Page 1 of Merciless

Chapter 1

COLTON

I paced the hospital corridor, my trembling fingers barely keeping my phone steady as the dial tone rang out again.

Dad wasn’t picking up. Granted, it was one in the morning, and he was exhausted, but he knew the importance of keeping his line open.

We had been alternating shifts for the week, ensuring Mum was never left alone in the palliative care unit, despite her being unconscious for the past two days.

I had been dozing at her bedside, the dull beep of her monitor lulling me into a space of semi-awareness, when her nurse entered. Charlotte was my favourite, always doing that little bit extra to make sure Mum was comfortable and well taken care of.

Did it also help that she was attractive and of a similar age to me? Sure, that didn’t hurt. But most precious of all was her caring nature. She was born for the role of a palliative care nurse.

When Charlotte finished checking over Mum, her expression slowly dropped in sympathy as she shifted forward to squeeze my shoulder. She whispered soft words about Mum’s breathing patterns and how they had grown more erratic. Then her voice just seemed to drown itself out.

My world tilted sideways, my thought process delayed and disjointed. My gaze bounced around the clinical room, falling onto each point in turn as I tried to make sense of the situation.

How does a twenty-year-old only child make sense of his own mother’s impending death?

“You should call your dad in, Colton.” Charlotte continued, but I could hardly hear her over the roaring in my ears.

It didn’t matter anyway. Dad still hadn’t picked up, despite my pressing his number repeatedly.

Panic steadily took over, knowing he was probably in a deep sleep, due to the countless hours he had spent at the hospital.

Charlotte caught on to my anxiety, tracking the silent tears streaming down my face.

“I-I don’t know what to do,” I said, utterly defeated. “Who do I choose?”

I was in an impossible position. Do I leave my mum and risk not saying my final goodbyes? Or do I cut my losses with Dad, knowing it will destroy him if he isn’t here to spend her last minutes together?

“You live just down the road, don’t you?” Charlotte asked.

“Yes, but—”

“Go. I’ll keep an eye on her until you get back.”

“I-I—”

“Your mother is strong. There’s no way she will leave without having her boys right by her side. That’s all she would ever talk about when she was awake. How much she loves you both. It’s okay, Colton.”

I couldn’t help it as I crashed into Charlotte, squeezing so tightly that her jasmine scent got caught in my nose. “Thank you.”

“Go.”

The streets were deserted as I sped down the laneway, turning a five-minute drive into two.

I didn’t bother switching off the ignition, racing towards the front door with urgency.

When I looked back on that monumental moment, there were signs—subtle warnings that I didn’t have the capacity to decompress.

The extra car parked on the street out front… The sensual music echoing through the walls… The subtle light illuminating from the kitchen window…

Either way, I doubted it would have made a difference. Because as soon as I walked through the entrance of my childhood family home… I wanted to burn that place down to the fucking ground.

On the kitchen bench sat my mum’s best friend, Nikita, completely naked. Her eyes were shut tight in contrast to her legs that were split open to accommodate my dad, who railed into her dusty old cunt.

My eyes were burning—fucking on fire. But I couldn’t look away. Shock and disbelief kept me rooted in place, witnessing the disgusting display firsthand.