To think that only a few months ago my life was a shitshow. I’d had a murder charge hanging over my head, threatening to decapitate me. I was in love with my lawyer who I thought despised me. My daughter, with whom I’d only just reconnected, had been forcibly taken from me. Now look. The court case against me had been dropped and, when the details were finally released into the public domain, my popularity rating actually rose. I had the nation’s sympathy for ‘triumphing in the face of adversity’. It’s what Jade, my PA, called a bonus bounce ‘sympathy rating’. It wouldn’t last, but I was milking it for all it was worth. Corrupt and crooked ministers caught with their hands in the cookie jar had been unceremoniously sacked and my popularity rating rose. My daughter now lived with me full-time and my popularity rating rose. Callie Rose Hadley, my childhood sweetheart, was now my wife – and my popularity rating shot through the roof. There was a peculiar peace that swept over me every time I looked at Callie. Peculiar because I wasn’t used to it. She only had to smile at me—

Yeah, OK, I admit it. I was helplessly, hopelessly lovestruck. Always had been, even when I denied it. I needed Callie like I needed air to breathe, but what had permanently sealed my fate was how much Callie needed me too. When her mother died, Callie had leaned on me until she could begin to stand upright again. For the first time in my life, I felt like my presence mattered to someone for more than just money’s sake. Callie needed someone who would always put her first – and, with me, that’s what she had.

Sometimes a nagging doubt or two whispered in my ear that I should be on my guard, that my life was too perfect. Even George Davison had kept his mouth shut so I’d never had to point the police in his direction. I was grateful for that as I was still convinced that Callie had let me listen to her mum’s last voice message as some kind of test of my loyalty, to see whether or not I’d respect her mum’s wishes. It’d been tempting to tip off the police anonymously about George. After all, there were still those who believed that somehow I’d been involved in Dan’s death. George being arrested and charged with Dan’s murder would’ve put a stop to the malicious gossip once and for all. But how could I? Callie was no fool. She’d know that any anonymous tip could only have come from one source.

Luckily for George, I wasn’t about to disappoint Callie.