The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself novel Chapter 317

A rough hand, reeking of stale tobacco, clamped over her mouth and nose from behind. She was lifted off her feet and thrown onto a small single bed.

Her head spun from the impact. She heard the sound of a belt buckle being undone.

Click.

“Where’s the smokes? The booze? I told you to get them. Why did you come back empty-handed?”

That voice… No, it couldn’t be.

He was dead.

“I raised you for nothing! You’re useless!”

But the voice was right behind her, growing more furious by the second.

“Answer me! Cat got your tongue?”

It was him. It was really him.

A violent shiver racked Penelope’s body. She frantically looked around, searching for a place to hide.

Then she saw her—a little girl in a white dress, huddled in the corner by the head of the bed, trembling with fear.

“You… you didn’t give me any money. The store owner wouldn’t let me have any more on credit…” the girl whispered, her voice barely a buzz.

But her quiet words ignited the man’s rage. “Money, money, money! That’s all you and your mother ever talk about!”

A large man in a dirty undershirt lunged forward, raising his belt high and bringing it down on the little girl. She was too terrified to move.

Don’t hit her! You can’t hit her!

Penelope’s eyes burned red. She wanted to rush over, to shield the little girl, but she was frozen in place, forced to watch as the leather strap struck her small body.

Ugh! The girl let out a muffled grunt but didn’t dare to cry out.

The beast lunged…

Penelope suddenly dropped to the floor, clutching her head and closing her eyes. She forced herself to breathe, to calm down.

It’s over. It’s all in the past.

After a long moment, she opened her eyes again. The room was still dim, but the little girl and the beast were gone. The pain in her heart was sharper than ever, but she pushed it aside. She went to the bed and felt under the damp mattress until her fingers found the small, sharp knife hidden there.

The little girl she’d been had hidden it. As terrified as she was, she had never stopped fighting back.

Penelope took a deep breath, concealed the knife, and went back to the door.

“You bastards out there!” she yelled, her voice ringing with defiance. “Open this door if you’ve got the guts!”

Her shout, loud and clear, provoked the thugs outside. The door was yanked open.

“You got a death wish, bitch?”