I shake my head, terror gripping me that Liam might return at any moment and find her there. I’ll get into trouble. ‘What are you doing here?’ I ask in a whisper. ‘Who are you?’

‘I’m Mia,’ she says.

‘Mia who?’ I ask, confused.

‘I know what’s happening to you.’

I stare at her in shock. ‘Who are you?’ I ask.

‘I’m the one before you,’ she says.

I frown. What does she mean? It dawns on me then that she must be Liam’s ex. The woman who cheated on him. ‘His ex-wife?’ I ask her.

She nods, her lips pursing in distaste. ‘Yes. I guess we’re still married though, technically, so not quite ex.’

I almost collapse to the ground. He’s still married. I glance down at the engagement ring on my hand and my own wedding band. That must mean Liam and I aren’t married. Laughter bubbles up my throat, mixed in with relief.

I notice that her gaze has followed mine and she’s looking at my rings. She gasps, a hand flying to her throat. ‘That ring …’ she says, staring at it with tears in her eyes, ‘that was mine.’

I frown. ‘I don’t understand,’ I mumble, still in shock.

She looks up at my face. ‘Are you OK?’ she asks.

‘What do you mean?’ I ask, instantly on the defensive. What if this is a trick? What if Liam’s put her to this to test me?

‘Is he hurting you?’ she asks, looking me directly in the eye.

I freeze, my legs trembling.

‘I know what Ethan’s like,’ she goes on.

‘Ethan?’ I ask, even more confused.

She nods. ‘Yes, that’s his real name. He’s not Liam.’

‘What?’ I say, my brain turning inside out. I don’t understand. What does she mean, he’s called Ethan?

She shakes her head angrily and snorts. ‘William Carrington. I can’t believe he’s calling himself that.’

‘He doesn’t,’ I tell her. ‘He goes by Liam.’

‘He’s not Liam or William,’ she spits angrily. ‘That was someone else. Someone I knew. Someone I loved. He stole their identity. After he killed them.’

My mouth falls open. ‘What do you mean?’ I stammer.

She studies me but doesn’t explain. ‘Is he hurting you?’ she asks again, this time squeezing my hand for emphasis.

I start to say no, but then I change my mind. Something about her strength inspires me. I nod. ‘Yes.’

And when I finally admit the truth to this stranger, I feel an unloosening in my body as though the knots keeping me together are coming undone. He’s done this to someone else, I think. He’s killed someone else. I reel from the confirmation that I was right.

‘It’s OK,’ Mia tells me. ‘I’m going to help you.’

I blink at her. ‘You can’t,’ I whisper, glancing back at the house. ‘You need to go. He could be back any minute.’

She nods. ‘I’ll come back tomorrow after he’s gone out. I have a plan. But I need your help.’