‘Holly!’
She sneers at me. ‘She’s right about you,’ she says. ‘You’re pathetic. You’re awful. You only married him for his money.’
Oh, God. That woman has filled her head with so many lies; no wonder she doesn’t know who to believe.
‘We need to talk,’ I say.
‘No. We don’t!’ She starts to cry. ‘She was right about you all along. You are leaving me. It was true. You said it wasn’t, but you lied to me. Just like she said.’
‘I wasn’t leaving you. I’m not leaving you.’
‘You’re lying! It’s all over that Facebook post.’
I swallow. ‘You saw the Facebook post?’
‘Yes, I saw the Facebook post. Somebody sent it to me.’
Great. So much for taking it down immediately. ‘I’m sorry, but it wasn’t my fault.’
She wipes her tears roughly with the back of her hand. ‘Why did you tell her all these things?’
‘Who?’
‘That woman! The one who posted it! She says you told her about the accident! Why, Kate?’
‘It wasn’t me. I promise you. I give you my word.’
‘You liar!’
‘Holly, you need to listen to me. I didn’t send that email. It’s fake.’
She blinks a few times. And inside all that hurt and rage, I can see how much she longs to believe me. ‘So who did?’
I rub my forehead with my fingertips.
She gives little shakes of the head. ‘Oh, no. No. Not Teri.’
‘It is her, Holly. She admitted as much to me just now.’
‘Oh, my God! You’re lying! Again! She tells me the truth. She said you were leaving, you were getting another job, and you told me it wasn’t true, but it was true. And now you’re leaving me. That’s why you never got rid of him.’
‘Holly, I’m serious,’ I say, as if I’d been joking all this time. ‘Please sit down. I want to show you something.’
‘What?’
‘Sit down.’ I tap the space next to me and pull my phone out of my pocket.
She hesitates, but then sits on the sofa, leaving as much space as humanly possible between us. ‘What?’
I scroll through my emails until I see the one about finding a place for Holly at the school in Hull. I show it to her.
She rubs her nose with her sleeve. ‘What’s this?’
‘I was leaving, that’s true, but that was before…you know…everything. I was leaving with you. I was taking you with me.’
She looks up. ‘Really?’
‘Jesus, Holly. Of course. What do you think?’
