The Sixth of September The Ending

By Alicia Wright

Their worlds finally collide. Two women were manipulated by an almost 'good-for-nothing' man. They could be bitter rivals, but they are intelligent women, who combine their strengths to face and cope with, the past and the present trauma. Although total opposites in many ways, they develop a strong bond a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alicia Wright
• Release date: Jan 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987607534

Book preview

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 The Confrontation

CHAPTER 2 Deception and Lies

CHAPTER 3 A Dream That Turned Into A Nightmare

CHAPTER 4 A Double-Crossing Viper

CHAPTER 5 Intertwined

CHAPTER 6 A Sought Leisure

CHAPTER 7 Road Rage

CHAPTER 8 A Rainbow After The Rain

CHAPTER 9 Victims Of Ungrateful Love

CHAPTER 10 A Sort Of Revenge

CHAPTER 11 Parting Time

CHAPTER 1

The Confrontation

Sophie stood, staring at her phone for a while. She felt nothing. It was the same black nothingness she had been thrown into after the deaths of Ben, Ella, and Sean.

She looked at her phone and went onto WhatsApp. On Ty’s site, she typed, I suspected this all along. I knew you were cheating and using me. Goodbye. She pressed Send.

She sat down and looked at the screen. He would not answer. She looked at the clock—it was nearly time for her to go to work. She steeled herself to behave normally and went through the motions. She locked the door of the cottage and climbed the hill to her workplace. She had hardly begun her duties when her phone rang. It was Ty. He immediately launched into a furious tirade, with no hello or greeting of any kind. Why did you do this to me?

Do what to you? What are you talking about Ty? All I did— All you fucking did was lose me everything!

I did nothing! I called your phone because I was so worried about you. You sounded so—

He cut across her, his voice a snarl. Why did you bloody talk to her? Why?

I thought she was a policewoman or a doctor. I thought something dreadful had happened to you when you didn’t answer—you usually keep your phone very close. How was I supposed to know?

Then Sophie cut off the call with, I can’t stay here talking. I have to work. She was shaking. She dug her nails into her palms to force herself to concentrate on her job.

Ten minutes later, she was in the kitchen when Ty rang her again.

He started talking immediately.

Do you know where I fucking am? Do you? The police dumped me out on the motorway, dumped me, with nothing but a few bags of stuff. I haven’t got a fucking penny, or my car—nothing. It’s all your fucking fault— There was anger and menace in his voice, like the low growl of a tiger at bay.

No, Ty, it’s not my fault at all. You’ve been cheating and lying to me for three years. You have another woman, a fiancée— fiancée—you’re going to marry her? For Christ’s sake, Ty! I’ve been scraping and saving, going without, worrying myself sick, thinking I was helping you to just survive, helping you to get to Jamaica to see your dying father. I know you’ve been going to see Shirley—you seem to be surgically attached to her. But a fiancée?

Shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch. I’m stuck here with no car, and no money, and no home—nothing—because you couldn’t stop yourself from calling her and telling her—

"What are you drivelling on about, Ty? I called your phone. How could I call someone I don’t even know on your phone? You’re even more stupid than I thought you were. You haven’t said one word about what you’ve been doing to me—and this other woman. She says you two are engaged, but you conveniently forgot to tell her about me, and me about her. When were you intending to tell me? Were you going to invite me to the wedding and introduce me to the bride: ‘ And this is Sophie, the woman I’ve been fucking, and bleeding dry of money, and lying to, and letting down, and conning, and using for the last three years—I’m sure you two will get along just fine.’?"

Tears were running down Sophie’s cheeks. She wiped them away defiantly with the tea towel she was holding. There was a short pause.

Shirley put you up to this, didn’t she?! I know it was her—

Sophie snapped back, What the hell are you on about, Ty? I don’t know Shirley or her phone number, and she doesn’t know me or my number. She has absolutely nothing to do with any of this—but yes, she actually does, doesn’t she? She’s the other victim. I’ve no doubt you’ve been living off her as well as me. I suppose I’ve been keeping this fiancée—I must have been; you’ve had enough cash out of me. Did I pay for her ring? Were you going to con me for the money for your wedding?

The tears ran down Sophie’s mouth. They were tears of heartbreak and pure anger. When were you going to tell me about her—and her about me? No wonder you’ve been so stressed and drinking so much. Just calling in to keep me happy—to take more money.

What about me? I’m stuck here on this fucking road without my car. Because of you, I’ve lost all I had! I’ve got to try and…you stupid bitch! You should have put the bloody phone down…said nothing.

Said nothing? Are you crazy? She tells me she’s your goddamn fiancée, and you expect me to say ‘Sorry to bother you. I’m his chiropodist, and he missed his appointment?’ What the hell would you say if it was the other way around, Ty? Quite a lot, I imagine. You’ve got one hell of a bloody cheek to talk to me like this! You’ve been cheating, lying, sleeping around, and getting yourself engaged to another woman, and all you can do is blame me for calling your bloody phone to see if you were OK when I was worried about you. I don’t really care where you are! Anyway, why did she answer your phone? You always keep it next to your heart—attached with superglue. Got careless, did you? And you’re blaming me for all this? Fuck you, Ty.

When Ty spoke, he was whining like a 5-year-old whose conker had fallen off its string. But what can I do? They just dumped me here. They handcuffed me and put me in a police car, and they just dumped me. I’ve got no money—

"Yes, you have, Ty. You conned me out of £150 a few hours ago. It was supposed to be for Jamari, but I’ll lay bets that he hasn’t got it, not a penny of it. Use that and get a bed for the night. What were you doing being arrested, anyway? What the hell is going on, Ty ?"

I’m stuck on this fucking road! I want my car—

Oh, for God’s sake, thumb a goddam lift, or call a taxi and go get your sodding car. Is it your car? Or hers? Or mine even? I paid so bloody much. And what about the word sorry, Ty? Are you sorry? Do you even damned well care about what you’ve done to me and to this other woman? I doubt it; all you care about is yourself and your car. Well, I hope you have to walk to wherever you’re going, and I hope it pours with rain, and I hope this bloody fiancée of yours kills you, slowly and painfully. You’ve hurt me so badly. You knew my son had just died and that I’d lost Ella—you bastard! You took every penny of my earnings. I should have been able to stop work and rest— She stood, unable to move.

What about me and what you’ve done to my life? Ty bleated. Just fuck off, Ty—fuck off. I hope she kicks you out of wherever you live and make your life hell.

I’ll make fucking sure you pay for this, you fucking bitch! You’ll find out that I’m not just some unimportant nigger— you’ll pay for it, believe me.

Why not, Ty? I’ve paid for every damned thing so far. And stop playing the racist card. I’m not a racist—you are. And you’re engaged to this woman. She’s your fiancé; nothing at all to do with me, Ty, so call her, and she can sort it all out.

Sophie cut the call off and switched off her phone. She got on with her work, putting the situation out of her mind. She would deal with it all later. She would have to phone this woman when she got home. What had she said her name was, Olivia? Yes, that was it. She would phone her as soon as she got back, and then she would find out exactly what and who Ty really was.

CHAPTER 2

Deception and Lies

Olivia paced up and down. She had gone around the house very thoroughly, making sure that the police hadn’t disturbed or moved any of her possessions. She was restless, angry, and confused. She had already kicked Ty out before all this drama had blown up. Now, she had a further, bigger, reason to wave goodbye. She wanted to know exactly what had been going on. She had asked the woman called Sophie to call her in half an hour. Maybe the woman wouldn’t call. Maybe Ty had run to her, and they had both done a runner together. But he hadn’t got his car—her car. Then again, just maybe this Sophie had a car and had driven to pick Ty up. Olivia’s mind was running at breakneck speed.

In the silence of the room, her phone pinged. She jumped. She had been expecting a call from one of them, but the sound startled her. She saw there was a text from Ty, a lengthy one for his standards. Olivia read it.

Thanks. You kicked me out like a dog. Didn’t even listen to what I had to say. If you’d just allowed me to come in, I could have explained everything, but hey, that’s OK.

Olivia thought that Ty clearly didn’t realize just what had actually happened. She texted back, Well, it doesn’t have anything to do with armed police tramping all over my house because you were going to blow your head off—yet again—but it might just have a lot to do with the conversation I had with your girlfriend!!!!!!!! DO NOT contact me again.

She sent the message. No reply arrived. There was another loud silence. Clearly, Ty was caught on the back foot and thinking, desperately, about how to explain each of them to the other. Time was passing. Olivia had no way of contacting this Sophie. Maybe she hadn’t got that telephone number, or maybe she had taken it down wrong. Maybe the woman had just called Ty and warned him. Maybe she was more than just the other woman—maybe she was his wife. Olivia gave up. She paced nervously, and she smoked. Time seemed to crawl by very slowly. Nothing was happening, and she could do nothing. Ty had spent time away so often—clearly, he had been with this Sophie. Olivia knew that Ty had spent time with Shirley. She had driven past Shirley’s home and seen his car outside often enough. What a bloody fool she had been —paying for his trips to Jamaica; Buying him a new car; Putting up with his temperament and drinking; Financing a lifestyle he could never afford but always demanded. She did all this because she’d loved him. She was so frustrated because she could not get to the people she wanted to talk to—her stress levels built and built.

Then, her phone rang. It was just after half past nine in the evening. The incoming call was from a strange number. She picked it up and took a deep breath.

Hello?

Is that Olivia? Yes.

Hello, it’s Sophie.

Sophie was quite obviously very nervous. She launched into a long apologetic explanation of how she’d had to work until nine-thirty. Then, she told Olivia that Ty had called her at work, had been very aggressive and nasty, and had blamed her for the whole crisis. Olivia just wanted to know where Sophie fitted in this whole triangle. Originally, Olivia had thought that it was just her and Shirley, but now it seemed there was a third one. What sort of relationship was it? Obviously, it was a sexual one—but what else? Sophie was making it clear that she and Ty did not live together. Ty just called in for very short periods of time, obviously on his way to visit Shirley.

Olivia discovered that Sophie lived in a small market town en route from her to Shirley. Olivia heard how Ty had texted Sophie the same sickly-sweet propaganda, had told her he loved her and couldn’t live without her, that she was his angel, and on and on. It seemed that Ty had been calling her less and less often of late, and that he had been cooler towards Sophie. Olivia heard how Sophie had been bankrolling Ty, non-stop, how he had been calling her from Jamaica on his latest trip and demanding more money to get another flight, as his had been delayed.

Olivia stopped Sophie at this point. "You do realize that I paid for this trip to Jamaica—and the last one? I went with him. We flew premier class and stayed at the most expensive hotel on the island. He proposed to me on this trip. He s et up a romantic dinner on the beach, with all the trimmings, and he went down on one knee and asked me to marry him. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t want to, not after the way he’s behaved on both trips . He put me through hell and treated me absolutely awfully, as if I was an embarrassment to be put up with! But I said yes and accepted the ring—I paid for the bloody thing! How could I have said no with so many people watching? It would have been a total embarrassment for both of us, plus, there would have been hell to pay afterwards! But it was going to be the longest engagement in history, believe me. I kept him for nine months—he was living with me. Didn’t you know that?"

Sophie was quiet and she sounded very beaten down. No, he told me he was living with a bunch of blokes in this house, that he had nothing but a tiny room, that he barely had enough money for food—I was always giving him my last tenner because it hurt me to think of him being hungry and alone. I kept telling him to move in with me so he could be warm and share our food, but he kept refusing. No wonder, if he was living with you, and getting his holidays paid for. He told me his father was dying each time; he just had to get there. So, he took everything I had—and it was all a lie, and he was living with you—

He lived in total luxury with me here. I left my lovely country cottage and moved in here because he kept demanding that I did. It’s been like that since I met him four years ago—

Four years ago? I met him only three years ago! You must have been together then—

We kept breaking up—arguing—on and off. Maybe it was then when we split up.

But you got back together again, and you lived together, and he went on conning me and lying to me—all that money that I really couldn’t afford. And I thought I loved him—I think I always knew he didn’t really love me. I never really trusted him. But this is a terrible shock—he’s taken me for a goddamned patsy. The bastard!

Olivia felt that she, too, had been taken for a patsy, but an even bigger one. He had cost her a fortune to keep. She had financed his upmarket car. Certainly, his disappearances had grown less frequent of late, and he had given her about £800 towards their recent trip, of which £200 had been spent on the beach dinner and proposal. The other £600 had just gone back to him because she had spent it on the pricey outfit he’d worn at the wedding. However, that £800 had, Olivia learnt, been given to him by Sophie when Ty had pleaded for cash to go and see his father, who seemed to have been dying for a rather long time. The man was terminally ill, but Ty had used his condition quite shamelessly as emotional blackmail on Sophie—on Olivia, too, but at least she had met the family and knew the score. Sophie had actually paid for Olivia’s proposal set-up! Olivia was furious, not just at Ty’s deception and lies, but because he had conned this woman by using his father as the reason. He had texted her still whilst they were in Jamaica and begged for more still! Olivia was outraged. Ty had had the best that was on offer. Why had he needed to take this woman’s meagre earnings? Sophie had explained her circumstances to Olivia—the losses of her two children, the way she was bringing up her grandson, and the fact that she was still working at her age. That was another thing Olivia couldn’t quite cope with. Sophie was in her seventies. She didn’t sound it when she was talking, and Olivia would not have known if she hadn’t told her. Olivia’s anger grew. She told Sophie that the earlier trip to Jamaica had been to attend a family wedding. Sophie had not known this. She had scraped together a fair amount of money for the trip, believing, as ever, that it was the final time for Ty to see his father. Then, Olivia told Sophie that this was not the paradise she might be picturing, that Ty had already been kicked out, and what had actually happened on that fateful day and evening. She explained that things had been very bad for some time, and that the two trips to Jamaica had been total nightmares.

Sophie told of the two phone calls she had had that evening, and how Ty had accused her of causing the situation, blaming her irrationally.

Olivia suggested that they meet. She wanted to see the woman Ty had been running to and talk to her face to face. Sophie said she could try to get up there, but she didn’t have a car.

Olivia realised that this was not the woman she had imagined. She agreed to drive down to see Sophie. Sophie gave her the address and the postcode. They were talking on Sophie’s landline when her mobile rang. Sophie knew it was Ty.

Stay on this line, Olivia. He’s calling my mobile. I’ll get as close as I can to the landline. She picked up the mobile but said nothing.

He was breathing quite heavily. Oh, so it’s you. Yes, Ty, it’s me.

He was clearly very drunk, almost unintelligible. He mumbled to himself for a short while, and Sophie could only pick ou t white trash and bloody women ask for it.

You’ve got them all there, haven’t you? "No, Ty. I’m the only one here."

Well, they’re listening, all of them, I know—Olivia and Shirley. You’re all fucking in on it, I know. And you—you’re bloody evil, an evil, fucking bitch. You’ve been working away at this in the background. You set it all up.

Ty rambled on for almost forty minutes. They couldn’t actually hear a lot of what he said, but they did hear, Shirley, I had more than twenty years of total bloody misery with you. Olivia, well, I still love you, always did and always will. You’re a miserable, controlling cow, but I still love you, and I’m gonna get you back. I want you. And you, Sophie. Well, you—what can I say? It is what it is. You just tried to buy me. I got damned sick of having to get the men you gave me money to buy for you, just so you could fuck them.

Sophie took a deep breath. She spoke very quietly. That is, as you well know, a total lie. Just a way to try and explain why you took so much money from me and lied to me so badly. It’s not a very good story really, is it, Ty?

Ah well, Sophie, you forget I’ve kept all my WhatsApp texts. He laughed triumphantly.

Sophie’s voice was even, almost a whisper. And you forget, my dear, that I have all mine, too. Every single one. Shall we compare them? She could almost hear Ty gritting his teeth.

I know about all those other men you had; your neighbours told me about them. Dozens of men—were always there. They told me—

And exactly how did they tell you, Ty? They don’t know you, or anything about you, or your phone number, or your address. But I’ll happily go round now and get them to tell you what a goddamn liar you are. Ty mumbled something incomprehensible.

Then there’s your kids. You’re such a fucking bitch that it’s no wonder they wanted to leave you—die and leave you to get away from you. No wonder you keep that fucking grandson of yours away from his father. It’s just guilt, isn’t it, guilt over her death!

Sophie dug her nails into the palms of her hands. She had turned to ice inside. "Do not even mention my children. They are something a scum like you is not worthy of talking about." Her voice was even, calm, dignified. She did not rise to the provocation.

Olivia, listening on the end of the landline, was pushing her knuckles into her mouth to prevent herself from screaming out at him,

You evil bastard! She wanted to leap at him and remove his eyeballs. In that second, Olivia saw Ty for