The Affair_A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist

by Sheryl Browne

  Sophie’s mouth twitched into a smile. ‘You forgot the super-intelligent and hugely talented bit.’

  ‘And that.’ Smiling back, her mum took hold of her shoulders. ‘You’re okay, Sophie. A normal, well-balanced teenager.’

  ‘Apart from the odd moody moment,’ Sophie pointed out.

  ‘Um, well, there are those.’ Her mum furrowed her brow and then laughed. ‘They’re normal, Sophie. Allowed. It’s called being human. Trust me, you’re an extremely loving and much loved person,’ she said forcefully. ‘I’ve loved you from the second I felt you growing inside me. I love everything that you are. And what you are is good, through and through. No one can take that away from you. The only thing people can rob you of, if you let them, is your confidence. Don’t let him do that, Sophie.’

  Sophie nodded, but dropped her gaze. She was trying, but she just didn’t feel confident any more. Her mum had done it though. Somehow, she’d managed to find the strength to move on with her life, despite what had happened to her at the freak’s hands. She hadn’t been honest with Justin, something she clearly bitterly regretted, but she’d always been there for him. For her, too. Maybe her great-gran’s saying was right. Her mum had learned from her mistakes. Sophie would do the same. She would certainly be wiser in future and value those people who really did love her.

  ‘Did he mention your surprise?’ her mum asked her.

  Sophie looked back up at her curiously.

  ‘Your dad, did he tell you about your surprise sixteenth birthday present?’

  Sophie’s smile widened. ‘No,’ she said, betting it was something really cool. Her dad always got her cool stuff: her Red or Dead boots; the puffer jacket he’d seen her drooling over in Miss Selfridge. Her heart dipped again, though, when she remembered the luxurious things Paul Radley had tried to tempt her with, which she’d actually thought were cool.

  ‘Well?’ she asked, as her mum eyed her teasingly.

  ‘Sorry.’ Her mum held up her hands. ‘I can’t say. Your dad will kill me if I tell you before he does.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ Sophie rolled her eyes. ‘I very much doubt that. Dad wouldn’t hurt a fly. That’s why he’s a doctor.’

  Her mum glanced down. ‘No,’ she said, smiling sadly now. ‘No, he wouldn’t.’

  Noticing a tear plop down her cheek, Sophie looked at her, startled. ‘Mum,’ she said, pulling her into a hug, ‘I thought we weren’t supposed to be letting him win.’

  ‘We’re not.’ Alicia squeezed her hard back. ‘They’re tears of relief, that’s all. That you’re here. God, I’ve missed you. Come on,’ she said, easing away and running the back of her hand under her nose. ‘Let’s go and find your father. He can give you the guided tour.’

  ‘Tour?’ Sophie’s mind boggled. ‘What’s he got me, Buckingham Palace?’

  Following her mum to the door, Sophie quashed another bout of guilt as she realised how upset they both must have been on her sixteenth. They’d always pulled out all the stops on her birthday – having her friends over, buying a cake. Her mum had even made one once. It had taken her hours. She was rubbish in the kitchen, she’d always said, making no excuses for what she called her deficient domestic goddess gene. Sophie’s thoughts swung again to Paul Radley. She’d had no friends while she’d been stuck in that apartment, not realising she was actually stuck in it. No phone. No contact with anyone. She doubted whether he would ever have let any of her friends in it, so OCD was he. Whatever happened to him, after what he’d done to her mum and dad, he deserved it, she decided.

  ‘It’s not quite Buckingham Palace,’ Justin said, looking rueful as they met him on the landing. Obviously, he’d overheard. Sophie felt bad about that too. She hoped he wasn’t thinking she rated material stuff over what really mattered. Because she didn’t, and now she never would. She’d make sure to tell him that. ‘A bit smaller,’ he added, allowing them to pass.

  ‘A shoebox?’ Preferably containing new Red or Dead boots. Sophie glanced hopefully over her shoulder, noticing Justin’s hand going to the small of her mum’s back, which she’d managed to strain somehow.

  ‘Any better?’ he asked her.

  ‘A bit.’ Alicia replied. ‘Still painful though.’

  ‘Bend at the knee next time,’ Justin advised, as they followed Sophie down the stairs. ‘So, when did you do it exactly?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Alicia said vaguely, stopping at the basement door.

  ‘What? You can’t remember when you shifted the furniture?’ Justin sounded dubious.

  ‘Not exactly, no. Not to worry.’ She waved away his concerns. ‘I’m sure it will be fine once I’ve rested it.’

  Noticing they were both loitering at the basement door now, Sophie back-stepped. ‘A tiger?’ she said, looking bemusedly at them. ‘Must be, if you’re keeping it chained up in the basement.’

  ‘Try again.’ Alicia smiled, swinging the door open.

  ‘My very own vat of vintage wine?’ Sophie peeked down after her as her mum led the way.

  ‘In your dreams,’ Alicia called back. ‘Well, come on then. Your dad will be having a nervous breakdown wondering whether you like it.’

  Seventy-Six

  ALICIA

  ‘You have to be kidding me.’ Standing in the middle of the studio, Sophie’s eyes grew so wide, Alicia was sure they would pop right out of her head. ‘You mean you did all this yourself?’ She turned in disbelief to Justin. ‘The man who puts his foot in paint trays?’

  Justin ran a hand over his neck. ‘Yes, thanks for that reminder, Sophie,’ he said, smiling embarrassedly.

  ‘He’s been working on his DIY skills,’ said Alicia. She stepped towards her husband, sliding a hand around his waist.

  ‘Obviously.’ Sophie glanced around, clearly awestruck, though Justin didn’t seem entirely confident she was impressed.

  ‘So, do you like it?’ he asked her tentatively.

  ‘Like it?’ Sophie’s eyes boggled wider. ‘It’s like, wow!’

  ‘I take it that’s a yes?’

  ‘Yes!’ Sophie said effusively, launching herself at Justin. ‘It’s totally cool. I love it,’ she assured him, almost strangling him as she threw her arms around his neck, and then promptly took off, inspecting the various bits of equipment Justin had installed: microphones and stands, recording software, headphones… Alicia didn’t have a clue what half of it was.

  ‘You got me a Macbook Pro.’ Sophie turned to him, her eyes filling up. ‘And a digital audio workstation.’ She trailed a hand over it. ‘It must have cost a bomb.’

  ‘I’m selling my body to pay for it.’ Justin shrugged, definitely looking pleased.

  God, she loved this man. He’d never given up hope, not once. Whatever the future held, Alicia knew with certainty she would have had no future without him. He’d never been selfish or controlling. In his lovemaking, in every aspect of his life, he was generous – a giver, not a taker. She would always be grateful for every precious day she had with him.

  ‘Is it okay, the DAW?’ he asked her.

  ‘Perfect,’ Sophie beamed. ‘I can’t wait to show Chloe.’

  ‘What about the monitors? I was shopping in the dark a bit.’

  ‘The man done good,’ Sophie assured him. ‘You even got an audio interface. It’s phenomenal.’

  ‘I’ll go and get the cake. Don’t worry, it’s not homemade.’ Alicia smiled, leaving them to the technical jargon.

  Seventy-Seven

  ALICIA

  Candles blown out and wishes made – hers perhaps an impossible wish – they’d decided on a family afternoon as a treat for Sophie’s postponed birthday. It was the first workday they’d all been home together that wasn’t tinged with unbearable sadness, and being with each other seemed fitting. Clearing up in the kitchen, Alicia went to join Justin and Sophie in the lounge, but stopped short of the door, wanting to simply listen to father and daughter talking, as they used to.

  ‘So what do you fancy?’ Justin asked Sophie, picki
ng up the TV remote. ‘A film, Homeland or a rerun of Game of Thrones?’

  ‘Not fussed,’ Sophie said. ‘You choose.’

  ‘A film,’ Justin decided, flicking to Netflix. ‘Something cheerful, hopefully, that your mum will fancy too.’

  ‘Okay?’ Alicia heard him ask softly a second later, as he browsed.

  ‘Better,’ Sophie answered, her voice sounding so young, so vulnerable, it almost wrenched Alicia’s heart from inside her.

  Paul Radley had tried to steal her daughter’s identity. She’d suffered at his hands, because of her own mother. Alicia had been trying to keep their family together, yet she’d almost torn them apart. She’d worried that Justin and Sophie might never be able to forgive her, but she’d underestimated them both. What Sophie needed to do now was what her mother had felt unable to: talk about what had happened, not allow it to fester inside her, asking herself ‘what-ifs’. What if I hadn’t…? What if I’d done this differently? Or that? From that came self-doubt. That was the negative emotion that ultimately destroyed people, stifled them and robbed them of all they could be. If anyone could help Sophie get past that, realise she wasn’t responsible for other people’s actions, it was Justin, who’d loved her unquestioningly. Who always would. Alicia had made a mistake all those years ago in not telling him, yet she’d made at least one good decision in her life, of that Alicia was sure. There was no father more loving than Justin. He would always be there for his daughter.

  ‘Dad… I’m sorry,’ Sophie said hesitantly, ‘about taking off like that at the shopping centre. About being so angry with you. I think I was a bit screwed up. After Luke, I mean. And then, when I heard… what you said… and realised…’

  ‘You and me both,’ Justin assured her, as she trailed off. ‘We all say stuff, Sophie – heat-of-the-moment stuff, when we’re hurting or angry, which doesn’t reflect what we really feel inside. I think the best thing we can do now is move forward don’t you?’ he asked her tentatively. ‘Be there for each other?’

  Sophie paused. ‘Just so you know, though, I never stopped thinking about you as my dad, no matter what I tried to tell myself. Not in my heart.’

  ‘Looks like you’re stuck with me,’ Justin joked. ‘So… are you going to eat the rest of that cake, or am I going to have to help out?’

  ‘Ditto. For your sins,’ Sophie answered, her tone sounding less uncertain and more like herself. Alicia felt hope rise inside her that she wouldn’t be too affected by the monster who’d tried to control her. ‘And, no you can’t have my cake,’ she added. ‘It’s, like, chocolate.’

  ‘More than I dare do to go near that then.’ Justin chuckled.

  ‘Do you still love Mum?’ Sophie asked, just as Alicia was about to go in.

  Alicia stepped back, fearing his next words might truly kill her.

  ‘I never stopped loving her, Sophie,’ Justin said, after a second that seemed to last an eternity. ‘Why would I have?’

  ‘Can you forgive her for what she did?’ was Sophie’s next question. ‘For not telling you about me, I mean?’

  Again, Justin hesitated. ‘I wish she had told me,’ he said eventually. ‘I wish she’d felt able to.’ He paused, drawing in a breath. ‘I think she did what she did with the best intentions though. It’s not easy to accept, if I’m honest – not easy to accept my own culpability in why she felt she couldn’t – but yes, I think I can. Can you?’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Sophie said thoughtfully, after a second. ‘Her decision-making was a bit shit, but I do think she made the choices she did for the right reasons.’

  Sophie would heal. In time she would be whole again. And if she faltered in the future, Justin would always be there to catch her. Alicia swallowed back a different kind of lump in her throat.

  ‘I’ve brought you an extra slice,’ she said, going on in. ‘I think we deserve to indulge—’ She stopped as Justin’s phone rang, an uneasy feeling of trepidation washing over her.

  Placing his cake on the coffee table, she sat down next to where Sophie was parked on her favourite spot on the sofa.

  Glancing worriedly at her, Justin got to his feet, nodding towards the hall to indicate he would take the call there.

  ‘You forgot a crumb.’ Alicia smiled at Sophie, who was dabbing up the last of the cream from her plate with her finger.

  Justin came back into the lounge a minute later, his face pale, Alicia noted – worryingly pale. ‘DI Taylor.’ He smiled, for Sophie’s sake. ‘He wants to have a chat.’

  Alicia nodded slowly. ‘When?’ she asked him, trying to remain calm, though her stomach knotted inside her.

  Justin kneaded his forehead. ‘He’s on his way.’

  Seventy-Eight

  ALICIA

  Justin had been like a cat on hot bricks. He was trying to keep his emotions under control, for Sophie’s sake, but he was pacing endlessly, breathing slowly, trying to stay calm. He was concerned, as he obviously would be, that DI Taylor’s visit was to do with what had happened to Paul Radley.

  ‘Are you warm enough, sweetheart?’ Alicia asked Sophie, who’d gone quiet, also anticipating DI Taylor’s visit with apprehension, for her own reasons. Alicia knew she would be struggling with her own confused emotions – guilt being one of them. She just hoped Sophie would be able to talk more about how she was feeling as time went on, that she would realise she – and Justin, in particular – understood.

  Sitting in the middle of the sofa, her legs tucked under herself and a faraway look in her eyes, Alicia guessed Sophie was going over things now, the chain of events since the day her dear baby brother had died, as they all would for a long time to come. Alicia made a mental note to try to encourage her to put the bad memories behind her and cherish the good ones, the time she did have with Lucas, as Alicia and Justin would try to alongside her.

  She would never truly be able to forgive herself for her naivety in imagining the whole mess would go away the day Paul Radley had. That he wouldn’t come back to haunt her. She’d never dreamed it would be her daughter he would haunt. If she had… But it was too late for that now. She would die to undo it, but she couldn’t. All she could do was be there for her daughter.

  ‘Sophie? Are you all right, sweetheart?’ She reached to squeeze her hand.

  Sophie nodded again, and then looked worriedly towards Justin, who was gazing out of the window.

  ‘It’s probably just a routine call,’ Alicia tried to reassure her. ‘Don’t fret too much about it, Sophie. You’re not obliged to talk about anything unless you want to.’

  Sophie smiled distractedly at her, and then turned her attention back to Justin. ‘Dad? ‘What’s up?’ she asked him, clearly feeling his anxiety too.

  Alicia followed her gaze to where Justin was still standing at the window.

  ‘Dad?’

  ‘What?’ Justin turned around, looking preoccupied. ‘Oh, sorry, Pumpkin.’ He dragged a hand over his neck, smiled tiredly and came towards her. ‘I was miles away.’

  ‘I gathered,’ Sophie said, her forehead furrowed with worry. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Justin said, glancing quickly at Alicia. ‘That is…’ He took a breath and sat down next to Sophie. ‘There is something I need to tell you before Taylor turns up. You too, Alicia.’

  Noticing the nervous look in his eyes, Alicia swallowed hard, feeling hot and clammy suddenly, as she imagined what he might be about to say.

  ‘Dad, what?’ Sophie urged him, looking as wary as Alicia felt.

  Justin took hold of Sophie’s hand, twisting around to make sure he had full-on eye contact with her, which sent a fresh wave of apprehension down Alicia’s spine. ‘I need you to know that I’ve loved you from birth, Sophie,’ he said firmly. ‘And before that, when you were just a tiny heartbeat on the monitor.’

  He looked again at Alicia, whose heart was now thudding frantically. His expression was deadly serious. It was bound to be, under the circumstances, but Alicia prayed he wasn’t about to announce something th
at would rock Sophie’s world further. Her world. They needed him, both of them, now more than ever, if they were going to get through this.

  ‘There was never a second I didn’t love you,’ Justin went on. ‘There will never be. No matter what the future may bring.’

  Justin hesitated, glancing briefly at Alicia.

  ‘Dad, what do you mean “no matter what the future may bring”? You’re starting to scare me.’

  Justin took a breath. ‘I, er…’ he started, and stopped. ‘If I should have to go away for any reason…’

  Now Sophie looked extremely nervous. ‘Away, as in something work related?’ she asked, doubt clouding her eyes.

  ‘Possibly.’ Justin’s gaze flicked again towards Alicia and then back to Sophie

  ‘Like fictitious conferences because you don’t want to be here?’ Sophie attempted to pull away from him.

  ‘What?’ Justin looked confused, then, ‘No,’ he said quickly. ‘God, no. I’d rather be here than anywhere. I’m not even sure I’ll need to go away yet. I just wanted you to know that my love for you never wavered, Sophie. It never will. I needed you to know that, that’s all.’

  He squeezed her hand, took another long breath and waited.

  Sophie’s gaze travelled between her parents. ‘So you’re not telling me you two are going to split up then?’ she asked him suspiciously, the anxious look now in her eyes almost splitting Alicia’s heart in two.

  ‘No, Sophie, we are definitely not going to split up,’ Justin said adamantly. ‘I’m… not doing this very well, am I?’ He eyed the ceiling, despairing of himself. ‘I was simply trying to tell you that no matter where you are, how old you are, where I might be, that I’ll always be there for you. And you will always be right here.’