Page 67 of Endgame

‘Melissa! Tell me right now.’

‘Fine. He has pictures, texts and recordings. From Singapore and London. He knows everything. Even about our last night together. He said he’d release them if we didn’t come to an agreement with the prenup.’

‘He threatened you?’

‘No, dumb-dumb! I can take care of myself. He threatenedyou. Kevin and his felonious relatives can’t even consider that I might be engaging in pillow talk. Not that it would even cross their minds if I was a man. Thankfully I’m valuable. You, however, are dispensable.’

‘You married him because of me? Why?’ I soften.

‘Because I loved you, you fucking liability! I’d rather have you alive, running around rubbing Ariella in my face all over Singapore where I can keep an eye on you, than have you found dead, naked and alone, with some cryptic threat shoved up your anus, on Hampstead Heath.’

‘Kevin could do that?’

‘Kevin is an idiot. It’s the people Kevin might inadvertently inform, connected to his evil father, that might be a problem. Argh. I’m surrounded by so many stupid people.’

She paces back and forth. It’s out before I realise it.

‘Thank you.’

‘Shut up, you moron,’ she responds quietly. For the first time since I’ve known her, I feel her emanate a sorrow so deep that, if I don’t hold her, she will fall apart. I step forward, reach for Mel and pull her into my arms.

‘I miss my dad, Caleb. I feel so lonely without him and, contrary to what you may believe, he didn’t put me through medical school, residencies, years of no sleep, abuse and navigating egotistical God complexes only for me to become a common criminal. This is not what he wanted for me and it sure as fuck isn’t what I wanted for myself.’ And her admission is all it takes for Melissa Chang to burst into hard, heartbreaking sobs in my arms.

I hold her for as long as it takes for her to calm down and, when does, she steps away quietly.

‘Not a word about this to anyone, Caleb,’ she says angrily, wiping her tears.

‘Trust me, my legacy at this wedding isn’t going to be the guy that you cheated on Kevin with.’

‘I didn’t.’

‘You didn’t what?’

‘I didn’t cheat on Kevin. Today was our first kiss. That was revolting enough. Kevin and I have never slept together and we never will.’

‘I don’t understand. Then why…’

‘You’ll understand soon enough. I’d better get back to my wedding and my plan to make Kevin’s life the definition of misery.’

She straightens her body, hardens her face and gives me one last look.

‘Goodbye, Caleb. Look after yourself. And whatever happens, trust me, I’m going to be fine.’

FIFTEEN

ARIELLA

Dominic is a conservative dancer and, the moment we take the dance floor, he puts me in a hold. He clutches one of my hands with one of his and places the other loosely round my waist. It takes about a minute but, surprisingly, we find our rhythm and eventually start to move to the music together. It’s endearing.

‘You dance like someone professional taught you,’ I observe.

‘They did. A lot,’ he admits, unashamed. ‘But you’re a natural.’ He twirls me away and brings me back again. ‘Why am I your only dance today?’

‘I’m not a big public dancer and this is more work than fun for me.’

‘That’s something I didn’t know. I suppose being forced to attend a wedding takes all the romance out of it.’

‘Especially one like this.’

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