I should have done what I was meant to do, that first time I came to the house for a job interview. I wasn’t supposed to get attached to Rupert. I never get attached, not after growing up with a mother like mine. I walk into the spare room, the one Rupert uses as a study, and lay the plans on his desk before turning my attention to the safe. Poor Caro. It feels strange to be feeling sympathy for a woman who, not so long ago, I was convinced was still alive and tormenting me. Now, I am certain that Caro is dead, that she died the night of the party, but only after she had returned to the house – to Rupert – and I wonder how Sadie will react when all of this comes out. And Will and Amanda, and Rupert’s lovely parents who did nothing but make me feel welcome. Sitting back on my haunches I pause for a moment, as something like grief washes over me. Shame and the humiliation of being duped burns as if I have been branded. How could I, of all people, not seen Rupert for what he really was?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rupert is distracted as he waits in line at Pret to pay for a soggy, overpriced sandwich and a coffee. His mind is full of thoughts of Sadie, and how appallingly she has behaved, and Emily, who he is starting to think he really does need to worry about. He swipes his card, and doesn’t realize for a moment, until the barista says, ‘Sir’ a little too loudly that it has been declined. He hands over a tenner and makes his way to a table where Sadie sits waiting for him.
‘I’m so sorry, Rupert,’ Sadie is tearful as he takes his seat, ‘thank you so much for agreeing to see me.’
‘You didn’t really give me a choice, did you?’ Rupert is curt with her, not taken in by her crocodile tears. ‘Why did you do it, Sadie?’
‘I was concerned for you…’ she heaves in a dramatic breath. ‘Everything happened so quickly, how could you be sure that Emily was the real deal? Call it a test, if you like.’
‘It wasn’t your place to “test” anything,’ Rupert says, pushing the sandwich away from him. He has no appetite.
‘I just wanted to protect you, Rupert. After Caro died you pushed us all away, you refused to see me for months. I was worried that things were moving too fast with Emily, that’s all. I didn’t mean for things to get so out of hand, and of course I didn’t realize how mentally fragile she is, I mean, talking about Caro as if Caro could still be alive…’
‘I don’t want to talk about Caro,’ Rupert snaps. ‘This isn’t about Caro, it’s about you. I’m sorry, Sadie, I can’t see you for a while, not until I get my head straight. I’m finding it all a bit hard to process, to be honest.’
He is blunt with her. Rupert has only agreed to see her today because she hasn’t stopped calling since the day Emily came home and told him it was Sadie who had done all of these things, things he had written off as Emily being a bit paranoid, to his shame. Now, he shoves back his chair and snatches up his jacket. He hasn’t told Emily that he’s taken today off work, wanting some time to himself to process everything, but now he feels the urge to go home and tell her he’s sorry. For everything.
Rupert stops in the upmarket supermarket on the High Street on the way home and picks up a fancy meal for two that he will prepare this evening, along with two bottles of decent red wine. Emily is worrying him, with all her talk of Caro, and knocking down the orangery. Tonight, he will put any negative thoughts out of her head, once and for all. He can’t afford for her to keep pecking away at him about Caro, he’ll snap if she does. Maybe he’ll stop thinking about booking that holiday in the sun and actually book it – that should take her mind off of everything. The self-service checkout beeps at him and spits his bank card out, and he looks around in frustration for a member of staff.
‘There’s something wrong with this till,’ Rupert says, as he picks up the bag of groceries.
‘I’m sorry, sir, it’s not the till,’ the girl says, ‘your card has been declined. Do you want to try it again?’
Rupert pushes his card back into the machine and once again it is declined. He shoves the bag of groceries back at the cashier and storms out of the store, his face burning as he calls the bank from his mobile.
‘I’m sorry, Mr Milligan, your card was declined due to insufficient funds.’ The woman on the other end of the line is aloof, bored almost.
‘No, that’s not right,’ Rupert feels his blood pressure rising, ‘can you just check them again, please? All of them?’ He waits a moment, before the woman tells him the exact same thing. Insufficient funds. On every bank account he holds. ‘There must be some sort of glitch your end. I hope you’re going to pay out compensation for the inconvenience.’
Rupert hangs up, his mood not improved. It’s OK, he thinks, a short time later as he walks down the driveway to the house, Emily has her black Am Ex. They can use that to go out for dinner later, and then he’ll
