She looks up to see Ben standing in the doorway of the hotel room where he’s been packing up the equipment. ‘Sure,’ she says, willing to stall for as long as possible before she has to go back and tell Alice that they don’t have a suitor for the final week of The One.

‘I was reviewing the footage we took earlier and, well …’ He indicates for her to watch the small monitor.

Darcy looks at the screen showing Penny sitting on the lounge and Ben turns up the volume.

‘How long have you got?’ Ty’s audio is clear, but his head is out of frame.

Penny’s hands wring in her lap. ‘Maybe six months.’

It takes a moment for Darcy to realise that this isn’t the footage they filmed earlier. Her heart starts beating faster. She hasn’t seen this before. ‘You didn’t stop filming?’ Her head turns sharply to Ben.

His expression is unreadable. ‘I thought I had.’

Darcy doesn’t know whether to believe him or not, but her head turns back to the monitor. She stands open-mouthed as she watches the scene play out in front of her. The love between Ty and Penny is mesmerising. It’s so real compared to the months of dates they’ve filmed with Ty over the past couple of months. Darcy realises now that of course none of the other girls were ever really in the running. His heart belonged to Penny.

Darcy has to wipe a tear away when Penelope eventually concedes and tells Ty he can stay with her until the end. She closes her eyes, feeling a wave of exhaustion dragging her down.

‘No one else knows about it.’ Ben’s voice is steady. ‘The footage is yours if you want it use it, otherwise I can just …’ He trails off.

‘Delete it?’

He shrugs; the decision is up to her. Can she delete it? Can she just let this footage go? This could be a heart-wrenching, tear-jerking ending to The One. This kind of footage would be a huge ratings grab. It’d impress Alice and the network executives. It’d secure her a promotion.

But as she takes in the images on screen, she sees what a private moment it was for Ty and Penelope. Penny’s the love of Ty’s life. She is the one. But she’s dying, and they won’t get their happily ever after.

She’d be inviting all of Australia, possibly even all of the world, to have a part in Ty and Penny’s intimacy. Could Darcy live with herself if she let this footage go to air?

Chapter 57

57

‘Bonnie!’ A voice propels through the air. ‘Bonnie, over here!’

Bonnie’s arm is outstretched, ready to take the bag of breakfast goodies from the drive-through window, but without thinking her head turns at her name being called.