ce, despite everything else. I looked to him for praise and protection.

    I hated that I was even thinking like this.

    –

    I hated that this ce was changing me rewiring something deep inside that used to understand right from wrong, safety from danger.

    Coban was danger.

    He was violence and fury and shadows you don’t dare poke.

    And yet…

    He hadn’t hurt me physically yet. Not like how my father would.

    He hadn’t struck me, even in his angriest moments. He’d thrown and grabbed me, sure – but that was restraint for someone like him.

    He chose not to be here. Not to explode.

    I clenched my fists at my sides, feeling the tremble in them, then turned abruptly on my heel and marched to the small sink in the bathroom.

    I sshed more cold water on my face.

    Third time today.

    Didn’t help much now.

    But it gave me something to do.

    I inhaled a steadying breath, whispering reassurances aloud in an attempt to distract myself, before a knock made me jump violently…

    “Hurry up ande out before we miss dinner!” I heard him break out in to the silence, causing me to flinch at the sound I’d almost hoped to hear for hours on end now.

    He was back.

    I quickly fumbled with the bathroom handle, revealing myself to him to show that I was fully dressed and definitely ready to eat something today…

    Thank the lord he’s decent enough to take me to eat something before bed!

    “Thank you, I’m starving!” I admit, my voice careful and quiet around him as I nced up to find him waiting for me by the cell door.

    “Come on then, hurry up!” He mumbled, motioning his head as I hurried towards him, inhaling a fresh breath as I stepped out in to the cell block.

    It had only been a few hours but it had felt like an eternity alone in there with so little to do…

    “Coban, I’m sorry about earlier, I just d…” I begin, staring at hisrge back in front of me as we walked.

    “Save it forter when we get back!” He snapped, and with that, my lips were sealed…

    Leo and Cara returned to the bench, each of them holding two dripping bottles of cold water. I could’ve cried at the sight of it alone.

    Cara tossed me one with a grin. “Here, you need this more than I do,” she said as she sank down beside me again, a sheen of sweat glistening on her own forehead, though she still managed to look breezy in her lc tee and easy confidence.

    I caught the bottle mid–air and twisted the cap off quickly, taking a greedy gulp. The coolness hit my tongue and traveled down my throat like salvation.

    “You’re a saint,” I muttered, sighing to show my relief.

    “I try,” she winked, nudging me lightly.

    I shifted slightly, still pinned tightly under Coban’s arm, his grip not loosening in the slightest since Cara and Leo had left.

    My side was practically merging in to his now. Every breath I took pressed my ribcage up against the wall of his chest, and I could feel the heat from him more than the sun itself.

    He hadn’t said another word since the others had walked off – just sat there, watching, brooding, his fingers curled possessively at my hipbone like I might try to run from him.

    I wasn’t sure if I found it reassuring or suffocating. Maybe both. Probably both.

    Leo took a long drink from his bottle before settling back into a slouched position, one ankle propped on his knee, arm resting along the back of the bench behind Cara. His eyes flitted between all of us, and I could tell he was amused by the shift in dynamics, especially Coban’s intense im on me.

    “I hope you two will be passing over good things about the pair of us tomorrow at the first report,” he said lightly, shing that cheeky grin that always seemed toe easy to him. “Don’t go breaking our hearts with some tragic stories, alright?”

    I felt Coban’s body stiffen beside me before his gaze shifted down to mine. I didn’t dare to look up, but I could feel the weight of his stare burning into me, sharp as a de.

    Cara, oblivious or maybe just unbothered, beamed.

    “Always!” she chimed, practically glowing. “I’ll make you sound like a gentleman, Leo. You’ll be reformed in no time.”

    Leoughed, pleased, and leaned over to kiss her cheek dramatically. Cara flushed a little but didn’t move away.

    I hesitated at the sight…

    They seemed to be moving fast… and now I knew that Cara had even been considering sleeping with him…. I just hoped that she knew what she was getting herself in to.

    “What about you, Be? Passing over good things about my brother Santo too hmm?” Leo hums, involving me more than what I had liked to be in his little conversation.

    My mouth opened automatically, and I answered before I could stop myself.

    “Of course…” I said.

    But my tone betrayed me.