Chapter 2
COLTON
William was competing for the fucking Oscar, his broken cries and quiet declarations deserving of a full-blown standing ovation.
“Do you remember the day we married, Bethy?” he whimpered, stroking my mum’s wrinkled hand.
You bet your ass I made him scrub that shit raw before touching her. A bummer he couldn’t clean off his disgusting, two-timing dick as well. Alas, we were under a time constraint.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he continued. “You were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Long brown hair and a killer smile. I could never keep my eyes off you, sweetheart.”
Until you saw her best friend.
My lip lifted into a half-sneer, barely able to staunch the growl building in my chest. My emotions were a downright shitshow, ricocheting from pure sorrow to all-consuming rage, giving me whiplash.
I pivoted my attention back to Mum and purposely zoned him out. I didn’t want to tarnish my last moments with her by thinking of him. My father didn’t deserve my energy. He didn’t deserve fucking anything.
“I love you, Mum,” I whispered, stroking her hair.
She was gaunt, with yellow, discoloured skin, her body showing the vestiges of a hard-fought battle with a failing liver.
“I was so lucky to be born as your son… You were the best mother a boy could ask for. I wish…” A sob broke my voice apart as I tried to fight through the continuous flow of tears.
“No. I promise that I’ll see you again.”
Time as I knew it slipped away, and fate managed to sneak in like a thief in the night. As with the rising of the sun, my mother’s last breath was stolen, taking with it every last piece of my shattered heart.
I aimlessly trailed out of her room, lost and bereft of direction, when strong arms enveloped me in a hug.
It would have been so easy to give in. His shirt smelled the same, his embrace felt the same—nostalgic, comforting, safe. But my brain misfired from the abhorrent contradiction.
All I could process was his contaminated body touching mine. What used to be a calming presence suddenly brought only pain and suffering.
“Get off me,” I said, voice gruff, fragmented. Yet, he didn’t seem to hear, crushing me tighter into his chest.
“We’ll get through this together, son. I love you. I love you.”
He was shaking, no doubt adjusting to his new status as a widower. I was trembling from the overwhelming fury that was ready to explode.
William continued, his tangent filled with fake promises and sweet lies, the poison specifically potent, slowly rotting me to my core until I was infected throughout.
“I said, get your filthy hands off me, adulterer,” I snapped louder.
That got his attention. He immediately let go as Charlotte poked her head out of the nurse’s station.
His face flushed red in mortification, lowering his voice. “God, Colt. Please. I just lost my wife—”
“What? So now you care? Now you’re embarrassed?” I asked, hitting him with that venomous snark. “What about when you ignored my calls? Or the reason why you ignored my calls?”
He stared at me with complete anguish, total despair. Get in line, asshole.
“It was a one-off, son. We were grieving. I was upset, and Nikita was there to comfort me. Please, I wasn’t in my right mind, and it just… happened.”
The sound of her name made my balls shrivel up. I narrowed my eyes, testing out the lies on my tongue. “I never trusted that bitch or her weirdo daughter, but that’s nothing compared to what I feel for you.”
He tried to reach out to touch me, but I whipped out to hit his wrist, the impact bruising. I didn’t care. Just another mark to add to his mismatched face.
William’s features morphed into a wounded puppy, which only made me angrier. Stepping into his space, I fully let go of my resentment and unleashed on him.
“I hate you.” I seethed. “For what you did to her. For what you’ve made me do.” Useless tears ran unchecked down my cheeks as I confessed to the utter destruction he had caused. “I’ll forever repent for the unspoken truth I kept from her. For giving you protection you didn’t deserve.”
He bowed his head in shame. “I know. Thank you for giving me that.”
“You think I did it for you? Nah. I did that for her.”
“I’m sorry, son,” he said, palms outstretched as his eyes hit the floor. “Forgive me?”
“How?” I asked, aghast. “Tell me how? You stole my grief and replaced it with the worst betrayal. You put me in an impossible situation and made me choose. And now, I’ll never get to tell her the truth. How much of a dirty, lowlife scumbag of a husband you are!”
I hadn’t realised my voice had risen so high until a soft hand wrapped around my own, small but impactful.
“Maybe it’s time for a breather? Grab a glass of water?” Charlotte interrupted. Based on her expression, she had heard enough.
As she lightly pulled to lead me away, my father finally raised his cowardly eyes to mine, resolve hardening within. “I know I fucked up, Colt, but I’m going to fix it. I’m going to fix everything. I promise—”
“You can’t promise me the world when you’re the one who blew it the fuck up. We will get through the funeral, then I want nothing to do with you.”
“Son—” He choked.
“I’m no son of yours.”
I walked away, refusing to look back at my father, my role model, the man I once aspired to be.
I was irrevocably broken.
In one night, I had lost both parents… and I didn’t know how I was ever going to recover.