NOW YOU SEE ME... by Emma L Beal

Author:Emma L Beal [L Beal, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

My life is so much simpler now. No extravagancies, no wild nights out at The Dirty Rabbit, heading home at stupid o'clock.

I like it.

I do.

But how I miss those nights, the laughter, the fun, the drunken flirting and dancing on tables – I even miss the hangovers!

I miss my life before Eric.

I miss my life.

I do not use social media, not even in my new name, and I try to avoid any photographs that are taken by pretending to be camera shy, because I cannot risk Eric tracking me down.

I don’t know if he is looking for me – it has been three years after all – but if I know Eric as well as I believe I do, then he won’t have stopped. I have dented his pride, betrayed and humiliated him – his punishment of me is probably all that is fuelling him even now.

Heidi has not seen sight nor sound of him recently, nor have my parents. He stopped calling them just a few months after my disappearance – but to me that means nothing. He is sneaky, and I would not trust him as far as I could throw him.

I’ve done just about everything that I can to stay out of the public eye and to not draw attention to myself. No Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. No bank account, I do everything in cash, complete name change, and the worst of all, I have cut myself off from my friends and family. I know that I can call Heidi, Gordon and my parents whenever I like, using disposable mobile phones, but it’s not the same as seeing them, being with them, touching them. One day I will be able to do all of that, one day I will be Jade Locke once more, but for now?

For now, I must keep myself safe and my family safe.

There is a madman out there who will stop at nothing to destroy me.

Standing in front of the plain but sturdy village hall doors, I smile to myself at the chatter already building behind them. The force of the local gossipmongers already gathering momentum, because the ladies of this sweet little village do love a good dose of scandal. I just hope that I'm never at the centre of it.

What would they think of me if they knew?

That I deserved it?

That I made my bed?

I hope to never find out.

Wincing, I rub my leg, the pain of which still throbs occasionally, reminding me, not, that I was a victim, but that I am very much a survivor. Even in my weakest moments, when my body nearly gave up on me, I was strong. I was stronger than Eric will ever be.

I should be proud of that, of how far I’ve come, but sometimes, it’s like I never escaped at all

Pushing open the village hall door, I smile at the utter chaos that has overtaken the large room. Alf was right, there is bunting everywhere, and a naughty part of me wishes

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