The Marriage

by K. L. Slater

  ‘And in reality you don’t need him at all,’ Bridget added.

  I held up my drink. ‘Cheers to that!’ I said, and we clinked glasses.

  Sixty

  The guest

  Two months later

  It was a small gathering in the garden of Jill Billinghurst’s house, so it was so lovely to get an invitation, a totally unexpected treat.

  The bride looked radiant and the groom so dashing. Jill had told her they had dressed in similar wedding outfits to their special day in the prison when nobody could celebrate with them. Jill looked the happiest I’d seen her in years and we got to chat a little bit.

  ‘I feel like I’ve had a new lease of life,’ she told me, ‘now that I’ve got rid of that pain-in-the-backside husband of mine.’ Oh, that made me chuckle!

  There were lovely nibbles and proper champagne, and I confess I thoroughly enjoyed indulging in a glass or two. It was so heart-warming to see all these nice, genuine people having a merry time on the other side of such trauma.

  There were so many good things about the party, but for me, the big bonus was being able to chat to Ellis. Such a handsome boy, and although Jill had confided he spent too much time playing computer games, like so many youngsters these days, once I got him talking, I discovered his love of drawing and writing his own stories.

  ‘I really miss my mum, but one thing she always wanted was for me to play less on my screen, and so I’m trying to do more drawing and writing at my new school,’ he said, touching my heart with his openness. Such a commendable young man after everything he’d been through!

  I turned around when I heard my name.

  ‘Oh, it’s you, Tom!’ I beamed as he walked over, tall and suave in his well-cut navy suit.

  ‘Now this is a very special lady, Ellis,’ he told the boy. ‘Miss Threadgold used to teach both me and your dad. She was very strict but fair, and you’d do well to listen to any advice she gives you.’

  ‘Oh nonsense, Tom. I’m sure you and Bridget do a wonderful job guiding Ellis. I hear he’s a talented artist, and I wondered if perhaps one day I might pop over to the house to do some art together.’

  ‘That’s a wonderful idea, thank you.’ Tom beamed. ‘What do you reckon, Ellis?’

  ‘Cool,’ Ellis agreed.

  ‘I’ll speak to Bridget and we’ll be in touch then,’ Tom said brightly. ‘Take care, Miss Threadgold, lovely to see you again.’ And he was off, to circulate around his other guests.

  Back home later that day, I looked around my little house and thought how lucky I was. I’d come a long way myself in recent years.

  Seeing everyone today had brought back that fateful night when I’d heard Jesse telling Tom that Robert Billinghurst had fathered Coral’s child. I’d been shocked and appalled, but the worst was to come.

  Year after year, I watched Robert Billinghurst getting away with everything he’d done. Held up as a pillar of the community, quoted in the local newspaper as the voice of authority on the mental wellbeing of young people. And, earlier in the year, even some kind of accolade for work in the county presented by the town’s mayor. I was finding it harder to manage without my salary, and to see him, footloose and fancy-free after his wicked deeds … well, it didn’t seem fair.

  Then I ran into an ex-student of mine, now a senior bank official and working abroad. He relayed some entertaining anecdotes of some things people got up to in order to shield their income from tax. One of those things was to acquire an untraceable, numbered bank account. It didn’t take me long to set up something fairly private for myself, although perfectly legal, I hasten to add. I opened a completely separate bank account from my usual one and also a PO Box address to enable cash to be sent.

  Robert Billinghurst duly received an anonymous message telling him that I was someone who knew all about Coral and the baby and if he didn’t want that shared with his employers and his wife, then he’d have to buy his way out to save his squeaky-clean image. With hardly any bother at all, he paid me a considerable monthly sum for the five years I’d had to extend my mortgage by and then, true to my word, I released him from his commitment.

  I’d now paid my mortgage, thanks to my enterprising idea, and I’d even salted some money away so that young Ellis would receive a little nest egg of his own when he turned eighteen.

  And now, after our lovely afternoon, Tom and his adorable little family would take me into their hearts and home soon to help young Ellis with his studies.

  Like I’d prayed would happen all those years ago, everything had turned out rather splendidly in the end.

  If the twists and turns of The Marriage had you gripped, then you’ll love Blink, a gripping thriller about every mother’s worst nightmare.

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  Available to download here!

  Blink

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  What if the person you love most in the world was in terrible danger… because of you?

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  Three years ago, Toni’s five-year-old daughter Evie disappeared after leaving school. The police have never been able to find her. There were no witnesses, no CCTV, no trace.

  * * *

  But Toni believes her daughter is alive. And as she begins to silently piece together her memories, the full story of the past begins to reveal itself, and a devastating truth.

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  Toni’s mind is trapped in a world of silence, her only chance to save herself is to manage the impossible. She must find a way to make herself heard. She must find her daughter.

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  A compelling, gripping thriller with a breathtaking twist that will keep you awake until the early hours. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Behind Closed Doors and The Sister.

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  What readers are saying about Blink:

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  ‘I was excited to start reading this one and once I started I couldn’t stop. I devoured it. Chomped away chapter by chapter until I have hoofed the whole damned lot and you know what? It left me hungry for more… An absolutely stonking 5 stars from me.’ Jen Med’s Book Reviews

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  ‘The book had me from the very first sentence and kept hold of me until I finished it… There are twists galore but on one occasion my jaw actually dropped open as I realised that all was not as it seemed. Fantastic writing, excellent characterisation that has left me salivating for book number three! Five stars.’ Angela Marsons

  Hear More from K.L. Slater

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  Books by K.L. Slater

  The Marriage

  The Girl She Wanted

  Little Whispers

  Single

  The Silent Ones

  Finding Grace

  Closer

  The Secret

  The Visitor

  The Mistake

  Liar

  Blink

  Safe With Me

  A Letter from K.L. Slater

  Thank you so much for reading The Marriage and I really hope you enjoyed the book. If you did and would like to keep up to date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

  Sign up here!

  The idea for The Marriage began with my husband spotting a local newspaper story about a man who killed a stranger on a night out with a single punch. With the help of a restorative justice programme, he became good friends with his victim’s mother.

  The story ignited my interest, and when I get ‘that feeling’, I always invest some time to think around the idea. I started to play around with the facts. I thought, what if the man killed his best friend rather than a stranger, and
what if he wasn’t just friends with his victim’s mother, but ended up marrying her! That became the real seed of the idea, and it grew rapidly in my head, which I think is always a good sign for a writer.

  I always outline a new story to get things straight in my head and to let my editor see what I have in mind. But there is no real detail in the outline and it’s only when I start to write that the characters come to life and things get interesting. As I developed the character of Tom, it became apparent that he’d had a problematic relationship with his father from childhood. I enjoyed exploring this angle of his character and seeing how seemingly disconnected events from someone’s childhood can have implications in adult life. The Billinghurst family unit is complicated further when Tom’s mother, Jill, takes it upon herself to try and keep the peace between family members. An exhausting and thankless task that perhaps many of us recognise!

  This book is set in Nottinghamshire, the place I was born and have lived all my life. Local readers should be aware that I sometimes take the liberty of changing street names or geographical details to suit the story.

  I do hope you enjoyed reading The Marriage and getting to know the characters. If so, I would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to write a review. I’d love to hear what you think, and it makes such a difference helping new readers to discover one of my books for the first time.

  I love hearing from my readers – you can get in touch on my Facebook page, through Twitter, Goodreads or my website.

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  Thank you to all my wonderful readers … until next time,

  * * *

  Kim x

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  The Girl She Wanted

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  * * *

  What if my sister is unstable and everyone can see it but me? What was she really doing standing over Florence’s cot in the middle of the night?

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  Alexa has always looked up to her older sister Carrie. Carrie lives in Alexa’s family home, and adores her one-year-old niece Florence. Alexa doesn’t know how they would cope without her. So when Carrie is suspended from her job as a senior nurse, accused of the most terrible crime, Alexa reels in disbelief. Alexa knows how caring Carrie is, and as she watches Florence gurgling and cooing whenever Carrie is around, she knows her little girl is in safe hands.

  * * *

  Alexa’s husband doesn’t trust Carrie. He wants her out of the house, unable to ignore what people are saying about her. But when he suggests that Carrie could be a danger to their daughter, Alexa shuts him out. Nobody will ever come between her and her sister.

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  Then Florence is hurt while in Carrie’s care and Alexa at last starts to wonder. Alexa has always wanted to protect Carrie from the past they have hidden. But does Alexa know what Carrie wants? And will the secret that has kept the sisters together now destroy her little girl?

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  A completely gripping rollercoaster of a read about the darkness families hide behind closed doors. Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will be hooked on The Girl She Wanted.

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  Readers are loving K.L. Slater:

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  ‘Oh. My. Goodness. What a book!… It kept me awake when I should have been asleep… I couldn’t put it down!… Kept me hanging onto every single word… I just needed to know what happened.’ Stardust Book Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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  ‘WOW WOW WOW!!! What a fantastic book!! I couldn’t put this one down… I love this author and this book blew me away, the best yet from her!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  Little Whispers

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  * * *

  You shared a secret with the wrong person.

  * * *

  Janey Markham is thrilled to be moving with her family to Buckingham Crescent, the smartest address in a desirable suburban town.

  * * *

  Worried she’ll be excluded by the glossy local mothers, Janey is thrilled when she meets Tanya, the kind of woman she has always looked up to. Tanya takes Janey under her wing, and her teenage daughter Angel is amazing with Janey’s little boy. As Janey and Tanya grow closer, Janey feels she can finally leave her troubled past behind.

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  But then everything changes…

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  In a weak moment over a bottle of wine, Janey finds herself telling Tanya her most shocking secret. Why wouldn’t she trust her new friend?

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  The following day, Janey sees Angel, with a man old enough to be her father, pushing someone into a car. The next day a body is found and police appeal for witnesses – and share a picture of the same car…

  * * *

  When Janey tells Tanya she is going to the police, Tanya turns threatening. She’ll stop at nothing to defend Angel, even if her daughter is guilty. If Janey says anything, Tanya will make sure that her dark secret gets out.

  * * *

  Janey faces an impossible choice. Stay quiet about what she saw that terrible day. Or speak up, and destroy the family she has worked so hard to protect…

  * * *

  From million-copy bestseller K.L. Slater comes this twisty and absolutely unputdownable roller-coaster ride of a read. Fans of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl will be totally hooked on Little Whispers.

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  What everyone is saying about K.L. Slater:

  * * *

  ‘I want to take it and scream from the rooftops. I want to make everyone I know read a copy. I want to knock on doors and leave this book in mailboxes… Enthralling, fast-paced and dark… I read this one into the night, I left the book open on my bed so I could try and absorb more as I slept… if you want a hair-raising thriller, then look no further.’ Clues and Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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  ‘Another masterpiece… simply the full psychological thriller package!… There is no way the explosive ending will not completely shock and surprise you!’ It’s All About Books, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  Single

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  * * *

  ‘I keep feeling like I’m being watched – dropping the boys off at school, choosing wine at the supermarket – but when I turn around there’s nobody there…’

  * * *

  When single mother Darcy’s son falls from a rope bridge at a local playground, life stands still. She clutches his small, limp body, frozen, until a pair of strong hands push her aside, and she watches as George, a local doctor, saves her son’s life.

  * * *

  George is a single parent too, and with his twinkling hazel eyes, easy charm, and lack of wedding band is almost too good to be true, but coffee becomes lunch, lunch becomes dinner, and soon they can’t go an evening without seeing each other. When he invites her to move into his beautiful home with its sprawling garden for her boys, Darcy doesn’t hesitate.

  * * *

  But as Darcy is settling in, she receives a bunch of flowers with a chilling message. George says they’re from an obsessed ex-girlfriend, Opal, and days later Opal turns up at Darcy’s son’s football match. She claims to have shocking information that could threaten George’s custody of his daughter.

  * * *

  Darcy doesn’t know who to trust, but she’s starting to suspect that, whatever the truth, she might have put her beloved boys into terrible danger…

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  From the million-copy-bestselling author K.L. Slater this utterly gripping psychological thriller will make you gasp out loud as you race towards the unforgettable twist. If you loved The Girl on the Train and The Wife Between Us this book is for you.

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