I Know Your Secret - Ruth Heald Page 0,68
tight for so long that it feels a relief to get it out.
Peter paces up and down. ‘So you’re Sophie Loughton? We’ve been together for six years and you never thought to tell me?’
‘I couldn’t. I’d changed my name to get away from it all. It was such a huge case. My name was leaked at the time and the press still tried to find me, even years later, every anniversary. When we started dating I didn’t know we’d end up married. We were just work colleagues back then, and I didn’t want anyone at work to know. You know how it is in the firm. Any sign of weakness and someone takes advantage. Imagine what they’d have thought of me if they’d known my mother was in prison. I never told my friends either. I wanted to forget. Put it behind me.’
He stares at me. ‘Do you have any idea what you’ve done?’ he says. ‘You’re letting her live in our house. She’s dangerous. She murdered your father.’
Forty-Three
Beth
I get back from dropping Charlie off at school, unlock the front door and peer into the empty house. It’s strange how something which once gave me comfort can now make me feel so alone. There’s post on the doormat and I flick through it listlessly. Bank statement. Junk mail. And an official-looking letter in a brown envelope. I remember when the photos of Danielle and Richard were posted through my door and feel a sense of unease at the unfamiliar letter. I brace myself and study the envelope. The address is typed and the letter is too thin to contain photos. I ease it open.
When I see the logo of the professional body that monitors my counselling practice on the letterhead, I wonder if I’ve forgotten to renew my membership. It could have easily slipped my mind with everything else that’s going on.
But then I read the letter. I’m being investigated for malpractice. A client has reported me for inappropriate behaviour. I stare at the words in disbelief. The letter doesn’t state the name of the client, but it’s clear from the accusations who it is. I’ve been reported for developing a friendship with a female client and for ‘stalking’. It must be Danielle and Peter. I see my career that I’ve spent so long building crumbling before my eyes.
* * *
I cancel my clients for the rest of the day. There’s no way I can see them with this hanging over me. I don’t know what to do. I wish Nick was here to guide me. I wish I could see his face just one more time, wish he could hold me and comfort me. I go over to the side table, looking for his picture. But the photo’s not there. It’s gone. Someone must have taken it.
I think of the people roaming through my house during the viewings. It must have been one of them. My heart fills with anger and my body shakes. How could they? Pictures are all I have left of him.
But what’s the point in talking to Nick’s photo anyway? He’s gone; he’s never coming back. I wish I had someone else to talk to. A friend. I look at my phone, remember Genevieve, how she said she wanted to meet up again. I think about calling her. But I can’t tell her about the complaint against me. It will remind her of how I was fired from teaching. She’ll think I keep making the same mistakes. Tears form in my eyes. I can’t ring her in this state. Instead I drop her a text, suggesting we meet up. It will be good to see someone, even if I’ll never be able to tell Genevieve what’s really going on in my life.
I pace up and down. I need to speak to Richard. I need to let him know what Danielle’s really like. Someone who’s not only had an affair with a man already in a relationship, but also someone who’s willing to report her therapist, to try and get me struck off.
I hadn’t told Richard that Danielle was my client before because I didn’t want to alert her to the fact that I was his wife. Not while I was still seeing her for counselling. But now it doesn’t make a difference. And it’s time Richard knew what she was really like.
It’s his day off today. I find the address of his new flat in my emails and drive over.
He answers the buzzer immediately, sounding