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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

A paramedic crouched by him on the damp carpet and in a quiet voice she explained that Maddy had left Emily in the bath for a second or two to answer the telephone. The suckers on the bottom of the bath-seat had come unstuck and Emily had fallen out and slipped under the water by the time she came back. They weren’t sure exactly how long for, but they were going to take her to hospital.

Max stood up and took Maddy’s hands as they watched a paramedic carry their baby daughter to the ambulance.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Maddy: October 2019

After Maddy has dropped Emily at school, she checks Facebook and Instagram. Alison has already posted a selfie at the charity shop she works in, showing all the bags of people’s stuff she needs to sort through that morning.

Without hesitation, Maddy jumps in the car and heads straight to their house again. She waits in the adjacent road to see if anyone else goes in or comes out. Part of her is willing Max to turn up so she can have it out with him. She can’t believe she’s here again snooping around, but the urge to know why this bitch is with her husband is overwhelming. There’s not a minute of the day when she’s not thinking about them together. His lies are gnawing away at her, constricting her chest as though, between the two of them, they’re squeezing the life out of her. How could she have been blind to his deceit? She believed they were comfortable and happy together, that they trusted each other. What a fool thinking any man could be any better than her cheating father.

Once inside, she knows her way around. The layout is similar to hers, so he didn’t make too many mistakes no doubt. She closes the front door quietly, empties her pocket of biscuits for Poppy. Such a beautiful dog, but he seems neglected. She carries Max’s ironed T-shirt and jeans upstairs and hangs them on the back of the bedroom door. See what little miss perfect makes of that. Hopefully her reaction will tell her where she thinks Max is, if she’s expecting him home. Can he really be living here while pretending to be dead to her? It’s still so hard to take in the enormity of it. But from all his unopened post in the kitchen, he’s not been here for a while either.

She wonders when they bought the house. Must be what he used her money for. She grinds her teeth together and tries to pinpoint when all this might have begun.