When She Rose From the Ashes (Natalie and Jensen) novel Chapter 376

Chapter 376 A Prisoner’s Value

Chapter 376 A Prisoner’s Value

Beth set the food down in front of Natalic.

Natalic finally opened her eyes.

TO F

What awaited her was only a plain bun and a glass of water not even a scrap of vegetables.

Beth mistook her silence for disdain and gave a cold laugh. “Here, unless you’re sold, forget buns – you’ll be lucky to get slop. You should thank that pretty face of yours. If not for that, I wouldn’t bother giving you even this.”

“Why are you helping me?”

Natalie didn’t waste time with pride. She was starving.

Anything that could fill her stomach, she would take.

She asked her question while shoving the bun into her mouth, chewing with the determination of someone who knew she had to keep her strength.

She had caught from Beth and Kasen’s words that she had already been missing for a full day and night. In that time, she had been taken far from Ocean City, all the way out to sea.

Surely Baron had found some trace of her by now.

Still, regret gnawed at her

—

she had lost the hairpin Baron gave her, the one with a tracker inside. It had fallen on the way to the police station.

But then again, maybe it was for the best. If she’d been carrying it, they might have discovered. it and silenced her already.

She chewed while she thought, swallowing down the bun dry.

Beth blinked at how uncomplainingly Natalie ate. When Natalie began to hiccup from the dryness, Beth quickly handed her water.

“I’m not helping you,” she said flatly. “I’m helping myself. When women are brought here, they’re divided up under different handlers. You happened to be assigned to me. That makes my cargo. Until the auction is over, your safety is mine to ensure. If you my responsibility you sell for a good price, I get a one percent cut. So don’t mistake this for kindness.”

–

Natalie paused a moment, but the explanation fit too well. She had no illusions of mercy in a place like this.

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Chapter 376 A Prisoner’s Value

Beth sighed as she watched her cat without tears or tantrums.

+10 Free Coins

“Natalic, was it? Let me give you a word of advice as a woman. In the end, serving someone is serving someone- does it matter who? Do you know where you are? This is international waters. The kind of men who attend these auctions are powerful everywhere. With your face and your composure, you could live well under one of them. I’m telling you this because you’re smart. My commission depends on you. But if you don’t cooperate, I won’t hesitate to use other methods.”

As if on cue, screams tore through the bulkhead from the next cabin.

Natalie froze. The sound was horribly familiar.

Beth smirked when she saw her reaction. “Hear that? She disobeyed, so she’s being disciplined. We know how to break women without damaging their looks. But we can still make them beg for death. Don’t try me – I don’t want to treat you that way.”

Natalie only paused a moment before lifting the bun again.

Food was food. She didn’t know if she’d get another chance.

But the shrieks from next door made every swallow taste of ash.

“That woman next door… was she taken from Ocean City too?”

Beth stiffened, her gaze flickering.

“Here’s another piece of advice: don’t ask questions. It’ll only bring trouble. No matter where

cargo. Those who live long enough to she came from, in this place she’s the same as you — reach the auction block may find another life. Those who don’t… well, there are other uses.”

Natalie’s grip tightened around the bun. “Other uses? Like what?”

“You don’t want to know.”

Beth pushed the cup back into her hands. “Don’t drink too much. If you need to relieve yourself, it’ll be here in this cabin. You won’t leave this room until the auction. You might not mind the stench, but I do.”

She stepped back quickly. Her earlier excuse about Natalie soiling herself had been a bluff, but with no ventilation and the heavy air of the cabin, the stench was real enough.

And Natalie hadn’t relieved herself in a full day and night.

Beth couldn’t help but regret feeding her. Maybe she shouldn’t have given her the bun at all.

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Chapter 377 Sharon