COVER

About the Author

Rebecca Reid is the former digital editor of Grazia magazine. She is a columnist for the Telegraph Women’s section, and has written for Metro Online, Marie Claire, the Guardian, the Saturday Telegraph, the Independent, Stylist, Glamour, the i paper, Indy100, Look and the New Statesman amongst others.

She is a regular contributor to Sky News and ITV’s Good Morning Britain as well as appearing on This Morning, Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, LBC, Channel 5 News, World At One and the BBC World Service to discuss her work.

She graduated from Royal Holloway’s Creative Writing MA in 2015. Her debut novel, Perfect Liars, was published in 2019 and her second, Truth Hurts, in 2020.

Rebecca lives in London with her husband.

Also by Rebecca Reid

PERFECT LIARS

TRUTH HURTS

and published by Corgi Books

DEDICATION

For my agent, Eve White

Prologue

Chloe knows that she should be dancing. She should be laughing and jumping around, not caring about the photographer recording the entire thing or the idea that someone might be judging her. She wants to. Really, she does. But she can’t bring herself to do it. The boning in her dress is digging into her waist, stinging her skin, and her feet hurt. She feels silly. The song changes, and she stills. She looks across the room to see if Rav has noticed, if he is sharing the same memory she is. But he isn’t looking at her, he’s dancing. Laughing. The sickly pop song hasn’t catapulted him back to that time, that place. She staggers back to the table, to sit down.

Chloe gulps at a glass of cold water, trying to steady her breathing. Thankfully, the song ends. But the tightness in her chest isn’t going anywhere. Rav is still drawing focus on the dance floor, doubled with laughter as he, his brother and his newly minted sister-in-law, Meghan, do some ridiculous dance, one that everyone knew in the noughties. The canopy above them is studded with fairy lights and everywhere she looks she can see flowers. Fat, sexy white roses.

Rav pulls his mother up on to the dance floor; she’s perfect and pristine in a pale yellow suit. To Chloe’s surprise, she allows it. All eyes are on them. Chloe can see why. They’re so beautiful, all of them, they manage to make the silly movements look good. Chloe slips off her shoes. They’re high, with red soles. An unsuitable Christmas present from her mother-in-law, worn today in an attempt to gain favour. What time is it? She and Rav had agreed that they would leave at midnight.

Chloe doesn’t want to be a killjoy. She loves Rav’s brother, and his new wife. Admittedly, she wishes that Rav’s parents weren’t quite so blatant in their favouritism, but that isn’t the happy couple’s fault.