The Woman Next Door

She knows all your darkest secrets... Now she's the woman next door.

'It can't be. Please God, don't let it be. I left all that behind over twenty-five years ago. Didn't I?'

We've just got home after two weeks of sun, sea and relaxation when the doorbell rings. My husband answers and as soon as I hear her voice something jolts through me. It's adrenaline. My body is already in fight-or-flight mode.

It's been twenty-five years, but I'd know that laugh anywhere. I freeze. Don't let her in.

Now she's standing in my kitchen, smiling and shaking my husband's hand with her perfectly manicured nails. Stacy. She's our new next-door neighbour. What is she doing here? What does she want this time? I worked so hard to put the past behind me, to build this life for myself.

I will not let her take it from me.