Karabo put the final full stop to her Life Skills paper – also her last exam for the year. She felt relieved, exhausted and very ready to go home to her mother. She had been downloading   the latest series, which she was planning on binge watching,  and was thinking that seeing Buzz might be a good idea. She hadn’t heard from him in weeks, but he said he was also writing exams and would be out of touch for a while. All in all, she felt completely done with school, the year and all the craziness it had brought with it. She was hoping to catch a flight tomorrow, but hadn’t received confirmation from Anathi’s secretary yet. She was anxious to know if she would be able to get a lift with Isla, when the Hepworths came to fetch her tomorrow.

As she walked out of the exam room, she caught up with Isla and they made their way to the dining hall. As they were walking, they saw Mzi, and stopped to tell him about their paper.

‘So easy, I was bored,’ said Isla. Karabo rolled her eyes.

‘Guys, please can you grab me a plate and I’ll meet you there,’ asked Karabo.

‘Why? Where are you going?’ asked Isla, folding her arms across her chest.

‘I just need to check my phone upstairs. So, I can confirm a lift with your mom,’ explained Karabo, turning on her heel and racing back to the girl’s dormitory.

Karabo took the stairs two at a time, and it felt good to stretch her legs after being stuck at a desk for two hours. She threw   her pencil case on her bed and grabbed her phone, switching it on. As it pinged, Karabo watched the messages come through.  It looked like the email about the flight had come in, but that wasn’t half as unbelievable as what else pinged onto her phone.

She ignored the email and went straight to her messages. There was no mistaking it. William English had sent her a message. She held her breath and clicked the message open:

‘Karabz, please trust me. This is the only way to destroy my father. I meant what I said. I’m going to help Mzi get his fortune back but it may take a while. I know you are the only one who will believe me and who won’t do anything stupid. I’ll keep in touch if I can, but my brother watches me like a hawk. Don’t do anything. I just want you to know, I’m not like my father or my brothers. Miss you, Will.’

Karabo felt her legs crumple under her. She dropped to the floor clutching the phone to her heart. She knew it. She definitely knew it. William English wasn’t evil. She began to laugh, and then tears started to roll down her face, as relief flooded her body and slowly started to mend the rip in her heart.

The end…for now

***

Question: Did you enjoy this book? Who was your favourite character and why?