Page 61 of My Husband's Wife
I need to think outside the box. I cry and laugh at the same time. The box – the bloody box. If only I could think outside of this box and not be trapped in it. What am I missing? Nicole, Zach, Theo, Hugo, Madison… Cynthia? Maybe I’m looking at this situation wrong. What do I think about what Cynthia said? She and her husband adopted Hugo because they believed they could help him, but as Cynthia put it to me, you can’t change a psychopath; their daughter will never walk again or know who she is, all because of him. He has to be behind it if she’s to be believed. He’s a psycho and he’s come for me and he’s got Nicole involved – somehow. Poor Cynthia. Their fear kept them away from Caiden and me. They were even mean to us to make us stay away. The only person I blame for that now is Hugo.
I let out a manic laugh that turns into a whimper. I married a monster. Like any monster, self-preservation will win. I can’t breathe as I think of Cynthia’s daughter and poor Cynthia, who can never tell anyone what had happened to her. On the day of our wedding, Cynthia had wanted to tell me what he was like, but she chose to remain silent to save her family from his threats.
I let out a roar and kick the box again. What I still can’t work out is what Nicole has to do with any of this. I definitely saw Nicole just before I was attacked. I yell again and again until I hyperventilate, because I know that Theo and Nicole are going to bury me in those woods and no one will ever find me. Then something more terrifying hits me: what if I’m already buried in the woods?
Fifty-Two
Madison
It’s late afternoon and Madison sits in Camille’s garden, watching her wedding dress burn on the barbeque. She has no idea if she did the right thing by running out on Theo at the altar, and she can’t stop thinking about how hurt he must be. He’ll want to see Emily, and she feels awful for not responding to all his calls and messages.
‘Shall we have a marshmallow toast to new beginnings?’ Camille passes her a skewer of pink marshmallows, just like when they were kids. Whenever they achieved something at school, they would always have a marshmallow toast. ‘I sent Mum and Dad out for some dinner. They’ve taken Emily with them. Neil has taken our two to the park. I said we needed a bit of alone time to talk.’
Madison doesn’t know what she’d do without Camille. She takes the mallow kebab and starts toasting it on the flickering flames. The leggings and hoodie she borrowed from Camille swamp her but they’re comforting. ‘He keeps trying to call me. He says he doesn’t know what he’s done.’
‘Don’t answer. You need time to think without him going on at you.’
‘When we were in the bridal suite, a woman knocked at the door.’
Camille frowns. ‘The wedding planner from the other hotel. You didn’t look too happy with her.’
Madison exhales slowly as she removes her browning marshmallows from the flames. ‘She was real?’
‘Of course she was real. You spoke to her. What’s going on?’
Madison shakes her head. ‘Where to start?’ She pauses while trying to process the events of the past few weeks. ‘I haven’t been right. I’ve been throwing things in the bin and not remembering. I thought I’d received a horrible message and I also thought I’d taken photos of things, but when I checked my phone, neither were there. Theo thinks I’m stressed; maybe all this is stress and I’m slowly losing my mind.’ Madison tells her about the photos of the twin babies, the raven toy, the newspaper clipping in the shed, the horrible message and the wedding ring magically appearing in the bin.
Camille places a hand on her arm. ‘It’s him. You are not ill, Madison. He’s doing this to you and you see it, don’t you? That’s why you didn’t marry him today.’
She bites into a marshmallow and swallows, despite the lump in her throat. It tastes so good. It’s the best thing she’s eaten in weeks. It reminds her of happier times with her family, and those feelings are filling her heart as she tears each one off with her teeth and gobbles them up. She reaches into the bag and eats more of them, enjoying the sugar on her tongue.
‘I have to see Eva.’
‘Really? Shouldn’t you think on this overnight?’
‘No, I was horrible to her earlier. Those things I said weren’t me, and what if she’s right?’
‘What, that Theo is her supposedly dead husband?’
‘Only Theo can make someone look that crazy. Look at me. I need you to take me to the cottage to get my car. Would you mind? I don’t want to go inside; I can’t face him. I just want my car. I can’t manage without it around here.’
‘Okay, but I’m waiting for you to pull away first. Can I come to Eva’s with you?’
Madison shakes her head. ‘No, I should do this alone.’
‘How do you know where she lives?’
‘She posts her life on Instagram and there are a lot of photos of her house and the view. There’s only one spot where you get that exact view, and there’s only one house on that stretch of road.’
* * *
On arriving at the cottage half an hour later, Madison looks for Theo’s car but she can’t see it parked anywhere on their land. She shivers. It’s dusky and she’d rather leave before it gets any darker. ‘He must be out. Maybe I should pop in and grab a few things.’
‘I wouldn’t. He could come back at any moment. I’ll come back with you tomorrow.’
Camille is right. Madison feels far too delicate for any form of confrontation. She needs to get away from the cottage and any hold that Theo has over her. He lied. He made her think she was losing her mind and the worst of it is, she misses him like mad. She can’t picture bringing up Emily without him, and she can’t imagine never lying next to him, laughing with him or hugging him. She swallows as she gets into her car and drives away with Camille following close behind her. As they reach the main road, Camille turns left to go back home, and Madison turns right and drives straight to Eva’s house.
She pulls up on the main road and starts walking towards the gate – and gasps. That’s when she spots a police car parked up on Eva’s drive. Two PCs are standing at the door, and Zach is talking to them on the doorstep. She discreetly passes the gate and loiters behind the treeline to listen to what is being said, but she can’t hear a thing. Why are the police there? A flutter grows in her chest. The police never turn up with good news. Something bad has happened and Madison needs to know what that is.
