Imprisoned While Pregnant, She's Back for Payback novel Chapter 361

Chapter 361 A Head Start

Chapter 361 A Head Start

The two finally realized people around them were pointing and whispering as they walked by

“Dad, Mom, when are we going home?”

Kaleb shifted uncomfortably, dodging glances and glaring at strangers with sharp, angry eyes.

Henry and Shannon felt the hostile stares. Their faces changed, and they quickly rushed Kaleb into their luxury car.

The moment Shannon stepped into the police station in Actheris, she threw herself against the glass window of the visitation room.

“Nadine, what happened to you in there?”

Her voice was full of worry as she looked at her daughter through the glass. Nadine was already in an orange jumpsuit, and Shannon’s chest tightened at the sight.

Nadine hadn’t grown up by her side, and now, finally meeting face–to–face, things had gone horribly wrong.

The second Nadine saw Shannon, tears poured down her cheeks. “Mom! Please, get me out of here!”

She had no idea what Finn ordered, but instead of being held at a normal detention center, she’d been sent straight to prison. They called it “getting a head start,” but she was already breaking apart after just two hours inside.

When the guards walked her through the cellblock, whistles followed her. Their eyes were filthy, hungry, like they’d eat her alive any second.

And worse…

Nadine swallowed hard.

Tess had gone to prison before, and her life had been ruined. Nadine refused to end up like her. Just the thought of it made her chest seize with fear. She couldn’t stay here.

“Nadine, listen to me,” Shannon said, noticing her panic and trying to calm her down. “I’m working with your dad to figure this out.”

“Where’s Dad? He knows so many people–make him get me out!”

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14:00 Wed, Oct 22

Chapter 361 A Head Start

Nadine banged on the glass, frantic. Shannon’s eyes filled with worry.

“Nadine, what exactly happened back at the hotel?”

That was when Henry appeared, his face heavy and grim.

“Henry, didn’t you go to speak with the warden? What happened?” Shannon rushed to him.

Henry looked at her but didn’t answer right away.

Shannon searched his dark eyes, her heart racing.

“Nadine,” Henry finally said, his voice low, “what happened that night?”

Shannon’s fingers trembled, but she forced herself to stay calm for Nadine’s sake.

Nadine sensed the strange tension between them. She stared at Henry, unwilling to give up. “Dad? You talked to the warden, right? What did he say?”

Henry met her pleading eyes, then shook his head with a sigh. He had no choice but to tell the truth. “I thought if I reminded him I was the CEO of Ember Group, he’d take care of it. Maybe even do me a favor and let you out.”

He clenched his jaw. “But he said as a public officer, he couldn’t bend the rules. He said the order for your arrest came directly from Mr. Lock. He even used the law to file charges. According to Aetheris’s law, you meet the conditions for prison time. If they let you go, they’d have no way to explain it.”

Henry looked years older in that moment. On the drive over, his phone had been blowing up with notifications.

Videos and photos of Nadine being taken away by the police had already gone viral. Online gossip was running wild. The chaos had even shaken the Ember Group. The company was already unstable after the recent stock transfer. Now it was hanging on by a thread.

He pressed his hand to his forehead, frustration all over his face. “Why would you ever give her such a reckless idea?”

Shannon froze and turned to him in shock.

Her lips trembled. “You’re blaming me?”

Her words were soft, but tears slipped down her cheeks right after.

Henry lifted his eyes to hers. Under the dim light, her tears glittered, but this time they stirred

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14:00 Wed, Oct 22

Chapter 361 A Head Start

no pity in him–only heavier irritation.

Even so, he stood and pulled her into his arms. “Shannon, I’m not blaming you. But if you handle things like this, not only will we fail to save Nadine–Ember Group itself could take a huge hit.”

Shannon pressed her lips together. She knew how important this was to Henry.

Burying her resentment, she turned back to Nadine. “Nadine, the plan I gave you shouldn’t have gone wrong. How did it end up this way? And how did Mr. Lock’s assistant even catch you?”

Nadine’s heart sank to rock bottom. Her whole body slumped with despair as she recounted everything that happened at the hotel.

“Tess again!”

Shannon’s face twisted with rage. She hadn’t expected Tess to be the one variable that ruined her plan.