I knew all along you were a meddler, Sebastian. Just like Ethan, just like Dr Adams. And once again I’ve been proved right.
I followed you earlier to the pub, curious to know who it was you were meeting. I watched an older man join you at the table you bagged in the far corner, your eyes anxious, as if this wasn’t a social meeting. I have no idea who the man was or what you talked about, but the shock on your face when he told you something towards the end of your conversation was plain for all to see. I had no clue if what you discussed concerned Adriana, but I wasn’t taking any chances. So I followed you home. Watched you enter the house on the live feed on my phone, before grabbing a drink in the kitchen and going up to your room. I then quietly slipped in and went to my secret hiding place where I keep a laptop. I watched you open your own laptop, desperate to know what it was you were up to. I didn’t think it was research for your book, you looked too tense. Something told me it concerned Adriana, despite you promising her you would let things be.
And then, as I watched you read whatever it was, you looked up, your eyes agog and you made a big mistake. You blurted out the words:
‘Adriana is Scarlett?’
And then, a short time after that:
‘Dad was Adriana’s babysitter?’
I could hardly believe my ears when you said the word ‘Dad’. Learning that you are Jason Stevens’s son is a bombshell I never in a million years expected. I’m guessing you found the article about the fire, in which Jason, Adriana’s babysitter, your father, who tormented her, made her watch things no child should ever see, commented. He, who years later came to London for the sole purpose of finding her, having seen an article in the newspaper about one of the charities she worked for, her photo alongside it. That’s what he told me before I killed him. After I put Adriana to sleep. Adriana had been meticulous about ensuring her photo was never in the press because she was afraid of Jason tracking her down. It’s why she’d told Charles she yearned for a quiet wedding abroad, because the last thing she wanted was it being featured in Tatler or Hello! which had both approached him. But this one photo had slipped through, and the pervert had seen and seized upon it. Now she was a grown woman he couldn’t resist. Her being married wouldn’t stop him. It hadn’t stopped him fucking Adriana’s mother in her own house.
The way you emphasised the name ‘Scarlett’ made me certain this wasn’t the first time you’d come across it. I’m guessing you also discovered something back home, Sebastian. Something that referred to a mysterious ‘Scarlett’ and, like your father, you came to London to track her down. I know you wanted to find her for a different reason. Because you’re desperate to know what happened to your father. Why his body has never been found. Why he emailed his suicide note. Why he showed no signs of being suicidal before he left you and your mother. You perhaps thought this ‘Scarlett’ could help you answer those questions. But I don’t care if your intentions were pure, that’s not going to save you. Like father like son, so the saying goes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same tendencies that ran through his veins run through yours. After all, you fucked her the day after you moved in, despite the shy persona you adopt. Maybe it’s all just an act.
Whatever the case, it won’t be long before you find out what happened to your father, once you question her, put her on the spot. She’s not strong enough to lie to you. And when you do, you’ll want her punished, because the fact is, blood is thicker than water.
And so I have to act before that happens. Before it’s too late. Although I won’t go straight for the kill. I’ll indulge in a few little mind games first, send something fun to Adriana for her to ponder. Something that will make her see that I was right, and that despite your promises, you could never be trusted. That way, when you die, she’ll miss you a little less.
Dr Martin will have to wait for now. Dealing with you takes precedence, Sebastian.
The way I deal with all the men who harm her. Dr Adams. Ethan. Even her own husband, Charles.
But first, like I said, I’m going to have a little fun.
It was me who removed Adriana’s journals from the safe in her study last Saturday. I thought it best, because I couldn’t risk you finding them the way Ethan had. Even though, since that happened, she’s kept them locked away. It also had the added bonus of making her suspicious of you, wondering if you had taken them while pretending to be off having a swim.
But now, instead of keeping them from you, I’m going to lead you straight to them. You know too much now, and anyway, you deserve to suffer her anger, being the son of that monster.
I pick up my phone and type a WhatsApp message to you.
And then I press send and wait for that little blue tick to appear.