Holly hurried up the steps to the townhouse she shared with Victoria. She unlocked the door and entered the house, hoping that she had arrived late enough that the children were in bed and asleep.
Victoria appeared from the kitchen, her eyes wild and her cheeks red from tears. Holly didn’t stop to answer any questions and threw herself into Victoria’s arms.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Where have you been?” Victoria spluttered. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Holly leaned back, cupped Victoria’s head in her hands, and kissed her with as much feeling as she could impart. What she was about to tell Victoria would break her into pieces, the least she could do was try to soften the blow.
Victoria fell into the kiss, eagerly wrapping her arms around Holly and holding her tightly. Minutes went by, filled with passionate kisses and soft apologies. Eventually Holly leaned back in Victoria’s arms so she could speak.
“We have to talk,” she said.
“What’s going on?” Victoria demanded in a cross, though hushed, tone. “You know I hate being out of the loop. I thought something had happened to you. I was about to call the police!”
Holly brushed Victoria’s locks away from her face. “I know, I’m sorry. I’ve had a really long day looking into things. Can we go to your office and talk?”
Victoria looked uncertain, almost afraid. Holly couldn’t blame her. She nodded and slowly released Holly from her grip.
“Are the kids asleep?” Holly asked as they entered the office. She closed the door.
“Yes, I told them you were working on an article and had an interview to go to this evening. Not that I enjoy lying to them.”
“I know,” Holly said. “I’m sorry I put you in that position.”
“Tell me what’s happening,” Victoria demanded. Her arms were folded and her gaze severe, but Holly could see through the Hastings bluster and knew that Victoria was terrified. Now Holly needed to explain everything.
Holly sat on the sofa and pulled her MacBook out of her satchel. She patted the place beside her and opened the lid.
“I got an email this morning,” she explained, “which was why I acted strangely over breakfast. I should have spoken to you then, but, well, I was in shock.”
Victoria perched on the sofa beside her, seemingly unwilling to sit comfortably. Holly knew that was only going to get worse as she explained what had happened that day. She opened the original email and turned her laptop around to face Victoria.
She watched as Victoria blinked, then leaned in, then sat back in shock. A second later she was leaning in again, staring in abject confusion at what was on the screen.
“What…” Victoria gasped. Her eyes shot up to meet Holly’s. “This is—”
“Fake. I know,” Holly said. “I didn’t know that this morning.”
“I’d never…” Victoria leaned closer to the screen again. “Is that Ashley Somerset?”
“Yes.”
“This is… it’s… ludicrous. I’d never. I’m not and would never,” Victoria stammered.
“I know. At first, I didn’t know what to think,” Holly confessed. “I went to Arrival today, to speak to Ashley and see what she had to say.”
“She’ll tell you the same as I told you,” Victoria said with absolute certainty.
“She didn’t have to. The moment I started speaking to her, I knew nothing was going on between you. I pretended I had some questions for an article I was writing. We had tea and chatted for a while.” Holly ran a hand through her hair. Her emotions had been dragged through the wringer all day. Shock, confusion, anger, more confusion, realisation, and then far more anger.
“I got another email this afternoon,” she continued. She didn’t move for a moment, wanting to settle herself before having to see the crass image again.
“Dare I ask?” Victoria asked, prompting her into action.
Holly sucked in a breath and turned the laptop to face her. She clicked a few buttons and then averted her eyes as she turned the screen towards Victoria.
“Oh my,” Victoria breathed.
Holly saw that she was far less embarrassed at viewing the image than Holly had been. Presumably this had something to do with her job and seeing women in various states of undress during photoshoots.
“Well...” Victoria swallowed. “This is fabrication.”
Holly closed the lid of the laptop and put it to one side. It may have been a fake image, but seeing Victoria in bed with another woman had still broken Holly’s heart.
Victoria reached out and took her hand. “I assure you—”
“You don’t need to,” Holly said. “I know both images are fakes, but they are very good fakes. I took them to someone I know, a professional. She said that less than twenty percent of forensic photograph examiners would be able to tell that these were fake. They are that good.”
“But you know, right?” Victoria asked, gripping Holly’s hand. “You know these are nonsensical fabrications?”
“I do,” Holly confirmed. She squeezed Victoria’s hand. “But you know what this means, don’t you?”
Victoria slowly nodded. “I’m going to murder whoever sent you those images.”
“Victoria, these are incredibly sophisticated fakes,” Holly pointed out, hoping that she would soon catch up.
“Do I congratulate the fraudster?” Victoria demanded, her voice ever so slightly raised. This was concerning because Holly had only ever heard Victoria shout three times in the entire time she’d known her. “Tell me, is it more appropriate to send chocolates or flowers?”
“Victoria, listen to me,” Holly snapped. She pulled her hand away. She needed Victoria to see the situation for what it was. “This is serious.”
Victoria swallowed down her next sarcastic comment and looked at Holly. “Then we hire someone to investigate,” she said. “Or we wait for the email that will no doubt arrive by the morning requesting money.”
“There’s something else,” Holly said.
Victoria’s eyes widened. “More?”
Holly opened her laptop, quickly closing down the photograph of Ashley and Victoria in a naked embrace. Her fingers danced across the trackpad to the latest email. She took a deep breath and opened it.
She angled the screen towards Victoria and watched as the older woman read the contents.
There were no images in the third and final email. It was just text, text that Holly had memorised. It claimed that the sender was a friend, someone who wanted the best for Holly. It went on to claim that, on top of Victoria’s affair, the editor-in-chief had another secret.
It claimed that the power of attorney Victoria had briefly held over Holly in order to be able to get her home, the one that had been annulled as soon as they started dating, was still in force.
“What?” Victoria asked, before shaking her head and reading the email again.
“It claims that you didn’t annul the power of attorney,” Holly explained. “It’s saying that you still have legal control over me. And it’s saying I should be careful. Of you.”
“That’s absolutely preposterous,” Victoria announced. “Who is this imbecile?”
Holly had asked herself that question a hundred times. She had no idea who would send her such emails, no idea who would spend so much time creating such sophisticated images.
But she did know one thing.
Whoever it was was desperate to pull them apart and seemingly had no scruples about how that was achieved.
“I don’t know,” Holly admitted, “but very few people ever knew about the power of attorney. If that gets out to the public, just think what people will say.”
Their relationship had already caused eyebrows to be raised. Talk of the impropriety of Victoria dating a former assistant who was almost half her age raged on in the gossip columns. If the paparazzi knew about the power of attorney, Holly could only imagine the reaction.
“I don’t care what people say.” Victoria jutted her chin out defiantly.
“You should,” Holly said. She may not have been a journalist long, but she already knew how easy it was for a news story to destroy lives. For all of Victoria’s bravado, Holly knew that she feared bad press just as much as anyone else. Opinion was easily swayed, and often the rolling ball of gutter journalism was unstoppable.
Victoria blinked. “So, what do you suggest?”
Holly sucked in a deep breath. Victoria wasn’t going to like what she was about to say. Not one bit.
“This isn’t a simple prank, honey. This is bigger than that. Someone has been sending me these emails very deliberately. They’ve set a series of events in motion, and I intend to follow them. It’s the only way to figure out who is doing this and why.”
Victoria frowned. “What do you mean, you intend on following this series of events?”
Holly knew it was the moment to explain her plan in all of its terrible detail. She sucked in a quick breath. “I… I’m moving out.”
“What?!” Victoria yelled.
Four times, Holly thought to herself.
“No, absolutely not. This… this is utter madness. How has this even happened?” Victoria jumped up and paced her office. “We were happy just a few hours ago.”
“We are happy,” Holly reassured her partner. She stood in front of Victoria and softly took her face in her hands. “We are happy. But someone is setting you up and they seem determined to separate us.”
“So, you’re letting them?” Victoria was starting to calm down as Holly gently caressed her cheeks with her thumbs, confusion and fear replacing the outrage.
“No, I’m giving them the impression that they have. Think about it. If this doesn’t work, what will they do next? What’s the encore? I don’t want to see you get hurt, I don’t want someone messing with our family.”
Holly lowered her hands; she took Victoria’s in hers and leaned forward to try to catch her gaze. The older woman looked steadfastly at the ground, refusing to make eye contact.
“I don’t want to do this,” Victoria whispered.
Holly felt her heart break. Victoria was always the strong one. Seeing her so despondent was a bitter pill to swallow.
“I don’t want to,” she repeated.
“I don’t want to either,” Holly agreed. “But we have to do this. Whoever is doing this knows that I received these emails. Right now, I can do one of two things: believe the emails or realise they are fake.”
“And you know they are fake,” Victoria said, her tear-filled eyes meeting Holly’s.
“I do, but I don’t want them to know that. I want them to be confident that it worked, maybe a little cocky. It will make it easier to find them. Victoria, this person wants to break us up. Why?”
“How should I know the scheming mind of a derange—”
“Exactly. And that frightens me,” Holly admitted. “If we play the game, make it look like I’m here this evening to have it out with you and finish things, then we can investigate without arousing suspicions.”
“Don’t move out tonight. Go on the weekend… or tomorrow… but not tonight,” Victoria pleaded.
Holly sucked in a deep breath and shakily let it out. “I… I already have a hotel. I packed some things and took them there before the kids got home.”
Victoria paled, and Holly wondered if she might faint. She tightened her grip on Victoria’s hands.
“But it’s not real,” Holly reassured. “We’re going to beat this. Together.”