Chapters (67)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- PART TWO
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- PART THREE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- PART FOUR
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- Mailing list
- A Letter from Kathryn
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Kathryn Croft
She turns over; there’s no point keeping up a pretence of sleep.
‘What about him?’ she asks, her stomach twisting into knots.
‘I just think it’s strange that he didn’t want to go for a drink that week, like we’d talked about. He never replied to my messages, did he?’
‘He was probably busy. And clearly he had a lot on his mind if he was about to walk out on Sienna.’
‘While I’ve been in Portugal, I’ve been going over and over it and I can’t get my head around why he would leave her.’
‘People leave their partners all the time,’ she says. She wants to shut this conversation down before it leads somewhere there will be no return from.
‘Tell me again what happened the night he spent here. What did you talk about?’
‘I told you, there was nothing he said that was unusual.’
‘So he didn’t mention anything about planning to leave? Nothing like that?’
‘Rob, if I knew anything, I would have told Sienna. Why wouldn’t I?’
‘And you and him got on? You didn’t argue or anything?’
‘No! Of course not. If we had, then I would have mentioned it. We had a nice conversation.’
Rob stares at her for too long, makes her want to shrink away from his glare. ‘Okay. Let’s get some sleep.’
It’s hours before Abby manages to drift off. Things are going from bad to worse.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Sienna
She stares at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, appraising what she sees. She’s always tried to make the best of herself, yet she’s never been hung up on how attractive she may or may not be. One thing she’s learned is that it doesn’t matter how beautiful you are – attraction is subjective, and your partner can still cheat on you no matter what you look like.
Despite this, she has washed her hair this morning, wrapped it around her curling tongs so that it falls in soft waves. She’s taken extra time with her make-up too, applying it carefully when normally she does it on autopilot. She’s not doing any of this for Greg – it’s her armour, something to strengthen her against what is to come.
The sky is already cloudless, and she’s wearing a vest top and maxi skirt. The Tube will be stifling. It always is, even during cooler months.
She glances in the mirror one last time, smooths her left eyebrow. Now she is ready.
Sienna knows her way around this hospital without needing any signs. She walks along the corridors, relishing their familiarity, focusing on the tap of her shoes on the floor. The faces of some of the people she passes are also familiar, and she nods and smiles at everyone she recognises, making every pretence of normality.