The Housewife by Valerie Keogh

Author:Valerie Keogh [Keogh, Valerie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786816887
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Two

She thought through this new and horrifying idea. If she was right, Paul was being very, very clever. He adored Emma. If he planned to divorce Diane, he’d want custody of her.

What better way to obtain full custody than to prove she wasn’t a competent mother? She’d had a breakdown and there were huge portions of the last year that she couldn’t remember. Hadn’t she felt, over the last couple of weeks, that she was heading for another breakdown; feeling that edge to fall over was close and getting closer.

What if everything that had happened was designed to drive her straight back to that clinic?

Her eyes filled with tears as she considered all the things that had happened. That woman…not a stalker…someone planted by Paul to unsettle her. And how well it had worked. And that child’s cry? A cat. He probably heard it just as clearly as she did.

She bit her lip and swallowed a sob. This was her husband, the man she loved. Love wasn’t something that could be switched off at will. How could he do this to her, how could he be so cruel?

Easing Emma from her arms, she left her watching TV and went upstairs. She would not cry in front of her. Sitting on her bed, feeling hopeless and lost, she let the tears flow. The pain of his infidelity made her double over, his intention to destroy her made her moan with despair. She curled up on the bed, wrapped her arms around her knees, and sobbed.

It was several minutes before she regained control, but when she did, when she straightened, wiping her face with her hands, her eyes were hard. Knowledge was power; now that she knew what he was up to, she’d start to fight back. She’d put the pain of his infidelity, of his utter and absolute betrayal, to the back of her mind to be dealt with sometime in the future. She’d lost him; she wasn’t going to lose Emma.

There was no point in challenging him. He’d just laugh and deny everything. Or tell her she was being paranoid. Keeping quiet and playing the game was the best way of ensuring he didn’t win, and certainly the best way to make sure she did.

What could she possibly have done to warrant such treatment, such cruelty? How could their love have turned so toxic?

He thought she’d crumble, didn’t he? It was time she showed him she had inner strength; she just needed to find it. An idea came to her that brought a slight smile to her lips. It was time to turn the tables, even just a little. Checking on Emma once again, she dashed back upstairs, had a quick shower and washed her hair. She chose her clothes carefully, blow-dried her hair and left it loose. Carefully applied make-up and she was ready.

The animal programme had just ended when she went back down. Switching the TV off, she settled Emma with some toys; the educational ones Paul had bought her.

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.