Jade Roper had known that something wasn't right in her marriage for five years. They had only been married for six years and the first year had been great, but it had gone downhill since then. Her husband became uninterested in her. He began to spend more and more time at the office – that was what he said – but when confronted with the fact that her friend had seen him going into a pub with a blonde woman when he was supposed to be working, he claimed that they were just friends. She believed him – her husband had never been unfaithful to her before they were married, so why would he do it while they were married? She'd convinced herself that she was being stupid, that they must have been work colleagues nipping to the pub after a long day, but something still felt wrong.

After being asked about the pub, her husband had spent even more time at the 'office', claiming that he had to prove himself because he was the new sergeant.

It wasn't until she found the text messages that she knew there was definitely something wrong. Texts to someone called J.S, obviously they were initials but she had no idea whose initials they were. Her initials had been J.S before she was married but she had never received any of those texts so her husband couldn't possibly have been texting her. She knew she shouldn't look at them but she read them anyway. Her husband seemed to be texting someone he was at police training college with – someone he hadn't seen in a while – and they were speaking about meeting up for a drink. That was who he'd met that day at the pub. There was nothing especially incriminating on his messages, so why hide their name and only insert initials?

That was two years ago.

Now, staring at her husband's secret stash of photos, Jade asked herself why she had been so naïve. She should have walked out of the relationship the minute she thought something fishy was going on. She should have at least asked him about the text messages.

She stared at the photos she had found in her husband's wardrobe. They were all of the same woman. A slim, blonde woman with beautiful, big blue eyes stared back. Jade guessed that these pictures were at least ten years old, judging by the type of clothes the woman was wearing. Was this the woman he had been seen with in the pub? She matched the description. She turned the photos over one by one and to her surprise the dates were written on the back of every photo. The earliest one was 1985. Her husband would have been at training college at this time. The latest photo was taken on the woman's wedding. On the back was written 'J's wedding to A.S'. That meant the woman in the picture was J.S. This was the woman he was texting.

She asked herself why he would hide the photos. And the text messages, in fact. She wasn't a protective wife; she didn't mind her husband having female friends that he went to the pub with. She didn't mind that he was friends with people from training college. What she minded was that he had kept it a secret from her.

She turned the photos over again to look at the woman. She thought that the woman was much prettier than she could ever be, and that hurt.

xXxXx

"What are you doing?!"

Andy walked into the bedroom to find his wife sitting on the bed, crying and staring at photos. As he moved closer to the bed, he saw that they were the ones he had tried to keep a secret.

"Who the hell is this?" Jade asked.

"She's just a friend," Andy replied.

"Just a friend? Why would you keep someone who's 'just a friend' from me?"

"I didn't want you to get jealous," was Andy's reply.

Jade scoffed. "Jealous? I'm not the jealous type, you know I'm not!"

Andy stood with his head bowed. "Look, Jade –"

She interrupted him. "Are you having an affair?"

"What?! No, of course I'm not – I love you."

"Then who is she?" Jade asked.

Andy sighed. He was going to have to tell her.

"Her name is Janet Scott."

"And who is she?"

"She's a friend. We met in training college. I hadn't seen her for a while so we decided to meet up for a drink to catch up. Those photos are old."

"I know that," Jade replied. "I've seen the dates on the back. Anything else you want to tell me?"

Andy sighed again. He was going to have to tell her the whole truth. He sat on the edge of the bed.

"Okay, the truth is that we went out in training college. We were an item. She broke up with me because she'd met someone else – someone different, someone who wasn't me. I was madly in love with her and for her to end the relationship so suddenly, it was a big shock. Apparently, everyone had seen it coming – they said I was too clingy, too emotional. I honestly don't know what went wrong."

"And do you still love her now?"

Andy sighed for a third time. "Once you fall in love, you can't fall out of it. You can't help who you fall in love with," he replied.

Jade looked devastated. "Oh my god, I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"Look, I'm sorry. I still love you, I always have."

Jade scoffed. "You don't love me. I'm just a replacement for her." She pointed at the photos. She went to storm out of the bedroom but stopped suddenly.

"You said her name was Janet Scott?" she asked.

Andy nodded.

"And you knew her before we met?"

"Yes."

"She got married before we met?"

"Yes."

"So her name was already Janet Scott when you met me?" Jade wanted to make sure that she'd got this absolutely clear.

"Yeah, why?" Andy asked.

"Janet Scott… Janet Scott… J.S – the initials on the back of the photo."

"What about them?!"

"Jade Saddler. That's my maiden name. My initials were J.S."

"And?"

"You didn't marry me for love. You've never loved me. You just married me as a replacement for Janet. You even married someone with the same initials, for God's sake!"

Jade went to storm out of the room. Andy stood up and grabbed hold of her arm.

"I didn't marry you as a replacement!" he shouted. "I fucking love you, I always have. The initials thing is just a coincidence."

Jade looked down her nose in disgust. She knew he had never loved her. She tugged her arm out of his reach and slammed the door behind her.

"Jade! I need you!" Andy shouted.

He heard the rattling of keys and the slamming of the front door. Andy slid down the wall and crouched in the corner.

"I need you," he whispered, sobbing.