I take a deep breath as we pull into the car park of the castle. This is the last place I saw Warren. I hope he is not here; I do not want to see him. I wonder if I can run in and get the stuff out as quickly as possible.

“Do you want me to come in with you?” Megan asks, turning off the engine.

“Will you?” I am so lucky to have an amazing friend like Megan. She is always here for me, and she will do anything for me. The thought of losing her kills me. I hope she does not move away from me. I don’t think I could cope without her.

She nods, undoing her seat belt and sliding out of the car.

“Hey Lucy Doo, time to go into the princess castle,” she says as she takes her out of the back seat. She holds her on her hip and locks the car.

“Ready.” I smile as I hobble along the gravel path towards the castle. My castle. The place my world was going to become perfect. We were going to spend our wedding night here, while everyone else was at the hotel. This place was a dream. I cannot believe how much money I wasted on this place, and I am not going to get anything in return. It leaves me penniless with nowhere to live. I feel tears start to stream down my face. I turn to face Megan as we walk through the door.

“There is no way I can go through with this,” I say, placing my hands over my face.

“You can. Believe in yourself, everything will be sorted in time,” she assures me while moving Lucy onto her other hip before placing her hand on my lower back.

“Thank you, Megan.”

“Jenny, so lovely to see you again,” Michael says as he hurries towards me.

“Hi, Michael, we are here to collect the things I dropped off last time.”

“Oh, yes, I’ll go and grab them for you.” He turns around and heads off to one of the side rooms.

“Is it me, or is he really happy today?” Megan enquires.

“Really happy,” I laugh. “Someone got some last night.”

“Here it is.” Michael walks over to us.

“Thank you. Nice to see you again,” I state.

“You, too. Just be happy you found out before the day,” he says.

As we walk out of the castle, I feel a huge weight lift off my chest. I can do this. I just need to listen to what Megan said. Believe in myself. I climb back into the car and take my mobile out of my jeans pocket.

We need to talk.

“Rich has texted, saying we need to talk,” I tell Megan.

“Are you going to?” She questions.

“I’ll find out where he is.”

Where are you?

At OUR house.

“Megan, can you drop me off at Rich’s?” I ask.

“Of course.”

The drive there seems long this time.  I am so scared of what he wants from me. Why does he think we need to talk? I do need a few more items from the house, so I am willing to go back to pick them up and leave. I just can’t think of anything I want to say to him.

“I’ll wait here,” Megan says as she turns off the engine.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Yes.”

I stand at the front door of what was mine and knock. “Finally,” he says. “Come in.”

“Hi to you, too,” I say as I walk into the house.

“We need to talk.”

“About?”

“I have a sexually transmitted infection.”

“You what?!” I scream at him.

“I have an STI.”

“Yes, I heard that. How? Why? Who? When?” I question.

“I found out this morning. You have to get checked out.”

“You fucking dirty bastard!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Who gave it to you? Chad?” I question.

He stands there motionless.

“I asked you a question, Rich.”

“Yes, Chad.”

“You didn’t even get Luke to cover for you very well. Did you?”

“I know. Luke will not talk to me now.”

“Doesn’t surprise me.” I pause. “Do you have information about what you have?” I ask.

He walks over to the other side of the front room and picks up some leaflets before handing them to me.

“You have fucked up my life.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” I question.

“Yes.”

“I’m out of here. I’m not staying near you any longer.”

I turn around and storm out of the house, climbing into the car quietly as I see Lucy is asleep in the back.

“And…” Megan says.

“He has an STI.”


“What?” Megan asks, placing her hand over her mouth.

“Yes, exactly.”