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Back One Mistake Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Books by Rona Halsall
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Three weeks later
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Ten days later
  46. Chapter Forty-One
  47. Seven months later
  48. Love You Gone
  49. Hear More from Rona
  50. A Letter from Rona
  51. Books by Rona Halsall
  52. Her Mother’s Lies
  53. The Honeymoon
  54. Keep You Safe
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. *

She blinked and read it again. No, no, that can’t be right. She slowed herself down, read the whole thing word for word a couple more times. There was no mistaking what it said. She swallowed, her heart galloping in her chest. The letter was from a firm of accountants. The investment company had gone into administration, and the nature of her investment meant it was outside the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. She could appeal, the letter said, but it was unlikely she would be getting any of her money back.

It’s gone. All of it.

She sank onto the chair, legs weak, and closed her eyes. She hadn’t understood that the investment was unprotected; had just seen the high interest rate and official-seeming website and had assumed it would be covered. Matt will be furious. Not only had she gone against his wishes, but she’d ignored all the warnings about investments. About risks and returns. Had thought she knew better, so desperate for some extra money to follow her own dreams that she’d taken a chance with their nest egg.

She heard the muffled sound of the back door opening and closing, Matt calling her name. Quickly, she fumbled the letter back into its envelope and stuffed it under a pile of documents where it wouldn’t be easily found. Her pulse raced, her head squeezed tight by the grip of dread. What am I going to do? I can’t tell him.

‘Sara?’ he called again.

‘Coming,’ she replied, her legs wobbly, as if they had a mind of their own, reluctant to take her downstairs, where trouble lay. They hadn’t a penny in savings and it was all her fault.

What if he asks about the money?

A bead of sweat worked its way down her back, panic tightening its grip. She’d seen how angry he was, how upset. Devastated by the loss of his job. Now this. She stood at the top of the stairs, unable to descend, her hand clasped to her forehead as she tried to work out what to do. She’d betrayed Matt’s trust, let him and her family down by putting herself first.

‘Sara?’ His voice had an edge of impatience now, and she stirred herself into action, her decision made. He couldn’t know. She wouldn’t tell him. Would stall if he asked. As she made her way slowly downstairs, she vowed to keep it to herself until she’d worked out how to put it right.

Chapter Six