Page 142 of The Love Position

She nodded, her pale blue eyes holding his.

‘Why did he leave India?’

Swami Saraswati let out a sigh. ‘Let us go to my room. We can talk freely there.’

From: Isaac Hayward

To: Sophia Hunter-Savage

Subject: I’m sorry

Sophia, I’ve tried to leave a message, but you don’t have voicemail enabled on your phone, so I’ll do my best here.

I’m so sorry for what happened and plagued with guilt that I could have stopped it. I’ve been blind and will never forgive myself for not realising sooner that Jeremy was not the man I thought he was. I’ve stopped calling him Swami Vishnu, as he doesn’t deserve that name. He’s Jeremy Brunting, and assaulting you was not his first offence.

Swami Saraswati told me the reason he left India was that he’d been accused of touching other women and the police had been contacted.

That’s why he fled to Tranquillity Island.

If, and only if you feel able, could you and Jessica write witness statements and email them to me? Jeremy is still at the ashram with Ganapati and won’t leave. However, so far, they’re not leaving his accommodation.

Mohan is full of self-recrimination and wants to apologise to you and Jessica. Anisha is also distraught about what happened, and wants you to know she got you off the island for your own safety.

I’m going to speak to every person Jeremy has come into contact with since we arrived here, then fly to India to see what I can do there. I’m not sure how long I’ll be, but there are some leads I want to follow up which might take time.

I hope you get back safe and sound. If you don’t want to reply, please can you ask Estelle or Eveline to let me know you made it home okay?

Please, can you also pass my email address on to Jessica along with my apologies? Your time within the Devanandara organisation should have been wonderful and positively life changing. What you experienced is unconscionable.

I hope you can believe the truth of what happened between us. My love for you is so deep-rooted in my heart, nothing can shift it. I hope you can one day forgive me.

Isaac xxx

25

Sophia stared at Isaac’s email for the hundredth time, blinking as tears blurred his words.

Lying in bed at Shoscombe Manor, the physical tiredness was slowly abating, but she was still heavy with sadness. She hadn’t told her parents what had happened, only that she’d had enough and wanted to come home.

Sophia had only told James the truth after he’d assumed Isaac was to blame and had an alpha-older-brother reaction, threatening to ‘make him wish he’d never been reborn’.

There was a knock at the door and Sophia put her phone down.

‘I’m awake,’ she called out.

Estelle’s head appeared. ‘Up for a quick visit from your favourite sister-in-law-probably-at-some-point-because-I-love-your-brother-so-much?’

The corners of Sophia’s mouth twitched as if learning how to smile again, and she nodded.

Pushing open the door, Estelle carried a round tray in and put it on the bedside table, then sat cross-legged on the end of the bed.

‘Care package,’ she said, lifting her chin towards the tray. ‘Cappuccino from your brother with a heart in the foam because he loves you and is sorry for assuming Isaac was to blame, French Fancies from your mum and dad, and Chelsea buns from me. Well, I got Perry—Jan, the cook at Foxbrooke Manor, to make them for you. If I’d actually made them, then they wouldn’t be so delicious.’

Sophia sat up in bed. ‘Thank you. There’s rather a lot. Do you want one?’

‘Do bears shit in the woods?’

Estelle leaned forward and grabbed a Chelsea bun, tearing a strip from the side and popping it in her mouth.

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