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Back Every Little Secret Save as PDF
Chapters (81)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. Chapter Forty-Two
  46. Chapter Forty-Three
  47. Chapter Forty-Four
  48. Chapter Forty-Five
  49. Chapter Forty-Six
  50. Chapter Forty-Seven
  51. Chapter Forty-Eight
  52. Chapter Forty-Nine
  53. Chapter Fifty
  54. Chapter Fifty-One
  55. Chapter Fifty-Two
  56. Chapter Fifty-Three
  57. Chapter Fifty-Four
  58. Chapter Fifty-Five
  59. Chapter Fifty-Six
  60. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  61. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  62. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  63. Chapter Sixty
  64. Chapter Sixty-One
  65. Chapter Sixty-Two
  66. Chapter Sixty-Three
  67. Chapter Sixty-Four
  68. Chapter Sixty-Five
  69. Chapter Sixty-Six
  70. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  71. Chapter Sixty-Eight
  72. Chapter Sixty-Nine
  73. Chapter Seventy
  74. Chapter Seventy-One
  75. Chapter Seventy-Two
  76. Chapter Seventy-Three
  77. Chapter Seventy-Four
  78. A Letter From Ruby
  79. Acknowledgements
  80. About the Author
  81. Also by Ruby Speechley

‘Oh God, Maddy, I’m so sorry,’ he said, shocked by the raw pain in her eyes. He wrapped her in his arms and let her cry silently on his shoulder.

Chapter Twenty-One

Maddy: October 2019

All the way home, Maddy’s head is a jumble of emotions. She wants to believe that Max is alive and well, but if he is, does that mean he’s living with that woman? Is she carrying his child? That’s insane. How dare he! She smacks the seat next to her. How long has this been going on? The photos suggest a year, maybe longer, but how can that be when he’s been with her and their girls? A lump forms in her throat. Her hand goes straight to her bump. She needs to stay strong but her eyes brim with tears.

Pulling onto the drive, she sits there staring at the garage door, not sure what to do next. The dogs won’t stop barking, so she forces herself to get up and go inside.

The dogs run into the garden as soon as she opens the back door, almost dragging it out of her hand. Who is this woman, Alison Wood? While the dogs belt up and down the lawn, she takes out her phone and taps the name into Google. There’s probably a million people called that. She’ll be impossible to find. But no, straight away a link comes up for all Alison Wood Facebook profiles. Without hesitation, Maddy clicks and a list of photos of different people with that name appears. She clicks on the face she recognises and Alison Wood’s whole life opens up to her.

She scrolls down her never-ending stream of posts: some are photos of her with friends at glamorous-looking parties, a nail bar having false nails stuck on, at the park with her son, on a merry-go-round, swings and football. She’s clearly much younger than Maddy, maybe as much as ten years? Her elfin features, tiny frame and the smallest eyes rimmed with electric blue eyeliner are finished off with ridiculously long false lashes. Down and down Maddy scrolls through this woman’s life. Cutsie cat GIFs, affirmation slogans, clips of beauty bloggers, celebrities on the red carpet. So much rubbish. Is this what her life is full of? Is this what Max really wants in a woman?