The Watchful Neighbour: An absolutely gripping debut psychological thriller. by Debbie Viggiano

Author:Debbie Viggiano [Viggiano, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unicorn Publishing
Published: 2020-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-One

Jade was confused. What was happening? She was in a foggy place. She’d gone to bed. Of that she was sure. But everything familiar had disappeared.

Hesitantly, she moved through the mist. It dissipated and finally disappeared. She was in some sort of clearing surrounded by trees. Birdsong filled the air. Ahead was a small table. A chair was pulled out, as if awaiting her. She walked forward and, uncertainly, lowered her bottom.

Looking down, she smoothed the creases from the skirts of the pretty dress she was wearing. She’d bought it to wear on a rare night out with Tom. He’d never seen the dress because he hadn’t shown up. There had been no further dates because, not long after that, she’d gone berserk in the boardroom of Harrison & Peters. That had been the end of everything.

Glancing up she was shocked to see Tom sitting opposite her.

‘What–?’

‘Hey, you.’ He smiled at her.

Jade shook her head. This couldn’t be real. This was the final descent into madness. She burst into tears.

Tom reached across the table and took her hand. It felt warm. Real. Her fingers automatically curled around his.

‘Can you forgive me, Jade?’

The tears were now dripping off her cheeks. She felt like she was crying for every woman who’d ever been cheated upon. For every female who’d ever hooked up with a man that wasn’t hers. Who’d never be hers. Her heart felt so broken she wasn’t sure there was anything much left under her ribcage other than a couple of tiny fragments.

‘Why now?’ she gasped, wiping her free hand across her face.

‘Why not now?’ Tom reasoned.

‘I looked for you,’ she blurted. ‘Way back. Before I… sorted myself out. I searched Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. Nothing. It was as if you’d never existed. I even went to the office. Not in the office. Outside. I hung around, hoping to see you at the end of the day. Cerys spotted me. She told me the family home was empty and you hadn’t been at work. I didn’t believe her. She told me I was a troublemaker and should be ashamed of myself.’

‘No, Jade. It’s me who should be ashamed. My behaviour pushed you into a desperate place. You’d reached the end of your tether, and what happened after that was simply the firework display.’

‘I embarrassed you.’

‘No less than I deserved after treating you so shabbily. I gave you nothing but an endless loop of broken promises and empty dreams.’

‘Why did you do that?’ Jade beseeched.

Tom sighed.

‘I’ve asked myself that question many times. You were my addiction. The thrill of our affair was exhilarating. I seemed to thrive on juggling time between the safety of the known – my wife – and the thrill of the unknown, which was you. My mistress.’

Jade flinched at the label. She’d never thought of herself as such a person. More… a fiancé waiting patiently for the green light on setting a wedding date.

‘My ego got in the way,’ Tom continued. ‘I didn’t want to lose out on the sense of high standing that I had as a married man.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.