“Fuck you!” I threw my heel across the room as Jasper struggled to yank his boxers up over his hard junk. With a thunk, the spiked stiletto crashed into the wall right next to my two-timing husband’s head. Lilith was screaming while wrapping my favorite blue sheet around her scrawny, naked body.

“I should have known you were fucking my best damn friend behind my back! I mean how could I be so dumb to leave to go to the damn grocery store? You have got to be kidding me.” I let out a shrill before continuing my rant,” God forbid, you keep it in your damn pants while I am out shopping for your fucking dinner. It’s not like I spend hours picking out tomatoes.” I chucked my other pump at my good-for-nothing-ex-best-friend as tears rolled down her puffy cheeks, hitting her in the crook of her left shoulder. One out of two ain’t bad with how badly my hands were shaking.

“Oh fuck, Scar! We never meant for this to happen,” she half-heartedly explained through her fake sobs. “I swear, I would never intentionally hurt you like this. You’re the best friend I have ever had. You’re like family to me.” Her wispy straw colored hair was disheveled, her makeup was smeared, her eyes and cheeks were turning red. Lilith was a hideous sight. How pathetic.

“You’re only blubbering and carrying on because you got caught with my fucking husband’s dick deep in your hallway-sized, roast beef-lipped cunt.” I grabbed her clothes from the floor, pulled my lighter out of my purse, set them on fire, and then tossed the flaming bundle out the open window to my right. It erupted into a blazing ball of glory on the sidewalk three stories below. A baleful chuckle slipped from my mouth as I stood staring at the flames for a few seconds before turning back to the two pieces of shit that used to be some of the most important people in my life.

Jasper finally had his pants situated. My eyes snapped to his before turning to the top dresser drawer. With a swift motion, he tried to grab me as I went for my Kimber 9mm from its hiding place next to my bras.

I narrowed my eyes at him as he took a few steps back. “Jas, don’t you know by now that my daddy taught me better than to let a fucking man be faster at grabbing a weapon than me?” A menacing simper slid across my lips as Jasper’s knees started shuddering enough for me to be able to see it through his faded blue jeans.

Jasper and Lilith threw their hands into the air. A loud gasp came from Lilith as Jasper tried to talk me down. “Now, Scarlett baby, let’s talk this through. You don’t want to do anything any of us will regret in the mornin’.”

I wasn’t a fool—I knew better than to continue to point a loaded weapon at either of them. Jasper was a lawyer, and Lilith’s father was the sheriff. After waiting a few seconds to give them a good scare, I emptied the chamber and released the clip into my hand, shoving the lot into my purse, which was still swung over my shoulder.

“Get the fuck out of my damn apartment,” I shouted at Lilith. “My husband and I have some talking to do, and you being here is only going to make things worse for him.”

Whimpering, she shuffled out with only the sheet covering her body, her purse tucked under her arm. Her car wasn’t out front, so I knew Jasper must have picked her up on his way home from work. What a dumb bitch. I laughed a little to myself thinking of her getting into an Uber wearing nothing but a bedsheet. Too bad I was going to have to miss that show. I rolled my eyes at the thought of how idiotic they had both been and how foolish they were making me feel.

“Sit down.” Pointing to the armchair in the corner of our master bedroom, I commanded Jasper to take a seat. I didn’t want him to be able to make any sudden movements. Without protest, he did as he was told.

“Scar, honey, she doesn’t mean anything to me, I promise.” His eyes were emotionless as his empty words fell from his lips.

I scoffed. “There ain’t a snowball’s chance in fucking hell that I care in the slightest what excuses you come up with tonight. Your cock was in my best friend’s pussy. As far as I’m concerned, you’re both dead to me. I’m leaving. You are not to follow me. We are done. You will sign the divorce papers when they come and that will be that. We will be done. I never want to see your cheating ass again.”

“Baby, don’t the last eight years mean anything to you?” Not even a tear came to his eye as he pretended to sniffle and wipe his nose.

I thought back to my nineteenth birthday when I met Jasper and his friends while I was at the shooting range with my little brother. It was the first day I had fired the Kimber that was in my purse. It was also the day I started believing in love at first sight—what a fucking ironic cliché it was all turning into now.

“You know, I truly thought there was nothing that could ever tear us apart. What a sucker I was for trusting you.” I leaned against the far wall, never breaking eye contact with him.

“We can get back there, baby. You and me—it’s always been just the two of us against the world. Come on, Scar, don’t let one mistake ruin what we have.” His head fell into his hands.

Who the fuck does he think he’s tricking?

“How long has it been going on?” I asked while grabbing a few pieces of underwear out of a drawer to take with me.

“What?” he mumbled.

“How long?” I turned to him, yelling, “How long have you been fucking her? And don’t you dare lie to me because that bitch will tell me the fucking truth if I show up there. You know how big of a pussy she is.”

Under his breath, he slurred, “Three years.”

“Excuse me?” I sucked on my teeth as his admittance started to sink in.

He cleared his throat. “You heard me.” He tried to sit up a little straighter, rubbing the side of his neck and jaw.

My stomach flipped as I fought back the bile that was bubbling up in the back of my throat. “You deserve each other,” I said coolly.

I grabbed my bike’s keys from the counter and flew out the door without another word. I only had my purse, gun, keys and a few pairs of underwear. Fuck it. I didn’t need anything from that damn apartment. I didn’t need a cheating husband or a lying best friend. I was better off without them. I was pissed I hadn’t found out sooner, but it was better than never finding out at all.

I hopped onto my Royal Enfield Thunderbird. It was my pride and joy, the last thing my father gave to me before he passed away. As I made my way down the road, I tried to figure out where the hell to go. My brother was in Iraq fighting for our country, and I had no other family. The only other friends I had were work acquaintances at best and would not take kindly to me showing up on their doorstep, looking for a place to crash for the night. All I really cared about was putting distance between me and Jasper. I would figure out the rest along the way.

I had never felt so free in my life. I had nothing other than the roaring bike under me and my dignity. That was all that truly mattered. When shit hit the fan, I wasn’t weak, didn’t back down. I couldn’t help but think that my daddy would have been tickled pink with pride at how I’d handled the situation.

With a huff, Daddy sank into his chair at the head of the table before bellowing, “Scar! Remember what I told you?” He raised an eyebrow at me across the aged oak while I sniffled into the hanky he had tossed over to me before taking his seat.

“Yeah.” I thumbed at the black embroidered lettering of my father’s initials on the thin white cloth.

“I need you to say it out loud. I need you to believe it.” His deep voice was kind and understanding.

“No boy is worth my tears.” I was coming down from being completely hysterical. Johnny Palmer had broken up with me out of the blue during lunch earlier that day. We had been dating for seven months, which was as good as a lifetime as far as a high schooler was concerned. He had been my first boyfriend, and I was going through my first true heartbreak at the hands of a boy. I felt like the world was caving in around me.

“That’s right, Squirt.” The white whiskers of my old man’s scruffy beard spread as his smile got wide.

“Daddy! Don’t you think I’m getting a little old for that nickname?” I teased as I strained to stifle my tears.

He violently shook his head as he shoved up from the table. “You’ll never be too old to be my little squirt. Don’t you ever, not even for one damn second, think that. You’ll be fifty and I will still be calling you Squirt.”

I followed him into the kitchen where my brother was pulling a roast out of the oven. “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” Liam excitedly announced after checking the meat thermometer.

“Liam, hug your sister,” Dad commanded. Without hesitation, my brother’s arms were wrapping around me and Dad’s were bringing both of us in close to his broad chest.

“All we need is each other,” our father reminded us, just like he did every day.

I could still feel the cotton of my father’s dampened hanky in my hands, could still smell the delectable aroma of the roast Liam had broiled to perfection, could still feel the loving embrace of that emotional hug. Even though the colors had faded slightly in my memory, the truly important details coursed through my brain, bright as day.

As the miles passed and the recollections of my childhood took over, I barely remembered why I was escaping down the highway. All I could think about was how manly my brother was, how great of a cook he had become, how amazing my father had been for embracing all of our talents and encouraging us to be the best we could be at just being ourselves. There was nothing in the world that he wanted more than for his children to truly grow into the individuals we desired to be.

I could still hear my father’s raspy timbre repeating his favorite mantra: “Always embrace who you are, and never make any excuses for being yourself.”

I never thought it was something special until it was too late to thank him for being such a phenomenal role model and parent. He didn’t care that I liked working on engines with him after school and playing dress-up while pretending to have a tea party or that Liam was the captain of his baseball team and took cooking lessons on the weekends. All my dad cared about was our happiness. It was the most wonderful gift he could have given to either of us.

A little less than thirty minutes had passed as I got closer and closer to Atlanta’s city limits. The sun had faded and the glow of streetlights illuminated my ride. As the temperature started to dip, I decided it was best for me to find a motel to crash at for the weekend and formulate a new life plan, one of independence and liberation.

Traffic was light, only a few cars ahead of me. It was calming, being almost completely alone with only the low hum of my engine and the sound of the pavement under the two wheels of my bike.

Suddenly, the blaring of a horn and the bright headlights of a car took me by surprise. I whipped my head around just in time to see Jasper’s blue sedan connecting with my back tire. There was nothing I could do in that split second other than try to swerve out of his way, but it was futile. With shooting pain and squealing of tires, my bike lay down on its side, throwing my body like a ragdoll, off the shoulder and into the grass with a hard thump.

I couldn’t move. My ears rang. My body was in excruciating pain. Within seconds, my entire world went blank as I fell into the darkness.