Page 2 of Merciless

It was like watching a bad, low-budget porno made for people who got off on saggy tits and performative, geriatric moans that sounded like they were on the verge of having a heart attack.

Then my dad’s ugly white ass clenched together, his desperate moans alerting his near end.

Oh no, can’t have that. There was no way I was going to let him get a happy ending when he had just destroyed my fucking innocence and faith in him as a husband and a father.

No. Fucking. Way.

Rage swept me forward until I was pulling on his roots, hard. As his head snapped backwards, his body soon followed, which was the perfect momentum for my fist to connect with his face. Over and over again. I let the emotions freely run through me. I let myself go.

Blood. Screams. The shattering of glass.

Everything happened so fast, yet it felt like a lifetime.

When I finally came to, my chest was heaving as I stared down at my father—now stranger—crumpled on the floor, cradling his injured nose that pissed ruby red.

His eyes were wide in shock, the stark blue bleeding into my own, and I let him see it all—all my hatred.

“Clean yourself up and get in the fucking car!” I spat. “It’s time.” By my tone alone, he knew what I meant.

That was when the harpy slut decided to open her mouth. “Colton, I’ll come and—”

I raised a finger. One solitary finger, still painted in my father’s blood.

“You will not set one foot in that hospital. You will not come into my mother’s room. You will not pretend to be her friend when she takes her final breaths.”

“But—”

“If you come anywhere near my mother, I swear, I will fucking kill you.”

Silence grew heavy as Dad rose and caught her attention. In that one look, they had a whole conversation, a secret language that had my heart tearing apart at the seams. I knew that stare, had seen it countless times growing up—between my parents.

God, he had replaced her. My sick, dying mother. He had betrayed her.

“You’ve got thirty seconds to get in the car, William, or I’m leaving without you.” Dad flinched at my using his first name. He’d lost the privilege to be addressed as anything else.

I turned for the door, leaving the two assholes behind to sort themselves out. But before I passed the threshold, I left a final warning for Nikita. “Get out of our house, you homewrecking whore, and never come back.”

As soon as he sank into the passenger seat, I took off. I didn’t want to waste another second on that man when I could have been with my mum.

I shouldn’t have gone back for him. He didn’t fucking deserve to be by her side.

“The only reason I’m letting you come is because of Mum. That’s it. You will walk in there and make her last moments memorable. I don’t care if you have to lie through your fucking teeth. Hold her hand, pretend like you care, act your fucking ass off so she’ll believe you. Better yet, so I believe you.”

“I don’t have to lie, Colt… I’m losing the love of my life,” he said, all sad. The man even had the audacity to shed a tear. I wanted to punch him again. “Son, about what you saw—”

“Don’t fucking call me that. I want to focus on Mum.”

My father quietly nodded, knowing he had no other choice.

I pulled into the hospital car park and practically sprinted to the entrance. Once we were secluded in the elevator, I stared him dead in the eye and gave him my instructions.

“Remember. Act like you actually care about your dying wife.”

“I don’t have to act—”

“Could have fooled me. You’ve been playing the grieving husband perfectly. Tell me, William. How long have you been fucking your wife’s best friend?”

His face drained of colour. “I-I don’t think this is the time—”