Chapters (52)
- COVER PAGE
- DEDICATION
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- PART TWO
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHORS
She let it ring out. But as she continued to stare at it, it lit up again instantly.
She couldn’t avoid him forever, even though she wished she could. With a trembling hand, she picked up the phone as if it were a loaded gun.
‘Hello?’
‘Evie, you’ve gone too far. Too far!’
‘Sorry, who’s this?’ Evie mentally slapped her forehead. What a gag. Ha, ha, ha.
‘I don’t have time for your shenanigans, Evie. I can’t believe you. I thought the break-up was bad enough, but this, you’re unbelievable.’
Evie wrapped her free arm around her stomach, suddenly freezing in only her bra and trousers. ‘What do you want me to say, exactly?’
‘It’s not me you have to say anything to. My lawyers, on the other hand, have a lot of compelling questions they’d like to ask you.’
Fuck! ‘Hugo, come on, you and I both know it was the right thing to do. You wouldn’t dare get lawyers involved.’
‘Watch me.’
Suddenly, the velvet change room curtain was briskly pulled open and a young, overly cheery face appeared two inches from Evie’s bare chest. ‘How are you getting on, hon?’ the sales assistant chirped.
‘What? Fine, fine,’ Evie said, attempting to cover herself with a coat hanger.
‘There’s absolutely nothing fine about this,’ Hugo spat.
‘Sorry, not you,’ Evie said.
‘Pardon?’ the sales assistant said, looking dumbly at Evie.
‘I’m serious, Evie. I will not stand for this.’
‘This really isn’t a good time,’ Evie said.
‘Don’t worry, love, I’ve seen it all before.’ The sales assistant winked almost directly at Evie’s breasts.
‘I’m on the phone,’ Evie mouthed and pointed to her ear, which finally got the sales assistant out of her change room.
‘Evie, are you even listening?’
‘Yes, look, Hugo, I’m sorry I’ve hurt your ego, but I stand by what I did. It was the right thing to do. And I think you know it was too.’
‘Do you realise how this makes me look? I won’t let you get away with this, Evie. God, I don’t know what I ever saw in you.’ Even after Hugo hung up, Evie let the phone hang by her ear, the silence echoing tauntingly.
But she wouldn’t be taunted, not by a smartphone, not by her ex-boyfriend and not by herself. You’ve got this, Evie thought. Plus, she knew Hugo wouldn’t follow through with his threats. He couldn’t; it would mean risking exposure, and worse, losing face. Evie had come to learn that he valued his reputation far more than he valued money.