HELL ON EARTH

MARIANNE

Everything felt like a dream. Just like that, I had been condemned for something I never did. My only crime was being too kind and trusting the wrong people.

As I was being transported by ship along with a few other prisoners, the judge's words echoed in my ears, "This court finds the accused; Mrs. Tony, guilty of first-degree murder and sentences her to life imprisonment with hard labor in the Norwegian Island Prison.

I recalled the triumphant look on Britney's face as I was being taken away and could not understand what I ever did wrong to her.

When I met her so many years ago, I had just finished high school. Being the daughter of the richest man in the city, I lived in affluence as opposed to her who was struggling to get by.

I saw her working as a waiter at a party and took her side when a guest treated her disrespectfully. We got close from that night and I got to find out that she had no family. She was an orphan who had to work from a very young age just to survive.

I didn't have friends because I was more of an introvert but I made her my friend. I felt very sorry for her and began to change her life. I paid her college tuition and after she graduated, I gave her millions of dollars to start up her own company. Even the luxury car she drove was a gift from me.

No matter how I thought about it, I had never done anything wrong to her. Why did she have an affair with my husband and take advantage of his death to send me to prison? Nothing made sense to me.

After traveling for hours by sea, we finally arrived at the island. I was led out of the ship by the armed officials, along with six males and three other female prisoners.

A feeling of dread consumed me as we were led toward the prison. Staring at the chains around my hands and legs, I wondered how I was going to live the rest of my life in bondage.

The island prison was surrounded by rugged cliffs and turbulent waters. The prison's architecture was a maze of cold, grey concrete and steel, with narrow corridors and cramped cells that seemed designed to crush the spirit. Inmates were forced to wear drab, striped uniforms and I was no exception.

I was kept with two other ladies in my cell after my chains were taken off. The striped uniform on my body was a reminder that I had to live the rest of my life in misery.

That night, I wailed like a baby, in a way I had never done before. The other two inmates tried to offer me comfort but I paid no attention to them as I immersed myself in my sorrows.

I didn't know when I finally slept that night but I was forced to wake up in the morning. During the succeeding days, my life followed the same pattern. I didn't speak to anyone and my cellmates eventually stopped trying to make conversation with me.

I observed every single thing that happened and persevered despite the blisters that appeared on my palms every day.

Our days were marked by the strict routine of roll calls, lockdowns, and backbreaking labor in the prison's quarry or workshops.

The air was always thick with tension, and the ever-present threat of violence hung over the prison like a dark cloud.

The island itself was unforgiving, with rocky shores, steep cliffs, and dense, impenetrable forests that offered no escape.

Guards, watchful and stern, patrolled the perimeter, ever vigilant for signs of escape or rebellion. On the island, the lives of prisoners were marked by the relentless rhythm of work, our days blending together in an endless cycle of toil and hardship.

For someone like me who had never lived under such harsh conditions before, it was hell on Earth.

All the people I loved had turned against me, one of the kindest people in the world. I sat in my cell, still asking myself what I did wrong when a warden informed me that I had a visitor.

My eyes widened in surprise. I had been in prison for just two weeks, and although it felt like two years, I was still surprised that someone came all the way to visit me.

However, the glimmer of hope in my eyes died the moment I saw who it was. If Paula was visiting me, then it couldn't be good. She was my step-sister and the last person I expected to see.

My mom died when I was very young, so my dad remarried. He married a woman who already had a daughter because he thought she would be able to extend her motherly love to me but that never happened.

My stepmother was greedy, selfish, and full of schemes and Paula was just like her. After my dad realized their true colors, he willed all his properties to me and gave me the responsibility of providing for them because he knew I had a kind heart.

I had spent millions of dollars on both mother and daughter but they continued to make life difficult for me until Tony asked me to cut them off completely.

I gave them more than enough money to build their lives and hadn't seen either of them in almost a year.

Dressed in luxury clothes, Paula crossed her legs and had a gleam in her eyes as she stared at me in disgust.

"What do you want?" I asked impatiently, refusing to sit down.

She smiled, "Those people; Tony and Britney, you trusted them so much and pushed your true family away. Now that they have betrayed you, how do you feel?"

"Are you here to rub it in?" I asked.

She chuckled, "Of course not. Do I look jobless to you? I came to show you something interesting. Sit down."

I sighed and sat down while she took out her phone and said, "I had someone keep an eye on Britney and you won't believe what I found."

She showed me a video of Tony and Britney, kissing passionately in a bar, as she revealed, "Your husband is still alive."