‘Nothing, I was too shocked. My head was all over the place and I didn’t know what to do and then…’
Harley’s lip wobbled and tears started pumping from her eyes, her composure crumbled and she began to sob, causing Molly to reach out and place an arm around her shoulder as she waited for her to speak. When Harley found the words, Molly wished she hadn’t.
‘He said that all I needed to do was be nice to him now and then, whenever he rang me, and then it would all be okay and he’d forget the debt and my job would be safe and then… and then he said maybe I should show him how grateful I was… and he unzipped his pants and made me … you know… give him a blow job.’
Molly’s hands flung to her face, hardly able to believe what she’d heard as Harley sobbed her heart out in the seat next to her. She felt sick but that was nothing to how the poor broken woman seated next to her must have been feeling. So instinctively, she took Harley in her arms and let her cry it out. Minutes passed. Molly waited patiently, her hatred of Shane growing with every hiccup and sob. Eventually Harley composed herself with the help of a packet of tissues from the glove box and a few great gulps of water from the bottle in her bag.
‘Harley, I’m so sorry you’ve been through all this. I truly am and I’m disgusted by the way Shane has treated you.’ Molly had a hundred questions but didn’t want to make it worse so waited for Harley to take the lead.
‘It’s okay, it’s not your fault and I accept my part in it all and I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I’ve had going over it all, regretting what I did and trying to work out how to make it right. I’m so full of hate and anger, you know. He made me feel like a prostitute that night, and twice since, clicking his fingers whenever he fancied. The way he spoke to me, behaved, reminded me of one of those books where the lord of the bloodymanor has his way with the kitchen maid. He’s made me feel cheap and I’m disgusted with myself more than anything, and that’s why I decided to put an end to it.’
Molly’s body stiffened. ‘What do you mean? How?’
Harley’s body sagged and she rested against the head rest, looking shattered. ‘I can’t go on anymore. I’ve met someone. A really nice lad from work and I know he’s going to ask me out properly soon. We chat all the time on the phone and when we can at work, but I’m scared Shane will get wind of it and sack him or something. And anyway, how can I say yes with this hanging over my head? I can’t start a proper relationship while I’m being forced to have sex with the man who everyone is terrified will take over ClearGlass?’
The memory of what Phoebe had told her about Kye pinged into Molly’s head, so feeling even more of a kinship with Harley than she ever thought possible under the circumstances, she reached over and rubbed her arm. ‘Well, if me and my aunt have anything to do with it, that won’t happen but I’ll explain that later. Just tell me what you were going to do.’
Harley puffed out a long sigh that must have emptied her lungs. ‘I was going to tell your mum. The whole thing. Because I figured it was the only way. I couldn’t exactly go to HR and report him or tell Aunty Magda. She’d be so ashamed of me, then she’d take a knife and kill Shane. I had nobody to turn to so I figured that if Julia’s marriage really was on the rocks… Aunty Magda had told me they were always rowing and I already knew from cleaning your house that they slept in separate rooms… there was a chance Julia might be glad of the news. It’d give her a damn good reason to divorce Shane for a start.’
Molly smiled. ‘And you’d be right, it would’ve been a great reason but sadly it’s too late now. So what did you do?’
‘I’m so sorry, Molly, but it was on the day she died. I went to the house after work on my bike, to speak to her in person. Ididn’t want to go up the drive because of your Ring camera. I was scared Shane would see, so I was going to use our secret path, you know, through the fence and bushes at the back. But when I cycled past Shane was coming out of the house and Dee was going up the drive. I hid behind the trees on the lane. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but shortly after, Shane shot off in his car and Dee went inside. There was no way I could confront Julia while Dee was there so I decided to leave it, and go back every day if need be, or ring Julia and ask her if I could meet her somewhere. I’d just hoped to do it privately, at home, because it’s not nice news to hear in public, is it?’
Molly nodded. ‘No, it’s not. So you were there before Mum died? Did you see anyone else near the house? Shane definitely didn’t come back? You didn’t go back later?’
‘No, he didn’t, not while I was there, anyway. But like I said, Dee was home so I gave up. I suppose I didn’t think it through properly but I was so fed up of it all, and I was getting desperate.’ Harley looked down at the scrunched up tissue in her hand and sighed.
Molly placed her hand over Harley’s. ‘Listen, I promise you I’m going to find a way to set you free from this awful hold Shane has on you. My aunt will help us. You’re not alone now, Harley, okay. So if he contacts you again, ignore him or better still block his number but please, make a copy of those texts, screenshots, anything.’
‘I will. I’ll do it as soon as I get back to work… Oh, and there’s something else. He rang me the other day and asked me to lie for him to the police and tell them he was with me the night your mum died. He’s so weird, talking to me like I’m his girlfriend, as though he doesn’t accept that he’s forcing me to be with him, the freak. But no way am I doing that, Molly. He can get fucked.’
Molly feigned shock. ‘Oh Christ, really! He’s unbelievable. Will you write that down, too. Anything you can think of or remember will be helpful.’
Harley nodded and then checked the clock on the dash. ‘Look, I have to go or I’ll be late but can I call you if I need to? It’s such a massive relief to share it all and I am scared of him, and what he could do.’
‘Of course, ring or text me anytime. I’m at the end of the phone if you need me.’ Molly wished she could wangle the afternoon off for Harley who looked wrung out as she gathered her bag from the footwell and they said their goodbyes.
She watched Harley make her way back to work, her gait slow, like she had the worries of the world dragging her down. Molly felt so bad for her, especially because Shane thought he was going to be the big man at ClearGlass and would probably make Harley’s life even more of a misery now. She had to tell Nancy and make damn sure the board of directors could get rid of him. And there was something else that was starting to niggle.
Everything she’d learned, since the day Phoebe told her about Kye, her mum’s hints that she was planning something, Nancy being in on it all, right up until poor Harley’s confession, pointed to the cold hard fact that Shane was not the man she’d thought he was.
He was manipulative, controlling, mean and abusive. What he’d done to Harley was low, probably qualified as some type of sexual assault, and all the time he was setting her up and sleeping with her, he’d been sleeping with Molly, too.
Bile roiled in her stomach when the next wave of thoughts hit. What if he’d set Molly up for the same? Would he start to blackmail her, too. Threaten to expose their secret if she didn’t do as he wished. Was he already calculating, plotting how he could use her mum’s death to his advantage in every way? She and Dee were likely to inherit a fortune so what if he threatenedto tell everyone about their affair unless she paid him off. No, he wouldn’t, would he?
Panic took hold, as she put her car in gear and indicated, pulling onto the road, desperate to get home and speak to Nancy. One thing was for sure, she had underestimated Shane. Everyone had, and somehow, she had to stop him from ruining all their lives.
Chapter Forty
When Molly let herself into the house, she stalled a second at the door, taking in what she could only describe as soul-crushing emptiness. It was a home full of beautiful things, furnishings, artwork and such like, but she suddenly realised that it was missing one vital ingredient – a mother.
It was Julia who made the heart of the house beat. Her presence lifted those in it, her arms always open for a hug, her ears ready to listen to a problem or good news. No matter how busy or focused she was, Julia always had time for her girls. And now she was gone and it was like her spirit had packed up and left, too.
All around were signposts reminding Molly that Julia had been there, chosen a rug or a painting, or positioned a lamp or ornament,my objets d’art, as she’d referred to her bits and pieces dotted all over the house. In the walk-in wardrobe upstairs hung her mum’s beautiful clothes, all of them tasteful, statement pieces or casual lazy-Sunday outfits that epitomised who her mum was on the outside and in. And now they were bodyless, useless rags with slouched shoulders and dangling legshanging forlorn. The whole house was bodyless and soulless and crying out for her mum.
Molly went over to the stairs and sat. Hands and elbows resting on her knees, head leant against the banister. Why had she done it? The thing with Shane. How could she have done such a terrible thing to her own mum? The betrayal and deceit was one thing, the casual cruelty of the affair another, and her total disregard for the damage she might cause if they were found out actually disgusted her. That she had been so utterly blinkered and selfish, so thoroughly disrespectful of the woman who had given birth to her, cared for her, given her every single thing she’d ever wanted in life.
Molly put her hands over her mouth to hold in the scream that was building inside, rising up, constricting her throat as it fought to escape, and when it did, it came out as a muffled moan, tortured, laboured, deserved. Tears poured from her eyes, pumped out by the pressure of confusion that her head couldn’t contain. Questions, so many questions.
