She grimaced and looked away. She took a deep breath and returned to face him, blinking away tears.

‘I watched as he coerced you into joining in with the plan to seduce and exploit Neena. I watched as you fucked him over the kitchen counter, and occasionally, when he fucked you.’

She scowled at him with such ferocity that he thought she might lunge over the island and claw out his eyes.

‘I watched him make plans of his own, and speak to his investigator, and sleep with other men. Oh, you didn’t know that? That you weren’t his special one? That he was exploiting other men in the village?’

Richard looked down at his lap. He truly had been a fool.

‘I can show you the footage of him and the other men if you like.’

‘Don’t you dare,’ he snapped.

She laughed behind closed lips. When he looked up at her, her smile fell.

‘I don’t care if you’re gay, or straight, or bisexual, or whatever you are. All that matters is that you’re mine.’ She reached for his hand. He pulled away and placed his hands in his lap.

‘What did he give you that I wasn’t giving you? What changed?’

‘I slowly saw you for who you really are.’

‘Which is?’

‘A monster.’

She flinched, but very quickly forced a smile, the smile he had once seen across a crowded bar and vowed to his friend that she would become his wife.

‘I can be better. I can be the perfect wife. We can move on from this and be better off in the end. I know we can.’

‘How do you expect me to continue with our marriage knowing what you’ve done?’

She watched him, and sadness filled her eyes. She didn’t understand that her actions were terrifying, that each breath she took repulsed him.

‘In time, you’ll forgive me.’

‘And what if I can’t?’

She said nothing, but her eyes changed. The sadness dried up in a flash, and something darker clouded her eyes.

‘I guess you have a decision to make,’ she said as she stood up from the stool. He knew from her tone and the look in her eye that it wasn’t an ultimatum he had been given, but a threat. ‘But not tonight. Make it tomorrow, when you can look at this rationally. Let’s go to bed.’

She walked towards the door and stopped before the hallway.

‘Are you coming?’

He hated her, and worse, she terrified him. She showed no remorse for her actions or any promise that she wouldn’t do it again. She had killed her parents, and now James, and he couldn’t help but wonder who else had perished from crossing her path. There were years between the death of her parents and their meeting in the crowded bar; there could be countless victims waiting to be claimed.