The day had finally arrived. I never thought I'd see the day when project J.A.R.L was completed, done and dusted.

The opening ceremony to our sustainable and affordable houses was well under way. The four of us decided to set up a marquee in the communal garden. It was a perfect day for the ceremony, the sun shone brightly onto the houses.

As people filtered in, the four of us said a few words, and cut the ribbon to mark the completion of the houses. A wave of cheers echo around me, and I couldn't help but paint a smile on my face.

What started off as a sceptical idea from Jason, turned into a well-established project, with the insight from us four.

As the night proceeded, people were free to walk around the estate. The buzz and energy of those around, astonished me, it made the night feel like it was something to be proud of.

As Alexander and I go around, talking to various people, in the corner of my eye I spot Lucinda. My stomach churns at the sight of her.

"I'm just going to sort a problem out." I say craning my head to Alexander.

As I leave his side, I feel his grip on my arm, he stops me and shakes his head. Deep down I knew he didn't what me to go over.

"Don't worry, baby." I say sending him a reassuring wink. I plant a kiss on his hand, and then make my way over to Lucinda.

I throw back the champagne, place the glass to the side and pick up another one as I pass a waiter. Every time I see Lucinda it felt like anger hardened onto my chest. Part of me wanted to scream and drag her by the hair, but then another part of me had to be the bigger person.

"Don't think I've forgotten about the pictures." I hissed coming face to face with Lucinda.

"What? What are you talking about?" Lucinda scoffs, acting like she's clueless.

"Don't play with me." I snapped. "You think it's funny getting someone to give me old pictures of you and Alexander."

Her mouth gapes open as if this is new information to her. Her brows furrow as if she's trying to compute what I said.

She then chuckles in a menacing way. "You think I would be that petty to send old pictures? Well, I didn't."

She turns away from me, facing the opposite direction. I bite down, gritting my teeth, a vortex of anger swirled inside of me. The fact that she was acting all calm about this, I knew she had something to do with those pictures.

"I don't believe a word coming out of your mouth!" I snap, grappling onto her arm ensuring that she's facing me again. "You tried to come up with your bullshit lies to drive a wedge between us, it didn't work. And the pictures? Just another pathetic attempt."

"But it made you think, right?" Lucinda plainly says, sipping her champagne. A smirk creeps to the side of mouth, eyeing me up and down as if she's high in the clouds, looking down on me.

"I am telling you now!" I hissed, pointing my finger at her. "Stay away! Business with you is done, we have nothing to do with you now, so just leave us alone and carry on with your life."

I abruptly turn around, trying to make a quick exit away from Lucinda.

"How do you sleep at night, knowing that Alexander could have lied do you." She says from behind me.

I stop and face her; I smile showing her that her poisonous words were not going to affect me.

"I sleep very well, next to Alexander with his arms wrapped around me, protecting me. How do you sleep? All alone? Knowing that if you never lied and cheated on Alexander you could have had what we had?"

Her vicious smirk drops by my words attacking her. I don't wait to see her response; I proceed to walk away. I wasn't going to let her change my judgement. All this anger and resentment I had towards Lucinda, felt somewhat good, but soon evaporated away when I saw Alexander.

I re-join him, as he automatically snakes his arm around me, I turn my head to see Lucinda from afar, watching us, seething with jealousy. I raise my glass to her and send her a wink. It felt good to have the upper-hand.

***

Within five minutes of coming home, Alexander received a phone call regarding the security alarms going off, in one of the new houses.

As Jason and Rose couldn't check it out, Alexander offered, I wanted to go with him but he insisted I stayed home, in case it was something serious.

It had roughly been an hour and I was still waiting for Alexander. As I sit on the edge of the bed, my stomach turns into knots and shrivels around, I anxiously wait for him.

My fingers fidget like a ticking clock, I was frazzled as to whether I should ring Alexander to see where he is.

A quiet knock at the door captures my attention. I pace over like a lightning bolt to see who it is. When I open the door, I see Maggie.

"Maggie? What's up what are you doing here at this time?" I ask noting the time, it had just gone past midnight.

"I was just doing last minute checks and I saw this near the door, on the floor. It looks like someone posted it." Maggie says, extending her hand towards me.

I look down at her hand, to see an envelope, which looks the same as the one I received from that mysterious woman. My eyes widen at the white envelope with my name, it's like I have been haunted by an inner anxiety that is taking over me. A sudden stab of anxiety pierces my gut.

I take the envelope, display a shaky smile and whisper thank you to Maggie. Quickly shutting the door, I press my back against it.

My heart stumbles into an uneven pattern. What could possibly be in here, I thought. Last time I got something similar, it was old pictures of Alexander and Lucinda. Now? What can it be? Many questions zoom into my mind.

Tension rose in my chest, which enables my heart to feel achy. I take a deep breath in, slowly exhaling out and abruptly opening the envelope, ripping it up and throwing the rubbish to the floor.

When I take the contents out, I soon realise that they are photographs. When my eyes comprehend what I was looking at, a heavy feeling weighs me down, as if there were a ton of bricks in my stomach.

I flick through the small number of photographs, and small gasps slip from my mouth. I pull the pictures to my chest, looking frantically around the room not knowing what to do or how to feel.

I rush to the bed where I set myself, I pull the pictures away from me and look at them again.

I was looking at pictures that seemed to have been taken within the last hour or so. From what I could tell it was Alexander and Lucinda, but it wasn't pictures from the past, it was the present.

I could tell that they were at the building complex of our new houses. But why were they there together.

The speck of doubt enters into my mind. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block the thoughts, but it was impossible.

Is that why Alexander didn't want me to come with him. Was he planning on meeting Lucinda back there? Were the alarms going off a cover up?

So many questions made me feel like my head was going to explode. My eyes started to brim with tears once again.

I couldn't take my mind back there, but the photographs in my head were forcing me to go to the dark place of doubt.

A sudden thought enters into my mind, I throw the photos onto the bed and I make a run for it. My feet slam against the ice-cold marble floor. I target the security room that's situated just outside in the front garden.

When I stumble into the room, the security guy jumps out of his seat, clearing his throat as if he was awoken from a slumber.

"What do we bloody pay you for! Sleeping around doing jackshit! Look through the footage within the last ten minutes." I demanded pointing at the screens.

Without a second thought the security guy, trawls through the footage. My beady eyes scan through every little detail.

"There! Stop! Go back." I exclaim.

The security guy follows, and that's when I see the exact moment the envelope was posted. But disappointed crashed into me. There was no way of knowing as the person was disclosed wearing an oversized hoodie.

I internally groan as I thought I was getting somewhere, trying to find out who posted it. I trod back to the house.

The pictures were sent to me for a reason. What if Alexander is seeing Lucinda behind my back. I wince at where my thoughts were taking me. I didn't want to take myself there, but I couldn't help it.

I keep reminding myself of the words trust and love. I trust Alexander. I love Alexander with all my heart. But why is there doubt, once again, in the back of my mind.

Who am I supposed to believe in all this...

***

A/N

Where are these mysterious photos coming from? Who do you think sends them?

Is Louisa right to doubt, or is someone playing with her head?

Share your thoughts! Don't forget to vote!

Love _xxAMxx