Chapter 56 Charlie
CHARLIE
“I knew from the moment she could walk and talk that she wasn’t like other children,” says Anita.
“It was as if she had the mind of a sociopathic grown-up inside the body of a child. I’d watch as she manipulated every situation to her advantage, using whichever means she needed, to get what she wanted.
But as kid, I figured she couldn’t do much harm. …”
She sighs. “Turns out, she could ruin marriages and destroy lives.”
Charlie stares at her, open-mouthed. “Are you saying…?”
Anita reaches for the whiskey bottle and pours another inch into her glass, as if it will give her the Dutch courage she needs to finally face up to the truth.
“She was only thirteen when she told me she’d seen her father with another woman.
I listened to her, because I wanted her to feel heard, but in the end, I chose not to believe her.
My husband did a good job of convincing me that she was doing it in a misguided bid for attention.
I knew Freya had this destructive compulsion to cry wolf when things weren’t going her way—I’d seen it time and time again, so I trusted him.
But then a few weeks later, she said she’d seen texts on his phone.
He denied it, but Freya somehow got hold of it—and there, hidden in the archive, were the messages. ”
Anita wipes away a tear—and for once, Charlie dares to believe that it’s real.
“It broke up our marriage and I’ve spent the last twenty years hating the man I used to love.”
“But wouldn’t you rather know the truth than have lived a lie for all that time?” asks Charlie.
She shakes her head. “I have been living a lie for all that time,” she says. “Because there was never anyone else. She made it all up. She had somehow sent the text messages herself and then hidden them in his phone, where he wouldn’t think to look.”
Charlie feels like he’s been punched in the stomach, the depths of Freya’s duplicity knowing no bounds. He drops his head into his folded arms on the bar.
“She’s done some wicked, wicked things,” cries Anita. “And it’s time that she takes responsibility for the damage she’s caused and the lives she’s ruined.”
“So that’s why you wanted to go to the police about that night?” says Charlie, looking up. “You knew who was driving. You know who killed Marcus Harding.”
Anita nods as her eyes meet his. “I just needed you to admit it to yourself.”