Page 111 of The First Mistake

‘Surprisingly easy,’ says Beth quietly. ‘They’re all on your phone, and how often have you left it on a pub table whilst you went to the bar, or given it to me to hold whilst you were in the toilet? The picture of the other woman and child was a random photo from the internet.’

‘God, you mustreallyhate me,’ cries Alice.

‘I thought you were part of it,’ says Beth after a long pause. ‘I saw the house and the cars, and just assumed that it was my mother’s money that was paying for it all.’

Alice feels numb and wearily pulls on the door handle.

‘What are you going to do?’ asks Beth as Alice goes to step out. ‘Are you going to tell Nathan you know everything?’

She doesn’t even have the energy to reply.

44

Alice feels like there’s a tennis ball lodged in her throat, blocking her airways, as she makes her way up the stairs to the office.

‘Whoa, I didn’t think you were going to make it back in time,’ says Nathan, moving in to kiss her. ‘Where were you?’

She stares at him, not knowing what she’s looking for, but there’s nothing to suggest he’s the man who’s defrauded her best friend and her mother. Nothing to explain why he’d used Tom’s name before he’d even met Alice. And nothing to suggest he knows he’s about to be rumbled. His calmness almost floors her. She moves past him without a word.

‘We’ve got fifteen minutes until we complete,’ says Nathan as he follows her into her office.

‘Great,’ she murmurs.

‘You okay?’ he asks. ‘You look tense.’

‘Nervous,’ she manages.

‘That’s not a bad thing,’ he says. ‘You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t.’

She smiles tightly.

‘Get the champagne on ice, Lottie,’ is the last thing she hears Nathan say as she closes her door behind him.

Her phone rings, displaying Liz’s number. She’d forgotten all about her.

‘Liz, hi.’

‘Hello Alice – have you got a minute? I just wanted to come back to you on this contract.’

‘Yep, sure. Anything I need to be worried about?’

‘Well, only that there’s a clause that I’ve just had checked out. I thought it might just have been a discrepancy caused by translating the contract from Japanese to English, but I checked with a colleague and it’s a pretty important one – I hope it’s not too late.’

‘No, but we’re close,’ says Alice. ‘Completion’s scheduled for about fifteen minutes’ time.’

‘Well, it looks to me as if there’s a covenant on the land.’

‘Yes, my lawyer in Japan mentioned something about that,’ says Alice. ‘He’d flagged it up to Nathan, who assured me that all was well.’

‘But it means that nothing more than a temporary structure can be built on the land you’re buying. A shed, car port, something along those lines, perhaps, but certainly not a permanent apartment complex.’

‘Well, that doesn’t make sense,’ says Alice tightly. ‘We’ve got planning for twenty-eight apartments.’

‘I can’t see how that can be the case,’ says Liz. ‘Because as I say, the land you’re buying is within the urbanization control area, and as such, no brick buildings are permitted.’

Alice feels as if the blood flowing around her body has reached a dead end. ‘But surely Nathan would have flagged that up to me,’ she says, rubbing at her forehead with the palm of her hand. ‘Why would he have let me go ahead with the purchase, if nothing can be built on it?’

‘I don’t know,’ says Liz tentatively.

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