Maybe shewillbuy somewhere new. If she can’t have a glamorous holiday somewhere hot with her friends, maybe she can spend the next week distracting herself browsing Rightmove. She could start working out where she might live next. What kind of place would she need? What kind of place does shewant? Certainly not that Surrey Hills mansion the group took her to see almost two months ago now. Paula’s not interested in anything like that. It was too big, too showy, too expensive. And gosh, it was also so very cold! She might have twenty million in the bank, but the idea of the heating bill on that place is enough to make her shiver.
But she reallydidlike the sweet little cottages that came with it – the so-called servants’ cottages round the back. Perhaps Paula could find something like that?
She smiles to herself at her kitchen table, imagining her very own country cottage with low beams and a huge open fireplace. The door frames would all be stooped and the wooden doors would have those sweet little latches. There would be gardens and flowers visible out of every window. It would be situated somewhere beautifuland peaceful, where no one on Facebook gets cross on a daily basis about the new speed restrictions.
Mind you, those new speed restrictions around hereareridiculous.
She sighs, imagining Audrey, Teddy and Ivy packing suncream and hats, preparing for their no-expense-spared trip to Saint-Tropez. Justimagine.
But she can’t go. And that’s that. She’s already made her decision and she stands by it. It was a silly idea and it’s just not the right time. Plus, have you seen how expensive suncream is these days? Eyewatering! And also literally eyewatering actually. The cream always gets in Paula’s eyes and makes them sting.
No, Paula needs to be at home right now. She needs to sort things out with Tilly. She needs to work out a solution to the problem with the loan sharks. She needs to figure out what she’s doing with her life. She needs to decide if she’s really going to help the rest of TLWWC get rid of this bodybuilder man, Owen, when they get back.
She sighs and stands up, filling the kettle and flicking it on just for something to do.
Maybe it’ll be good to have a bit of space from her new friends. It’s all been so full on and intense since she met them. They’ve seen so much of each other, spoken constantly, almost killed people together. It’s a lot for a brand-new friendship.
Paula pours herself a peppermint tea and sits back down, absent-mindedly opening the laptop on the table before her. She selects the already-open tabs for Facebook, X and Threads, feeling guilty. She promised the group that she’d stop looking at social media – and she has! Under her own name, at least. It turns out you can sign up with a fake nameincredibly easily. What did Seb call it?Lurking. He also said something aboutdoom scrolling. Which admittedly sounds a bit horrible, but Paula has mostly found the lurkiness and the doominess to be quite entertaining. There is so much nonsense out there to distract her from the world. As long as she specifically avoids the nonsense out there about her.
On Threads, someone has shared a funny anecdote about a Conservative MP who didn’t know the difference between Wales and Scotland. Someone else has done an entertaining breakdown of the latest sexcapades inBridgerton. And there’s a storm brewing over a rich kid fromMade in Chelseacomplaining about being forced to pay tax.
It’s all relatively amusing, and it works, for a moment, to help Paula forget.
But after a few minutes she can’t resist the pull any longer. She clicks the search box and types in the words ‘Paula Sheldon’. After a second’s hesitation she adds ‘Lottery’ and hits return.
It shows the ‘top’ comments and Paula wonders how someone out there decided these were the best, of all the horrible things people are saying about her.
Did you know that lottery winner Paula Sheldon is a CARER for old people? Anyone else thinking ANGEL OF DEATH???? #DefoKilledHerHusband
Good for mother Paula Sheldon getting rid of that sugar daddy just to take his money!!! And have you seen that new car?! She SLAYED and then she SLAYYYYYYYED. #BuffyTheLotterySlayer
Can’t stop LOLing at that vid of lottery winner Paula Sheldon running away from her own press conference in her slutty pink jumper. Shemust’ve been crapping herself after offing her hubby!!! And wtf was with that notebook? Clearly full of her murder-y plans.
Soooooo, we’re just expected to believe that woman Paula Sheldon happened to win the jackpot on the lottery and also just HAPPENED to lose her husband within a week in MYSTERIOUS circumstances??? Why are the police not on this??? Why are they so useless???
I would totally kill my husband too if I won the lottery. That would teach him to leave his protein powder all over the worktops every morning. Team Paula Sheldon!!!
Did you hear lottery killer Paula Sheldon even had karaoke at the funeral for her husband????? I know someone who was there and apparently they sung I Will Survive. Sounds like she was really sad, doesn’t it? What a joke. It couldn’t be any more obvious she did it.
Has anyone else read this stuff about the lottery winner whose husband ‘mysteriously died’, like, seconds after they won, like, £50million?!!!!!! #PaulaSheldonKilledJohnSheldon
Paula feels her whole body flush. The cereal she had for breakfast curdles in her stomach. She takes a sip of the herbal tea, hoping it will be calming. Her hands are shaking on the handle.
It’s not even accurate! It was twenty-one million, not fifty. She starts to reply, clacking furiously at the keyboard . . . and then stops herself. There’s no point. It would only lead to more suspicion, more anger, more mean-spirited accusations.
She’s about to exit the website when she stops, reading one more comment at the bottom of the page.
I personally know Paula Sheldon VERY WELL. And I know for a fact what she did to her husband. The truth will come out. #LotterywinnerPaulaSheldon #PoorJohnSheldon
She gasps, re-reading the comment several times. What onearthis that? Who is this person? She clicks on the profile but there is no other information. No other comments or tweets. Another lurker.
Could this really be someone she knows? Someone currently in her life?
For some reason, it reminds her of the texter. The one who kept asking for money and then wrote, ‘I know what you did. Everyone knows.’ She hasn’t heard anything more from them since. Not on text anyway. She thought they’d got sick of tormenting her but maybe they just moved online.
Paula sits back in her chair, her head spinning with possibilities. Things have changed so much in the last few months, it’s hard to picture herself before all this. Before John died, before she won all that money.
The lottery. The stupid lottery. It’s all the fault of those silly random numbers. She’s starting to wish she and John had never played in the first place.
