検索キーワード： 著者 "Nicole Trope" すべてのカテゴリー

Selv de mest perfekte familier kan gemme på de frygteligste hemmeligheder. Hvor godt kender du dem, der bor inde ved siden af ...? Man ville aldrig gætte, hvilke hemmeligheder huset på Hogarth Street gemmer på – hvad der sker i dette øjeblik bag den lukkede dør. En smaragdgrøn græsplæne. Perfekt klippede hække. En havelåge omkranset af efeu og en duft af kaprifolier. I forhaven ligger to løbehjul, et blåt, et neonpink. De tilhører et sæt 5-årige tvillinger. Men hvis man kigger nærmere efter, vil man se, at gardinerne er trukket for, selvom det er årets varmeste dag.

Als Katelyn ihren sechsunddreißigsten Geburtstag mit Freunden und Familie feiert, ahnt sie nicht, wie schnell ihre heile Welt zerbrechen kann. Denn am nächsten Tag wacht sie verängstigt und orientierungslos im Krankenhaus auf. Sie kann sich nicht an ihre Party erinnern. Nicht an die furchtbaren Worte ihres Ehemannes oder an die zerstörerische Wut ihrer besten Freundin. Auf die Frage, was passiert sei, antwortet ihr Mann nur »Nichts«. Aber bei seinen Worten gefriert Katelyn das Blut in den Adern. Sie erkennt an seinem Tonfall, dass er lügt.

Arriva la polizia. Non riesce a guardare il marito. Studia invece l'intreccio di linee sulle sue mani tremanti. Poi il suo telefono suona con un messaggio vocale. "Ascoltalo in vivavoce", dice il detective. Una voce di donna riempie l'aria. "Presumo che si tratti di Andrea Gately indicata come contatto sul sito web dei bambini scomparsi nel mondo. La chiamo per dirle che ho fornito i suoi dati alla polizia. Perché state usando una foto di mio figlio su un sito web di bambini scomparsi? Perché la state usando e dove l'avete presa?

In ihrem Ferienhaus direkt am Strand, wählt Elizabeth mit zitternden Händen die Notrufnummer. »Mein kleiner Junge, er ist weg.«Elizabeth ist die Pflegemutter von Joe, aber sie liebt ihn wie ihren eigenen Sohn. Der Fünfjährige ist das Kind, von dem sie immer geträumt hat. Beim Blick in den leeren Garten, wo er gerade eben noch gespielt hat, fühlt sich ihr Herz an, als würde es ihr aus der Brust gerissen. Sie sollte Joe vor seiner leiblichen Mutter retten, die ihm beinahe die Chance auf ein Leben genommen hätte. Die Frau, die verzweifelt versucht, ihn zurückzubekommen.

Tout le monde veut vivre sur Hogarth Street, une jolie avenue bordée d'arbres avec ses maisons blanches. La famille qui vient d'emménager est parfaite : Katherine et Josh West semblent vraiment amoureux et leurs magnifiques jumeaux de 5 ans courent en poussant des cris de joie autour de leur belle pelouse fraîchement tondue. Mais tout à coup, les voisins s'étonnent. Pourquoi, lorsque vous frappez à la porte, se débarrassent-ils de vous au lieu de vous inviter à entrer ? Chaque famille a des secrets, et au moment le plus chaud de l'année, la vérité est sur le point d'éclater.

Stephanie cradles her coffee and gazes out to the little house at the end of her garden. The family who just moved in seem perfectly nice, if a little odd. And it’s only now that Stephanie realises: if she can see them, they can see everything inside her house, too… Single mother Stephanie is more than happy to welcome the Kemps to her property. Tragically, they have just lost everything in a fire. The rent money means Stephanie can keep her children in this beautiful, rambling home – so expensive to run, since the divorce – all while helping the Kemps get back on their feet.

Corro a casa e scopro la mia bambina dagli occhi azzurri scomparsa e il mio cuore strappato dal petto. Quando arrivano gli agenti di polizia, la storia di Shelby comincia a disfarsi. Poi ricevo un messaggio che dice: "Tuo marito non è chi pensi che sia." All'improvviso, la mia famiglia sembra composta da estranei. Ognuno ha un segreto, persino io. Quando la verità verrà a galla e tutte le nostre bugie saranno svelate, sarà troppo tardi per salvare la mia preziosa bambina?

My hand trembles as I stare at the anonymous text. On this sunny Saturday morning, our twin ten-year-old boys were playing in the park just down our tree-lined street. But only one of them has come home… and it’s all my husband’s fault. I race to Leo’s study and demand answers. As his face turns white, I know: one of his affairs has turned deadly. I always smell the unfamiliar perfume on his shirt. I try to pretend we are a happy family, for the sake of the children… but now, my child is in terrible danger.

Katelyn smiles around at her husband and friends, gathered to celebrate her 36th birthday in their beautiful home decorated with fairy lights. But the next day Katelyn wakes up shaken and terrified in a hospital bed. She doesn’t remember the sweet taste of birthday cake icing, or how angry her best friend was at midnight, or the terrible things her husband said. She doesn’t remember the party at all. When she asks her husband what happened the night of the party he says "nothing". But her blood runs cold at the way his voice lilts slightly. The way it always does when he is lying.

I gaze at my husband’s once handsome face, so still and pale in the hospital bed. The doctors say I should keep talking. He might be able to hear me even after the terrible accident that left him fighting for his life. But all I have to whisper to my husband is this: "I know what you did."

CZASAMI NAJBARDZIEJ IDEALNE RODZINY SKRYWAJĄ NAJOKROPNIEJSZE SEKRETY. Wszyscy chcą żyć na Hogarth, ładnej, wysadzanej drzewami ulicy z białymi domami. Nowa rodzina, Westowie, pasują tam idealnie. Katherine oraz Josh wyglądają na niesamowicie zakochanych, a ich śliczne pięcioletnie bliźniaki biegają po zielonym trawniku, krzycząc wesoło.

THEO SOMERTON MA JEDENAŚCIE LAT I JEST DZIECKIEM ZE SPEKTRUM AUTYZMU. NIE MÓWI, MOŻE TEŻ NIE WIEDZIEĆ, ŻE SIĘ ZGUBIŁ. NIE ZAREAGUJE NA SWOJE IMIĘ. – Twój syn zaginął – mówią, a życie, które znałam, właśnie skończyło się. – Dokąd mógł pójść? – pyta policja. – Gdzie może być? – pyta z błaganiem w głosie moja córka. Serce łomocze mi w piersi, gdy w mojej głowie pojawiają się obrazy. Domek, który wynajmujemy każdej jesieni. Podniesione głosy. Łzy. Rozpadające się małżeństwo. I najgorsze z tego wszystkiego – mój mąż, mówiący naszemu synowi, Theo, żeby uciekał.

DOCIERA DO NIEJ PRZECIĄGAJĄCA SIĘ PO DRUGIEJ STRONIE SŁUCHAWKI CISZA. SERCE ZACZYNA JEJ SZYBCIEJ BIĆ. – KOGO ZNALEŹLI? – PYTA, POWOLI, OSTROŻNIE, Z UWAGĄ WYPOWIADAJĄC SŁOWA. – ZNALEŹLI DANIELA. Megan czeka przed bramą szkoły na swojego sześcioletniego syna, Daniela. Gdy plac pustoszeje, zaczyna panikować. Nigdzie nie może go znaleźć. Jej syn zaginął. Po latach nieprzespanych nocy i tęsknoty za synem, Megan w końcu odbiera telefon, o którym marzyła. Odnaleźli Daniela.

Her chest tightens, her heart speeding up. The kitchen is chaos. She steps on something hard, and looks down. Toy dinosaurs are scattered everywhere. But her son is nowhere–her baby boy is gone.

Elizabeth is Joe’s foster mother, but she loves him like her own. The five-year-old, who adores superheroes and watching the birds outside, is the child she has dreamed of. As she looks into the garden, where he was playing just moments ago, her heart feels like it has been ripped from her chest. She was meant to save Joe from his birth mother who almost harmed his chances at life. The woman who has been trying to desperately get him back. She was meant to protect Joe from her husband. The man who, right now, lies to the police, saying he was making breakfast when Joe disappeared.

I never thought I would end up here. Alone, in a cold one-bedroom apartment, only seeing my precious daughter once a week. Another woman is living the life that was once mine. I wish I was still married to my ex-husband, the love of my life. I dream of tucking my five-year-old child into her ballerina bed sheets every night. I miss living in a beautiful house, the perfect family home, with a winding staircase and a sprawling garden. I’d do anything to be with my family again. To start over and prove to them that I’ve changed, that I won’t lose control like before.

It’s the phone call every mother dreads. I’m climbing into the car after a trip to the grocery store. As the engine starts, my phone rings. It’s my stepdaughter, Shelby, who is babysitting my three-year-old Millie. "I only went upstairs for a second," she says through her sobs. "She’s gone." When the police turn up, Shelby’s story starts to unravel. What is she hiding? Then I get a message saying, "Your husband is not who you think he is." Suddenly, my family feel like strangers. Everyone has a secret - even me.

I am cooking spaghetti, his favourite, while he plays in the garden. But when I look up, he’s gone. I call the police, my hands shaking so much that I hit the wrong digits twice. "My son is missing." When the police turn up, I’m trapped in the web of my lies. I have hidden the truth from eight-year-old Riley, my little boy who loves climbing trees and always has scraped knees. I have hidden my secret from everyone.

Every family has secrets, and on the hottest day of the year, the truth is about to come out. As a tragedy unfolds behind closed doors, the dawn chorus is split by the wail of sirens. And one by one the families who tried so hard to welcome the Wests begin to realise: Hogarth Street will never be the same again.

"Your son is missing," they say, and life as I know it is over. "Where would he go?" the police ask. "Where would he be?" my daughter begs. My heart races as images flash in my mind. The cabin we rent every autumn, surrounded by fiery-red maple trees. Voices raised. Tears falling. A marriage falling apart. And worst of all my husband telling our child, Theo, to run. The rest is a blank in my memory. If I close my eyes I can almost see it. A betrayal that has left me alone, in tatters, grieving for what we had.