Page 32 of Happy Days Ahead in the Cornish Village

Lyle glanced down at his feet before looking up at her. ‘Not my problem.’

‘But…’ It was no use. Megan was literally wasting her breath. She shook her head. ‘Why are you here?’

‘Ha, now that’s the funny part.’ Lyle shifted position, standing up straighter, his feet as wide as his hips. ‘After receiving this beauty…’ He waved the envelope in the air. ‘I decided to come down to give you the chance to come home. To forget the bad blood and lost money between us, to give you a second chance.’

Megan held his gaze. Had he really thought that they could forget everything that had happened? That she could forget who he had become? The money-grabbing developer who wasn’t afraid to use underhand tactics, paying off councils and trying to intimidate charity owners to leave their land, their rescue centres, as he had tried to do with Wagging Tails?

She opened her mouth to answer; the words fighting their way out.

But he held up his hand, palm forward. ‘Although, you see, things have now changed.’

‘I…’

He met her gaze again, locking her eyes with his, his stare intense, dark. ‘It’s been interesting standing here, waiting for you. And I’ve realised something.’

Megan blinked, suddenly needing to know his answer to the question that had been at the forefront of her mind since seeing him here. ‘How did you know where I was?’

Lyle shook his head slowly. ‘That’s not the way it works. You see, I’m the one with the question, not you.’

What was he talking about?

‘What question?’

Crossing his arms, the envelope held against his forearm, he tapped his fingers against his chin.

‘I thought, stupidly, naively, that the reason you wanted a divorce was because you thought you were better than me. Because, although you were seemingly happy to live in the house that I bought, to spend the money that I earned, you’ve now decided you’ve reached a moral high ground and that you no longer want the luxuries that I can afford to give you.’

Megan stood her ground. ‘I found out what you’ve been up to, how you’ve managed to get planning permission for these developments. You’d never have bribed people a few years ago, you’d never have threatened people, tried to coerce them out of their home.’ She held out her arms. ‘I don’t know you any more.’

‘I’m still the person I’ve always been.’

‘No, no, you’re not.’ She shook her head. ‘You’ve changed.’

‘I can assure you I haven’t. The only person in our marriage who has changed is you.’

‘Me?’

‘That’s right. You.’

Megan paused, taking a deep breath in. She had so much to say, so much to get off her chest, so much she’d been bottling up inside.

‘You might have been doing all this before, making corrupt business deals or whatever but I didn’t know about it then. I believed your business was solid, was ethical. So yes, I’m walking away from you now rather than before, but that’s because I’ve only recently discovered how you’ve been acting, how you’ve been running your business.’

‘No,’ Lyle said, rolling up his sleeves and taking a step towards her, a step closer to the gate. ‘That’s not why you’ve filed for divorce. You’ve filed for divorce because of him.’

He pointed behind her.

13

‘What?’

Turning around, Megan saw Jay standing outside the reception area to Wagging Tails, Flora and Percy with him.

‘I saw you… and him.’ Lyle pointed his finger in Jay’s direction again.

Megan could feel her cheeks reddening. He’d seen her and Jay. He must have seen them kissing. How though? She hadn’t noticed his car here at the gate before Flora pointed it out. Had she just been completely oblivious?

‘You’ve been spying on me.’

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