Page 108 of The First Mistake

Alice looks at her with a confused expression. ‘But that’s not possible. I was his wife – how can that be?’

‘Because the man I thought was Thomas was actually Nathan.’

‘I ... I don’t understand – you’re not making any sense.’

‘It didn’t make any sense to me either – not at first. But do you remember Nathan taking you to Albany Avenue in Guildford?’

‘When?’ asks Alice, unable to remember ever going to Guildford, let alone the road name.

‘Around ten years ago. You waited in his car – he had a silver Audi at the time – outside a flat –myflat.’

Slowly the memory begins to form, but it’s vague at best. ‘Didn’t he move from there to Battersea?’ muses Alice, her voice sounding as hazy as the recollection. ‘I think he grabbed the last few things whilst I waited outside.’

‘That was my flat,’ says Beth.

‘No,’ says Alice, more confidently. ‘He was sharing the place with a guy who was a lift engineer or something – I remember it now – Ben or Blake his name was – it definitely began with a B.’

‘You’re right – Beth. That was my place, and that was the day Nathan left me for you.’

Alice shakes her head vehemently.

‘Come on Alice, yousawme, I know you did. You looked straight at me as you went past in the car. You must have known what you were doing, or at the very least, known whathewas doing. Did he tell you about me? Did you hatch the plan together? It turned out pretty nicely for you, didn’t it?’

‘I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. I’d never seen you before you pitched up at school with Millie.’

Beth lets out a disbelieving snort. ‘When Nathan and I met, he told me he was a wine dealer. He also told me that his mother was in a care home with dementia, made me believe that I’d been burgled and even abducted my dog, before “rescuing” him back for me.’

‘Why would he do that?’ asks Alice.

Beth shrugs her shoulders. ‘For the money, in the short term – he stole some jewellery and personal possessions that might have fetched a few hundred pounds, although their sentimental value was a lot higher. And I paid a ransom, for want of a better word, to get my dog back, which would have gone straight into his pocket.’

Alice looks at her, bewildered.

‘But Nathan likes to play the long-game, so in creating those distressing situations, not only did he earn financially from them, but he earned my trust – made me think he was my saviour.’

Alice remembers Nathan making her feel exactly the same way.A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

‘And when the time was right, he pounced,’ says Beth with tears in her eyes. ‘When he knew he had my trust – when he knew I felt secure – he stole one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of my family’s money.’

Alice’s eyes widen, unblinking as she stares at Beth.

‘But why would Nathan need your money? He had more than enough of his own when I met him.’

‘He didn’t have a pot to piss in,’ says Beth scathingly. ‘Everything he came to you with was ours – he took every penny that my mother had, and didn’t the pair of you have a grand old time spending it. I bet you couldn’t quite believe your luck, could you? But whilst you were living the high life, my mother was slowly dying of embarrassment and shame.’

Alice’s blood runs cold.

‘It broke her heart and took her soul. It was everything she and my dad had worked for, and without it, she couldn’t carry on living in the house that she cherished, the house that she had shared with my father.’ Beth’s face crumples as the tears come. ‘And I allowed him to do it.’

A part of Alice wants to reach out to her old friend, but she stops herself – the trust that they’d once shared shattered.

‘So she sold the house, and less than two weeks later died in her sleep, her pride unable to survive the move.’ Beth blows her nose on a tissue.

‘I’m sorry, but—’ begins Alice, wondering how any of this has anything to do with her, but Beth cuts her off.

‘She didn’t speak to me again after what happened. And above all else, I’ll never forgive him for that.’ She looks at Alice. ‘So, what did you do with all our money? Did he pay off the house? Did he plough it all into AT Designs? Or did the pair of you just have a fine time spending it? Either way, you’ve not done too badly out of my family’s life’s work, have you?’

‘I think you’ve got the wrong man,’ says Alice. ‘And you’ve certainly got the wrong woman. I was more than capable of standing on my own two feet when I met Nathan, financially, if not emotionally. Tom received a significant inheritance after the death of his parents and it was largely put into the company, which in turn paid off the mortgage. I was totally self-sufficient by the time I met Nathan. I didn’t take anything from him, nor did he offer. The house is mine, the company is mine, the site in Japan will be mine.’

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