The Stranger's Wife (ARC) by Anna-Lou Weatherley

Author:Anna-Lou Weatherley [Weatherley, Anna-Lou]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838882174
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Two

Beth

October 2018

Nick was awaiting trial. He’d been bailed to their home address, given a curfew and a tag – the humiliation and injustice of it all was too indescribable to comprehend. Nick’s name had been published in the local newspaper, his identity exposed. She had no idea how the press had even got wind of his arrest, how they had known so quickly and been there that night to witness him being carted off in a police car. But she had a good idea. Evan must’ve tipped them off. How else would they have known? She also knew that somehow he had planted that filth on Nick’s computer, broken into Nick’s office and uploaded it. She’d remembered how Nicky had casually mentioned to her one evening how he’d felt someone had been in the office, that a window had been open when he’d returned – one he felt sure had been closed when he’d left – but as nothing had been taken he had shrugged it off, forgotten about it. They both had. Until now.

Had Evan done it alone or had he had help? She needed to gather evidence, evidence that would exonerate Nicky and expose Evan as the malicious liar he was. Then he would be the one carted off like a criminal.

Yesterday she had contacted that dreadful woman, Miranda, Imogen’s mum, the one from Lily’s school, the one from the party, in a bid to get her to corroborate how Lily had received the bruise that Nick was alleged to have inflicted upon her. She’d got the woman’s address and gone round to her house, noticing a brand-new Bentley in the driveway as she’d pulled up. Miranda had looked horrified when she’d opened the door and seen Beth standing there, shock registering on her face.

‘Oh! Beth! Hello,’ she’d said shiftily. ‘What can I do for you?’

Beth knew what they were all saying about her, about Nick. Lily had been taken from her and she was only allowed supervised visitation because Nick had been bailed to their address. She hadn’t been allowed to question her daughter about the accusations she’d supposedly made against Nick because the social worker claimed it could be seen as coercion! Coercion! It was all so unjust that she could barely contain her frustration. Lily appeared subdued and sheepish during their supervised visits, and it had taken another piece of Beth’s shattered heart to see her daughter so distant and troubled. It was as if Lily had disappeared and been replaced by someone who looked just like her but wasn’t her daughter – her happy, innocent, vivacious six-year-old girl who talked of horses and pop music and glitter slime and LOL dolls…

But Beth had been right; she had known instantly that Lily had lied about the accusations – she could see it in her little eyes: worry, fear and confusion. She had felt it when she held her too, her small body stiff and guarded in her arms, as if she was doing something wrong by cuddling her own mother.

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