CARING AND KIND TO VICIOUS AND VILE

Walking into the bathroom I saw heart-shaped tea lights flickering around a bath full of foamy bubbles. 

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‘This is lovely,’ I gasped. ‘You deserve it,’ William, then 34, said. It was July 2017, and no one had ever run me a bath before, but William, my partner of a month, was the most thoughtful person I’d ever met.

As I sank into the hot water, he went downstairs to entertain my children, Loren, then 14, and Kieran, 12. He was great with them and I wondered how I’d ever got so lucky.

William and I had met in 2002 working at the local swimming pool. We’d had a brief fling after I split with the kids’ dad, but neither of us was ready for a relationship – until now.

We’d reconnected after he’d messaged me on Facebook, and we’d fallen for each other quickly. William was a perfect gentleman – he opened doors, cuddled me at every opportunity and constantly told me how lovely I looked.

After a few months together, he moved in. Loren liked him and he bonded with Kieran over BMX bikes. As a dog walker, I was out for most of the day, but I’d come home to a clean house and dinner on the table every night.

Only, my bliss was cut short when one day in 2018, William leant over me as I scrolled through Facebook on my phone.

‘Why have you got men on there?’ he demanded. He sounded annoyed.

‘They’re my friends,’ I laughed. ‘I’ve known them years.’

The atmosphere felt suddenly tense as William shook his head with anger. ‘You’re messaging them behind my back,’ he shouted.

After reassuring him, I sat there feeling uneasy. I’d never seen this side to William and I didn’t like it at all.