‘Since she’s had her accident, I’ve been running around after her, getting this and that, and I found a phone hidden at the back of a drawer.’ He had Sara’s attention now. She watched him cringe, obviously uncomfortable with what he was about to tell her. ‘I know this doesn’t sound good, but I checked through it. Fiona always uses Chelsea’s birthday for PIN numbers, so it was easy to get in, and…’ He sighed and his whole body seemed to deflate. ‘I was shocked. There are conversations with James on there, a lot of them quite cryptic, but in one of them, she tells him that if he doesn’t do the favour she’s been asking of him, then she’ll make some pictures public that would suggest he was raping her while she was unconscious. It’s clear she was blackmailing him.’ His discomfort was palpable. ‘I know they had a short affair and she obviously kept some video evidence so she had a hold over him when he ended it. James wouldn’t stand a chance against Fiona. She can be very vindictive and he must have known to just do what she asked without necessarily understanding why.’

He pulled a face, his distaste very clear. ‘My wife has some very strange… let’s call them predilections.’ He sounded lost, defeated. ‘Anyway, I just wanted you to know I’m going to hand it over to the police. There are also messages to your husband on there. She seems pretty keen on him, but from his responses, I get the idea the sentiment wasn’t returned. It was a business arrangement. He said that more than once.’ He looked at her, sadness in his eyes. ‘Fiona and Matt both knew what they were doing, Sara. It’s clear from their conversations. Careless of them really to communicate like that, but Fiona has an arrogant streak. It wouldn’t have entered her head that she might get caught.’

Tears pricked at Sara’s eyes as the betrayal by her husband and her friend was spelled out for her. ‘Why me? Why would she pick me to be one of these Sleeping Princesses? And why humiliate Milly?’

‘Fiona is a strange and jealous woman. I suspect she thought you had the perfect family, the perfect marriage, whereas… well, our marriage was over a long time ago. We’ve stayed together for Chelsea, but this is the final straw. The police will have their evidence and I’m filing for divorce.’

Chapter Forty

Ten days later

Once Matt had realised he was trapped, his solicitor had advised him that being helpful would reduce his sentence, and he had cooperated fully with the police. By the end of the week, Sara had been fully updated on the situation and was starting to feel more in control of her life.