Poor Diane, being falsely accused when all along Sadie was working forAmelia. But then, that was the point – for Gemma and Robert to believe that Diane was behind everything. It was all part of the game plan for them to be so outraged by Diane’s despicable behaviour that they would sever all contact with her. Amelia almost feels sorry for Diane. The woman has no idea what she’s been accused of or what she’s supposed to have done wrong. The shock of it all has sent the silly old bat a bit loopy. She’s lost that steely look in her eye. This estrangement from her son and her grandchildren has aged her.
Meanwhile, Amelia has become Diane’s shoulder to cry on. Her rock. The one she turns to for comfort. Diane is convinced that it’s Gemma who’s turned her son against her, so Amelia has acted outraged on Diane’s behalf. And she keeps pouring a little more fuel onto the flames, just to help keep the heat up. Amelia is the daughter-in-law who can do no wrong. And she’s achieved what she’s been working so hard towards – Diane has finally written Robert and his family out of her will. Now, when the old witch dies, her entire glorious fortune will go to James and, by extension, to his wife.
Amelia was sceptical of Sadie’s plan at first. It seemed a long-winded way to get between Robert and his mother. Surely there was an easier route to reach the same outcome? It seemed there was so much that could go wrong. But Sadie explained that in order to make the rift permanent, Diane would have to be seen to be utterly calculating and evil, carrying out not just one act against them, but multiple events, each one worse than the last.
Sadie is the supposed expert in relationship break-ups, so Amelia trusted her judgement. She wanted Robert and Diane’s mother–son relationship annihilated. And at the same time, she wanted to cause him and his family the maximum hurt and distress that she could get away with. In the same way that Robert hurtAmeliawhen he dumped her and shattered her heart. He was her first love. In fact, the only person she ever loved. But she doesn’t want him back, not after he left her and then hooked up with Gemma. No. Amelia simply wanted him to feel the pain that she felt. She wanted them all to feel it. She hates that sickening family, with their successful businesses, their beautiful character house and their perfect little children.
So Amelia told Sadie to inflict serious damage on the family. Make them all suffer. And once she got started with the idea, she couldn’t seem to stop. Even before Sadie arrived, Amelia was already underway with her campaign.
Aunty Amelia may have whispered to her youngest niece that it would be fun go out into the street to look out for her daddy coming home from work. She may have told little Katie that it would be a wonderful surprise. That Daddy would love to see his little girl outside the house, smiling and waving. And if she couldn’t spot him right away, she could always have a little wander down the road, where she would definitely find him. She added that it had to be a secret or it would ruin the surprise. And that she mustn’t tell anyone about it. Katie could pretend it was her own grown-up idea. Of course, Amelia didn’t know if Katie would actually do it, or if there would be any sort of drama. But it was just one of many little seeds she sowed.
She also arranged for Gemma’s car to get a makeover, and swapped out her house key to mess with her mind. Poor Gemma.
And then there was the faked commercial developer, Mick Cosgrove. That was fun.
The computer virus was a stroke of genius – Amelia didn’t want Gemma to employ a tutor. No. She wanted her to hire a nanny. She wanted her to hireSadie. So, having the virus wipe her computer files every time she typed the word ‘tutor’ was a way to make it harder for Gemma to find one. Plus, there was the added bonus of the fast-acting virus being a terrible shock.
Eva’s dramatic suspension from school gave Amelia the idea for Sadie to turn Eva into one of the school bullies. Turns out children are like sponges, whatever ideas you put into their heads, they soak them up; unless you want them to eat their vegetables, of course.
Splitting Gemma and Robert up would have been the final wonderful achievement. And Sadie gave it a damn good go. But alas, it wasn’t to be. At least it soothes Amelia to know that she caused Gemma an awful lot of sleepless nights. And Sadie updated Amelia every step of the way, so she always knew what was going on.
Volunteering for the charity golf-club dinner was the easiest way to get Diane to transfer money into Sadie’s dummy bank account, RA Holdings. She simply told Diane that RA Holdings was the trading name for a supplier they used at the event. She explained that Diane needed to pay them herself and that the golf club would reimburse her later. It didn’t have to be a large amount, just enough to show Robert and Gemma that the two of them were linked. The emails were forged by Sadie easily enough.
At the party, Amelia lied when she told Gemma she was pregnant. She needed her to believe she was so that Gemma would offer to bring the box of glasses downstairs, and accidentally stumble upon her husband and the nanny having sex in the spare room. Unfortunately, Robert didn’t oblige with the having-sex part, but at least Sadie was quick thinking and made it look as awful as she could.
It should have beenAmeliathat Robert married. Instead, she ended up with second-best James. The ill-favoured son. Not as bright or funny or intelligent or handsome as his younger brother. A shadow. And Amelia deserves compensation for having to marry a shadow. Compensation that will soon be forthcoming.
‘Have you got another job to work on now?’ Amelia asks, curious to discover a little about the other woman’s life.
‘Possibly,’ Sadie replies. ‘Can I put you down as a reference?’
Amelia stares at her, a little shocked, imagining the sorts of people who would want to get in touch… and then she sees that Sadie is smiling. She exhales and returns the smile. ‘I almost thought you were serious for a moment.’
‘Sorry, bad joke. No, like I told Gemma, I’m retiring from the business. Or having a long break at least. I might go abroad, do some travelling.’
‘Sounds nice,’ Amelia replies.
Sadie shifts in her chair. ‘So…’
‘Oh, yes.’ Amelia pulls a large envelope from her bag and passes it across the table. ‘The final instalment. It’s all there. Anyway, if it isn’t, you know where I live.’ She quirks an eyebrow.
‘Yes,’ Sadie replies without humour. ‘I do.’
There doesn’t seem to be anything left to say, other than their goodbyes. Amelia gets up and leaves the crowded bar, walks away from this episode of her life feeling lighter.
She thinks she’ll have a break from all this intense activity for a few months. If she hadn’t had to re-mortgage the house to pay Sadie’s fee, maybe she and James could have booked themselves a little holiday. But they haven’t got a penny left and the credit cards are all maxed out.
Amelia isn’t worried though. There’ll be plenty of time and money for holidays soon enough. Once everything has settled down again, she’ll pay another visit to the dark web.
Because Christmas would be the perfect time for Diane to meet with a little accident…
* * *
