The Wedding Day

THE WEDDING DAY A TOTALLY ADDICTIVE AND ABSOLUTELY UNPUTDOWNABLE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER SUE WATSON BOOKS BY SUE WATSON Psychological Thrillers The Wedding Day The Nursery The Resort The New Wife The Forever Home First Date The Sister-in-Law The Empty Nest The Woman Next Door Our Little Lies Romantic Comedies Love and Lies Series Love, Lies and Lemon Cake Love, Lies and Wedding Cake The Ice-Cream Café Series Ella’s Ice Cream Summer Curves, Kisses and Chocolate Ice-Cream Standalones Snowflakes, Iced Cakes and Second Chances The Christmas Cake Cafe Bella’s Christmas Bake Off Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams Snow Angels, Secrets and Christmas Cake We’ll Always Have Paris AVAILABLE IN AUDIO Psychological Thrillers The Resort (Available in the UK and the US) The New Wife (Available in the UK and the US) The Forever Home (Available in the UK and the US) First Date (Available in the UK and the US) The Sister-in-Law (Available in the UK and the US) The Empty Nest (Available in the UK and the US) The Woman Next Door (Available in the UK and the US) Our Little Lies (Available in the UK and the US) CONTENTS Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Epilogue The Sister-in-Law Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Hear More from Sue Books by Sue Watson A Letter from Sue The Nursery The Resort The New Wife The Forever Home First Date The Empty Nest The Woman Next Door Our Little Lies Love, Lies and Lemon Cake Love, Lies and Wedding Cake Ella’s Ice Cream Summer Curves, Kisses and Chocolate Ice-Cream Snowflakes, Iced Cakes and Second Chances The Christmas Cake Cafe Bella’s Christmas Bake Off Summer Flings and Dancing Dreams Snow Angels, Secrets and Christmas Cake Acknowledgements * To my friend Ann Bresnan, who always made my books better. I’m so sorry we never got to say goodbye… PROLOGUE I lift my heavy suitcase onto the conveyor belt. It’s filled with my clothes, my toiletries and my secrets. I surrender it reluctantly as the uniformed woman slaps on security stickers and points to ‘Airport Security’ with a sulky nod. I nod back, saying nothing, not wanting to attract attention to myself in any way. So far, so good. I step outside for a quick vape before returning and heading for security – my tomato-red Hermes handbag on my arm, my mouth dry as sand. Stale heat gathers around the homebound tourists with sunburn and sad faces, all queueing to go home when they don’t want to. I keep my eyes downwards, don’t engage with anyone and after too long, I finally see Border Control. Walking on wobbly legs towards the serious man waiting behind glass, I cast my mind back to when I first arrived here. The person who came to this paradise island is very different from the one who’s leaving. I came in search of something, someone, and I found them, but now I have to go again. I hate to leave this beautiful place, where the sun shines all day and the cocktails flow all night. But if you look closer, there’s a dark side, and friends, lovers and murder, are just a whisper apart. The border guard is looking at me from behind glass. He doesn’t smile, but I do. ‘Are you going to Rio de Janeiro on business or pleasure?’ ‘Pleasure.’ I lean forward slightly and lick my lips suggestively; straight away, his eyes are on my lips. He hands me back my passport, and I try not to look too relieved. Or too guilty… ONE It was Valentine’s Day, and I needed a bottle of wine. Not for a romantic dinner with my partner, but to drown my sorrows. I’d finished work as soon as I possibly could, leaving the office and walking straight into a downpour. Rain was lashing the streets, taxis skidded by, splashing the pavements and spraying my new caramel raincoat in filthy water. Nice. After a mind-numbing day answering calls from disgruntled customers, all I wanted to do was run to the station and throw myself onto the first train home, but first I had to pop into a nearby supermarket for that bottle of wine. Being sober always made me feel slightly prickly, and uneasy, I needed something to smooth the sharp edges and help me forget. Through the riot of water, inconsiderate umbrellas and surprising puddles, I saw it: the Tesco Express, that one-stop shop that would make my evening bearable. Funny how, even when our lives are in turmoil we return to the places, and the rituals that comfort us. I wearily pushed open the door of the supermarket. Coming from the dark outside, the brutal strip lighting seared my eyes and I immediately remembered Valentine’s Day last year. I’d been in this very supermarket on my way home from work. It was hard to comprehend how different my life was then. My eyes alighted on the baby formula stacked in rows on the shelf and tried not to burst into tears. I’m not mad, I told myself. But sometimes I felt mad. That morning there’d been no Valentine waiting for me, just a decree absolute informing me that I was no longer married to Dan Green. Just a year before I’d been a married woman, with a beautiful home, good friends and a decent job. My marriage wasn’t perfect, in fact at times it had been hell, but I’d tried to make it work, despite all the problems. Against the odds I’d always harboured a vain hope that