And So It Begins (Stephanie King, #1)

by Rachel Abbott

Some deaths are inevitable. Others can be prevented. And then there are those tragedies that are driven by their own momentum, that once begun will gather force, causing harm after harm, loss after loss. Yes. It is time to end this.

The obvious answer is one that she’s not even prepared to consider.

But she had always been afraid that if she let her guard down, even a fraction, everything would fall apart.

That is the moment I realise that this has gone on long enough. It’s time for it all to stop. It has to end very soon.

There was one secret that had loomed large between her and Mark, both of them too scared to admit to the other what they had done. And now it was too late.

‘Look, people hurt each other in relationships. They don’t always respond the way their partner wants or expects them to. It shouldn’t mean the end.’

My brain suddenly explodes with a memory – the sea pounding on the rocks, the cry of a gull as it skims the surface of the water. And a child’s scream of terror. And then I know.

Yes. It was worth it.

‘There was an accident when she was about nine and sadly she witnessed the whole thing. Her brother died quite tragically.’

‘I wasn’t taking revenge against Mark, Cleo. It was you. It’s always been you.’