I had to go to the bank to deposit my cheque and get some cash in my hands. Having lost the only income apart from racing was not a good idea. I was running out of bills and I didn't know if I could keep it up.

I heaved a sigh. Things I had lost for the boy who had never once managed to call me. His part of the act was perfectly done and he had nothing to do with me now.

A part of me had imagined the perfect scenario for us to be together. Robert would call me and cry for me to stay in his life. When I would say no, he would climb up the walls of my heart, tear them down and reside next to me, finally making me nod my head to his pleas. I would forgive him like I always did and things would turn around for me. 

But it was not a perfect world.

As I had pondered if he would stay with me, I had no doubts now that he would elope the first chance he had completed this project paired with Ashley.

Just like always.

I wanted to shout at him for leaving me like this when he was responsible for my heart to stutter every time when someone called his name. I wanted him to stay and give me an explanation, though I would shout at him. A part of me wanted to see him try, just for the sake of the word love he had uttered that night.

Was it that easy to give up on someone whom he said that he had loved? But then again, he was just another con-artist playing his role for money. And I knew Ashley paid him well.

But then again, if he had even tried to say things, would I believe it? Was anything that was coming out of his mouth true? What was true now?

Robert and Dad were the same, sewn from the same material. They toyed with my heart and in the end, both left it broken. The fact that they had kept me in darkness as I maneuvered according to the plans they had, was something that cracked my shell in two. How could they be so selfish with me?

Even when Robert knew that I had my past dealing with Ashley, he hadn't utter a word about it. I had caught them talking with her a few times and yet he had dodged it. And I had believed everything he had said not even having a slightest doubt about his outside race activities.

Unlike his other secrets, he had carefully kept it away from me. Perhaps after he knew how deeper I could dig, he was a little cautious about his other secrets. I wondered how many more were left to kill me slowly.

I had believed him, professionally... and personally.

I shook my head no. It had been a week since that awful day, yet I was grieving like I had lost a limb. I needed to focus and make sure that I was giving a tough fight for Ashley.

I still went to the tracks for my conditioning, but always hid behind Luke asking him to train along with me. I was sure he had picked up that we had fought like always. Little did he know that it was at its peak.

My whole world had come crashing down and I left like I was already dead inside. What could that race do to me now?

I had understood the need for Ashley to take revenge on my family, but what about Robert? Why had he chased her dreams to ruin my life for her? Was it always about the money? It always was about money, wasn't it? The way he said that he had seduced me into his traps, made me wonder what kind of tricks he had used on me.

I felt as if I had lost everyone in such a short period of time.

"Hey." I heard a familiar voice.

I had sat down on a park bench and I didn't know how I had reached there. Lately it seemed like I was getting lost in my head to know about my surroundings. When I turned around, I saw that it was Monica with a few bags in her hands. She looked sad, but better than how I had left her last.

"How are you doing?" She asked. "May I?" She asked pointing to the empty space next to me. When I nodded my head to her, she sat down and looked at me. "You look like shit."

I mustered a smile, trying to gain back my confidence. "You could say that." I shrugged. "I have seen better days."

Monica looked like a bride now. Her face was glowing and her hair seemed to be done recently. Even her smile was radiant. She had worn a beige colored suit and a white coat to perfect her attire. I wondered if she was doing her wedding shopping.

"I'm sorry, Scar." She said as I did a double to hear what she had said. Had I been dreaming too much these days? "It was not your fault that day and I shouted at you for nothing."

"That's fine." I said, trying to get my mind out of those memories. It only made me want to cry harder. "You had all rights to it."

"I'm sure you must be wondering what I'm doing here with you." She said and I looked away. I was certain that she would crack open when she wanted to. With her CIA skills, I didn't even have to tell her what I was thinking. "Ratan came back yesterday."

I rolled my eyes at that. I should have guessed that already. For a second, that made me jealous. He had at least his family to turn to, which was free from this driving nonsense, but I had none. Everyone had turned their backs to me.

"He explained everything." I wasn't surprised about this either. He was a talker and I was sure he had dragged Monica into believing whatever he was saying. "And I believe him."

"Mon, I'm sorry." I said and for the first time, I didn't avert my eyes away. "I should have listened to you. You were right all along. He was a cheat and he will always be one."

"Scar, I trust him when he says sorry." She said a little confident this time. "He told me everything. From when he left house to what happened with you."

"And you believe everything he says?" I asked, tears ready to roll. "Well, I believed him once too."

"I know you are hurt, but you should hear him too." She said. "He likes you."

"It was all a game, Monica." I said, my voice low. A tear rolled down my cheeks. I had wished and hoped that it was not all true, that he liked me for real. But I had heard everything he was saying to Ashley and the bitter truth had pierced into my heart a little too hard. "Ashley made him do that. He had to act to make me fall for him. I heard all his conversations."

"I know." Monica scooted closer to me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulders as they slumped down. "But he actually fell for you too. He was asking her to let you go when you heard him."

I shook my head sideways not believing her words. It seemed as if he had fed Monica all this crap to console her and frame him like the good guy that he was not.

"Did he ask you to tell all this to me?" I asked, the sudden horror taking up my face. "Did he send you here because Ashley is still on his back pestering about me?"

"No!" Monica said. "He doesn't know that I'm here with you. I haven't forgiven him completely, but the initial anger has come down." She sighed, tucking her hair. "I'm his sister, Scarlet. I knew him till he was thirteen. I can tell when he's lying."

"I cannot... I need time." I sniffed. "Its... all too much for me."

"He said the Ashley was keeping someone called Gary as his bait." Monica said. "I think you should know that."

"Gary?" I asked, surprise evident on my voice.

"The same one who carried Mom to the hospital that day." Monica said. "I know Ratan respects him as a father figure and I'm sure he wasn't lying about it either."

I put my head on my hands. It was all messed up. Why was Ashley behind Gary to make Robert seduce me? She had a revenge with Dad, but why was she turning all her battles at me?

"It doesn't make sense." I said. "But... why?"

"He doesn't know that, Scar." Monica said, caressing my shoulder as she comforted me with her words. "I'm not here to tell you to forget all that, but before you decide to forgive or forget, I want you to know both sides of the story."

My head spun. What had I gotten myself into?

"Scar, I know that you like him too." She said as a matter of fact. "I have seen you behave like you are on top of the world when he's with you. Don't throw it all away."

"Throw it all away?" I asked taken aback, my voice was raising to the top notch. After all that I had seen and heard, there was no one to side me. I was fighting all my battles alone.

When I had seen Dad drink and gamble my life for his mistakes, the whole racing crew teamed up with him, telling me that it was the only choice they had for me. When Nick turned out to be gay, they supported him to come out of his shell. When Robert did terrible things to me, even his sister who hated him in the first place, took his side.

Who was there for me?

I had to read between those words and actions to know that I had always been alone. Perhaps, my Dad was training me to be just that since the day mom died. Yet, I hadn't learnt my lesson.

Having stood up for me all my life, I took the first chance of hope when Robert came along. He was a breath of fresh air in an atmosphere that reeked of gambles. He was the first person to not judge me for who I was. I thought he was genuinely interested in me just as I was in him.

Everything that I had believed in had come down back to back and suddenly, I didn't know where I belonged. And I was throwing away what I had?

"He took money from Ashley to make me fall for him!" I screamed. "The game is in a week, Monica and your brother is teamed up with that witch to get me killed!"

I sounded helpless to my own ears just as I felt I was. Who was I to trust again?

"But, you know what?" I asked, taking a deep breath. "I'm ready to die. I already feel lifeless anyway."

"Scarlet, please don't say things like that." Monica said scooting closer to me. She put her hands around my shoulders just like her brother once used to. "You have me, my mother and your father too!"

"You guys are all there just for the figure of speech." I spat.

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" Monica asked, turning her face to me. Her dark eyes were pleading me to say something, but I was depressed already. "You say it and I'll do it."

"There is nothing you can do, Mon." I said, staring at the void ahead of me. Lately, I felt nothing, just a raw pain that ate me continuously. That pain had become so big that it seemed like a part of my life that I had come to accept.

"I'm going to kill that bastard for making you go through this!" Monica's voice was laced with anger. I only wanted to laugh at her words. It was only moments ago that she had taken his side and now she had changed the parties already. "I didn't know you were this affected."

"How is he?" I gulped. A part of me wanted to know that he suffered from this as much as I did. "No, don't tell me. I don't want to know."

"He's struggling, but he hardly shows it." Monica sighed, ignoring my requests. "But he truly regrets everything that went down since our father left."

I placed my elbows on my knees, sighing loudly. We both were messed up in our own way. Our fathers had done the dirty jobs, leaving us to fend for ourselves. One mistake was all it took from our parents to fuck up our life.

Robert and I were similar. We both didn't have a proper childhood. We still got defensive when things got thrown our way and our trust issues stood erect when it came to something very personal.

"I miss him." My voice was too low to hear, but Monica had caught it effectively.

"I know, honey. He misses you too." She said, stroking my hair. "It will take time to get over this, but I know that you will one day. I know what he did was something terrible and I'm not asking you to forgive him right this moment. All I'm asking you to be patient."

I nodded my head. I didn't know if I had more patience than I harbored right now.

"Hey, and that job at the café?" Monica asked, with a small smile. "Are you still up for it?"

It was like the last thing I was thinking about, but when it was handed down to me now, I saw a small ray of hope at my side. It would at least feed my household till the death warrant came my way. Without hesitation, I pulled her to me and hugged her.

"Yes, yes." I cried. "Thank you."

"I want you to stay there for as long as you wish." She said. "Even if you hate my brother to the very core."

I laughed. My cell phone blared at that. I wiped my tears away and pulled the phone out.

It only said one word, but the cold chill that it left behind was undeniable.

It was Ashley.

---

A/N: So, you think Scarlet should forgive Robert, who by the way, didn't come around to say that he was sorry? And why do you think Ashley is calling her?