Chapters (60)
- Cover
- Books by Sheryl Browne
- Dedication
- KARLA
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- 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
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Epilogue
- The Affair
- Hear more from Sheryl
- Books by Sheryl Browne
- A Letter from Sheryl
- The Babysitter
- The Second Wife
- Acknowledgements
‘I know I have,’ he said quietly. ‘I wish… I’m sorry.’ Christ. He ran a hand over his neck in frustration. How pathetic and inadequate did that sound?
‘I bet you are.’ Her eyes, burning with anger and humiliation, searched his.
No idea what to say, Jason looked away. If only she knew how sorry he was. How much he wished he could turn back the clock, only then to be consumed with guilt when he realised he was wishing his children away.
‘Just go, Jason,’ Karla said defeatedly, after a minute’s loaded silence.
Jason nodded tiredly. ‘I’m dropping the kids off on the way,’ he reminded her.
Her gaze focused on the mug she was heaping sugar into, Karla didn’t answer.
‘Will you be all right?’
Wiping the back of her hand across her eyes, Karla sniffed and nodded.
‘Do you need me to pick anything up?’
‘Something for the children’s dinner,’ she said, her voice strained. ‘I’ll be at Mum’s.’
‘Right.’ Jason hesitated. ‘How is she?’
‘How do you think?’ Karla’s tone was flat. ‘I bet you’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Finally seeing my father humiliated?’
Not half as much as I should be, Jason thought. She’d seen the first reports in the newspapers, claims made about a recipient of various UK Business Awards abusing his staff. He guessed she thought it was him who’d leaked information to the media. He hadn’t, though he’d been sorely tempted. After all Fenton had done to him, Jason had desperately wanted some kind of revenge – it wouldn’t have been human not to. Fenton had always aimed to take away what it had taken Jason his whole life to find: the family he’d never had. That had become emphatically clear on the day the man had delivered the news he’d known would bring him to his knees. Jason had wanted the ruthless bastard to know how it felt to lose everything that mattered, the things that money couldn’t buy. Now though, counting the casualties, he dearly wished he’d done what his so-called father-in-law had wanted and walked away years ago.
‘I have no feelings one way or the other, Karla,’ he said, heading to the hall for his car keys. He didn’t, he realised with surprise. It was only a matter of time before Robert was named by the press. When he was, Jason would gain no satisfaction from it. He simply couldn’t be bothered wasting any more emotion on the man.
‘No feelings full stop,’ Karla threw after him.