Unspoken: A story of secrets, love and revenge by T. Belshaw (best reads of all time .TXT) 📗

‘So, my house is too big, but it’s all right for you to rattle about in a huge old pile like this?’ Martha spat.

‘There’s a difference,’ I said evenly. ‘I own this house and all the land around it, I don’t have to sell to pay off some disgusting lothario who has swindled me out of my life savings.’

‘You couldn’t get a man, you dried up old crone.’ Martha was incensed. Marjorie opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish. I glared at her until she stopped.

Martha was on a roll now. ‘You couldn’t keep the only man you managed to hold on to for more than a fortnight. He ran away to war, ran away to die, because it was better than living with you.’ Martha took a breath then ranted on. ‘You call me a desperate woman for still loving Roger, but look at you. You’ve spent your whole life pining for Frank, and we all know why. He was the only man stupid enough to take you on. He was my father, but you drove him away before I could get to know him properly.’

I thought she was going to burst into tears over a man she couldn’t even remember, but thankfully, I was spared that performance. She just took a deep breath and went back to the subject of money.

‘I own part of this place, because I’m Frank’s daughter. I want part of my father’s share. It’s my right.’

‘Frank and I were never married,’ I said coldly. ‘You didn’t know that did you?’

Now it was Martha’s turn to do the goldfish impression.

‘We lived in sin,’ I continued. ‘I changed my surname to Mollison by deed poll just before you were born so that you’d have his name on your birth certificate. The truth is, Frank could be sitting here today, and he wouldn’t own a blade of grass belonging to this farm. He was under the impression that I’d placed it in a trust.’

‘I had a lawyer draw up the trust documents, but in the end, I never signed them. The money, the farm, everything here, plus an extraordinary amount of limited company shares, belong solely to me. I won’t tell you how much I’m worth, because it would make you even more jealous, but I will tell the pair of you this. Neither of you will ever get your sweaty hands on this farm or any of my assets. I’ll be seeing my solicitor tomorrow. I would rather leave everything to a cats’ home than to you, Martha. I disown the pair of you. Now, get out!’

I got to my feet and pointed to the kitchen. ‘Leave via the back door. I don’t want anyone to think I invited you here.’

Chapter 36

Jess

‘So, that’s what it was all about. I suspected money had something to do with it. Every time your name was mentioned it had tight, or miser, added to the sentence.’

Jess searched her memory for any sign of love or affection showed towards Alice from any of her relatives. She could find none.

‘Well, they got what they deserved after that performance, Nana. Absolutely nothing,’ she said.

‘Nothing was too much to give them,’ said Alice, sleepily. ‘Will you stay with me until I’m properly asleep, Jessica?’ she pleaded.

‘Of course, Nana, I’ll stay on the sofa if you…’

There was no reply. Alice was fast asleep.

Jess looked up to the big clock for the time; it was just coming up to nine-thirty. She checked her phone for messages but there were none. She thought about Calvin, alone in the flat, and decided to send him a text.

Sorry you’re all alone. Love you to the moon and back. Jess.

She waited for ten minutes for a message then remembered he was out on a pub crawl with his friends so she sent another.

I’ve just remembered you’re going at it hard tonight. See you tomorrow evening. Love you. Jess.

Jess pulled the Robin Hobb from her laptop bag and settled down to read for an hour.

At eleven o’clock, she put the book down and stepped over to see how Alice was doing. She was breathing softly, but regularly. ‘No sign of the night terrors, my Lovely.’ Jess smiled to herself as she slipped into Gwen mode for a moment. She leaned forward and kissed Alice on the forehead. ‘Sleep tight until morning, my darling.’ Jess stepped away, but as she walked across the room she looked back over her shoulder towards the bed. ‘Press that alarm button if you need me.’

Chapter 37

Calvin

Calvin followed Tania up the stairs, ducking slightly to get a better view of her tight buttocks.

‘Seen enough?’ she asked, half way up the staircase.

‘I’ll never see enough of that backside,’ Calvin replied. He lifted the tail of the shirt and wolf whistled.

Tania shook her head. ‘Men, you’re all the same, wasn’t the tit flash enough? Your brains are kept in your trousers, I’m sure of it.’

Calvin grinned. ‘Well, you can make as much use of my brains as you like tonight. Who was the bloke rushing away just now?’

‘No one you know,’ Tania replied. She opened the door to the lounge diner and stepped inside.

‘He was a scruffy so and so,’ said Calvin, not giving up on the subject.

‘Put the wine in the fridge,’ ordered Tania, ‘let it chill a while. I’ll ring for the takeaway shall I, what do you fancy, Indian, Chinese?’

‘Chinese might be best,’ said Calvin. ‘We don’t want to be sharing curry breath later on.’

He opened the small fridge door and slipped the wine carefully onto the empty top shelf.

‘There’s no food in here,’ he said.

‘I’m on hold,’ said Tania. ‘No, I tend to live day to day. I get meals from the restaurant when I’m working and warm it up the next evening… Hello, yes, I’d like to place a delivery order please.’

‘The wine won’t take long; it was in the chiller cabinet at the Wine Cellar.’

‘Wine Cellar?’ Tania winked at him. ‘Posh. You’re not a supermarket wine drinker, that’s