Page 86 of Ashes of the Past
I swallow the lump in my throat and keep moving, but Savannah isn’t finished. More insults fly from her mouth, her voice dripping with rage and something unhinged.
“Is this your little slut? I knew you were cheating on me! I knew there was a reason you were so quick to come back to this hellhole! Have you been fucking this bitch the entire time?”
My eyes flit to Jack’s, and he meets my gaze.
“I’m so sorry,” he mouths.
Jack reaches the truck first, opening the passenger door for me. Just as I step up, something small and hard whizzes past my face, hitting the side of the truck with a sharp clink.
She’s throwing things at us. Is she five?
I barely have time to process that before another rock flies past, bouncing off the hood. My hands clench into fists as I whirl toward her.
“Don’t engage. Ignore her. It’s only going to get worse. She’s unhinged. She wants to look like the victim.” He rambles as he shakes his head. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He closes the door and is already moving to the driver’s side, his expression stone-cold. He doesn’t react to her accusations—cheating, stealing, whatever nonsense she can come up with. He just keeps walking, ignoring her. She’s still throwing things at him.
“Fuck this,” I groan out loud.
I pull out my phone and dial the non-emergency number for the sheriff’s department. I give them our location and tell them there’s a drunk female causing a scene. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but I think it’s the only way to protect Jack.
“You’re worthless! You never loved me! You cheated the whole time we were together,” Savannah is screaming shrilly.
Jack continues not to reply and that only makes her angrier. He grabs the door handle, trying to get into the truck.
She shrieks likes a banshee and charges at him, her hands clawing for his shirt. Jack barely flinches as she shoves at his chest, spitting venomous words in his face.
I don’t know how, but I manage to keep my fury in check—until Savannah raises her hand again.
“How can you choose that bitch over me?” Savannah screams. “You think I don’t know about her? You think I don’t know about her little bitch daughter and…”
I will end this bitch for calling my daughter a name.
I don’t think. I act.
I shove the door open and step out, scurrying around to the other side of the truck. I’m barely containing my fury, my fists clenched at my sides. I’ve never actually been in a fight before, and I don’t know that I even know what to do, but I will not allow this crazy woman to call my daughter a bitch in front of the whole town.
She’s gone too far.
“Walk away,” I hiss coldly.
“Damn it, Brynn, no,” Jack snaps, his voice cutting through the chaos.
But it’s too late.
Savannah’s wild eyes lock onto me, and she lets out a feral scream before lunging.
I don’t move. I don’t have to.
Her foot catches on the curb, and she goes sprawling face-first onto the pavement with a sickening thud.
Silence hangs in the air for half a second. Then she groans, pushing herself up with shaking hands.
“He is my husband. You are a homewrecking whore. I bet your daughter—”
“You’ll shut your mouth, now,” I hiss.
“Brynn, please get back in the truck,” Jack says.
