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‘A few weeks,’ Zennor echoed. That would have been while she and Trev were engaged. Her stomach knotted into a tight ball. ‘And when you say he was “with” a young woman …’

‘I saw this young woman coming out of his room at the hotel at midnight. For the avoidance of doubt, she kissed him – not in a platonic way – on the threshold and said she was gutted to have to leave but she had to get back to her husband.’

Zennor almost choked. Trev had been sleeping with another woman even as he was preparing to marry her.

‘I am sorry, my love …’ Sybil murmured.

Zennor glanced at Matt, whose fists were clenched tightly in his lap, looking at the ground.

‘Was it the waitress?’ Zennor said.

Matt shook his head. ‘No. It was his PA from work. Though Sybil didn’t know that at the time.’

‘I heard him say her name: Tara. She was tall with red hair and a Scouse accent.’

Zennor covered her mouth with her hand. ‘Of course it was her. I often wondered why he kept her on for so long because they always seemed to be at loggerheads. He told me he’d sacked her but … it was all a smokescreen. The absolute bastard!’ Pausing for breath, she turned to Matt. ‘And the waitress at our wedding. He wasn’t fighting her off, was he?’

‘Not exactly,’ Matt muttered.

‘Argh! I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Twice. Oh, I’m so bloody naïve. I am so—’ She broke off and swept them both up in a look. ‘There’s something I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? Either of you? Were you worried that I’d break it off with Trev? Because I would have!’

‘I wanted to tell you …’ Matt murmured.

‘I had the right to know.’

Sybil cut in. ‘You did, and Matt wanted you to, but I stopped him.’

Zennor’s emotions were at boiling point. ‘Why?’

Sybil spoke in a monotone, as if she were trying to distance herself from the actual words coming out of her mouth. ‘Because I was at the hotel too and Trev also saw me. I’d arranged to meet someone – special. We’d chosen that hotel because it’s out of the way. Perhaps for the very same reasons that Trev had.’ She stopped for a breath. ‘Please understand I have regretted this every day since. But I – The man I was meeting was the man I’d been in love with since your mother introduced us one evening at university. I was at the hotel in a room with your father.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Zennor thought she’d misheard. She wanted to have misheard what Sybil had told her. But she had to be absolutely clear, even if every word was like a knife twisting in her gut. She stood up and covered her face with her hands. Let it all go away, let this not be happening …

‘My dear, I am so sorry.’

She tore her hands away from her face and forced herself to look at the woman who she had worshipped and the man she loved. The man she’d risked her heart for again.

‘Are you,’ she said very slowly and carefully, ‘saying that while Trev was sleeping with his secretary, you were also having an affair with my dad?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

Zennor switched her focus to Matt, who was stony-faced across the table. God knows what he was thinking.

‘And you decided not to tell me?’ she said, returning to Sybil. ‘And you knew, and also decided not to enlighten me as to what a lying bastard I was marrying?’

‘I don’t think “decided” quite covers it. Trev had also seen me and your father earlier in the bar and put two and two together. Your father was still inside the room but I got out of the place fast. Trev followed me and threatened me. He said that if I told you or anyone about his PA then he would have no hesitation in telling you about my affair with your dad.’ Sybil’s eyes glistened with tears.

Zennor’s heart felt like a rock.

Her beloved dad and Sybil. Two people she loved. She’d occasionally wondered whether her parents’ marriage had been in trouble – well, no wonder. Perhaps her mother had always suspected or found out after Zennor had wed Trev. ‘How long had it been going on, this affair between you and Dad?’ she asked.

‘A few months. Your mum and dad were going through a bad patch. We didn’t plan it. It just happened. I don’t think it would have gone on for much longer. He was the love of my life, but I wasn’t his.’

Tears rolled down Sybil’s face.

Zennor was angry, hurt, confused – everyone around her had been keeping secrets and she felt foolish and naïve.