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Tyler jerked his head at the two nameless security guards standing by the door. “You two – take Alexander to the blue bedroom, lock him inside, and stand guard over him,” he ordered. “I’ll deal with him later. ”

Alex screamed as the guards peeled his bleeding body off the sofa.

He couldn’t walk, so they slung his arms over their shoulders and dragged him out of the room.

The last thing he saw as they passed Solange’s body was a long curl of her hair that had escaped the rug and was resting pathetically on the floor.

The next few weeks passed in a painful blur.

Alex was locked in a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom and attended daily by Dr Parker.

He was bandaged, given antibiotics and sedatives, and put on a drip, but he refused to eat.

What was the point? Solange was dead, so Tyler didn’t have that leverage over him anymore.

He couldn’t bear the thought of spending the rest of his life as that murderous bastard’s whipping boy.

His life wasn’t worth living, so why live it?

If he could have thrown himself out of the window he would have, but it was locked down tight, and he didn’t have the strength to even go to the bathroom unaided.

Besides, he was watched day and night – one guard stayed in his room with him at all times, and another was posted outside his door.

In his befuddled state, it took him several days to wonder why there was a guard in his room, but then he realised – there was no smartwall in here.

Clearly, the Lewes bedrooms weren’t set up to entertain “guests” in the same way as the Vertex Tower ones were.

He started to heal, but slowly. Most of the time he drifted listlessly in and out of consciousness, the days and nights blurring into one. He woke up one time to find he had a visitor – Tyler was sitting on the side of his bed, holding his hand.

“Hey, Alexander.” Tyler smiled down at him. “I came to see how you’re doing.”

“Why should you care?” Alex croaked.

“I do, though.” Tyler sighed. “I know we’ve had our differences, you and I, but I care. I must apologise – I didn’t mean to hurt you so badly when I punished you. You did deserve to be punished, but I went too far. I was upset about your escape attempt.”

“Go away.” Alex mustered up all his strength and pulled his hand away. “What you gonna do? Whip me again? Go ahead. I don’t care.”

“You’re upset, I can see that – but you need to eat. ”

“I don’t. If I can’t escape from you one way, I’ll do it another.”

Tyler nodded thoughtfully. “You know I can’t let that happen.”

“Why not? I’d have thought you’d be glad of it. One less witness to worry about.” Alex exhaled wearily.

“You’re the most famous IS in the land. You can’t starve to death on my watch, Alexander. Even I couldn’t cover that up.”

“So this is all about you, as usual. And there was me thinking you actually cared about my welfare.”

“You must eat,” Tyler repeated emphatically.

“Or what? You’ll hurt Solange? No… wait.” Alex gave a twisted smile and turned his head away.

“There are other people you care about,” Tyler said. “Your father… your brother.”

Alex turned his head back slowly. “Leave them alone.”

“I will. Of course I will, just as long as you start eating.” Tyler put his hand on Alex’s hair and tenderly brushed it away from his face.

Alex closed his eyes, wishing it were his father’s hand.

“Think about it, son.” Tyler stood up, leaned over, and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. “Think about it.”

Alex did think about it. He didn’t want any harm to come to Noah or Charles, but what could Tyler do to them? The man was a ruthless operator who seemed able to think up any number of gruesome traps for people, but if Alex was lucky, he’d die of starvation before Tyler had a chance to harm them.

He was tired of living. He’d seen too much death: his mother, Peter, and now Solange… He wanted to leave all this pain and suffering behind and join them. There was nothing left for him here.

His wounds healed, but he had no energy.

He ached all over and was always cold. Dr Parker insisted on putting him in an armchair in front of the window with a blanket tucked around his knees, so he spent his time staring out at the beautiful island below, surrounded by silver-grey water, wondering where they’d dumped Solange’s body.

A few days later there was a knock on the door, and, much to his surprise, Ted entered the room .

“Leave us alone for a few minutes, will you, mate?” Ted asked the guard. The man nodded and stepped outside.

Ted took a seat in the armchair opposite Alex.

“Tyler sent you,” Alex said listlessly. “There’s no way they’d have let you in alone with me otherwise.”

“Yeah,” Ted admitted. “He wants you to start eating again, and he’s right.”

“Did he really manage to buy you so easily?” Alex asked, looking away from Ted and back out of the window again. It was raining outside, and droplets of water were sliding down the windowpane.

“Don’t be like that, Alex. You know I didn’t have a choice,” Ted said. “Not really. Solange would have known that, too. Tyler was right about that. She’d have done the exact same thing if it’d been me that died. She was a realist – always was.”

“She was my friend,” Alex said softly. “The first friend I ever really had.”

“And she was the first girl I ever really loved,” Ted returned sadly. “But she’s gone, and she isn’t coming back.”

“Where is she, Ted? Where did you throw her?” Alex demanded, jerking his head at the grey world outside the window.

Ted made no reply, so Alex turned to look at him properly for the first time.

He was pale and gaunt, his thin features even thinner than usual, giving him a sharp, ferret-like appearance.

“You do know why Tyler had you go with them to dump her body, don’t you? You do understand why he did that?”

“Yeah, I reckon it’s so I can’t change my mind later and tell the cops what he did.”

“You helped dispose of her body, so you’re complicit in the coverup of her murder.”

“Technically speaking, I think Tyler would argue it was manslaughter,” Ted said. “I don’t think he intended to kill her.”

“He certainly intended to hurt her, though,” Alex retorted. “You can’t beat up people like that and not expect there to be consequences. If she hadn’t stopped him when she did, I think he would have killed me. She saved my life. ”

“I dunno. You’re worth a hundred and sixty million quid to him. I don’t think he’d have killed you.” Ted gave a wry smile.

“I’m not sure he was thinking straight. He was too angry.”

“Maybe.” Ted shrugged. “Look, Alex, I’m here to say goodbye. Tyler’s sending me up to Scotland tomorrow, and… and I’m gonna see my family again.” He gave a strained smile. “Please don’t be angry with me. Solange would have wanted some good to come of her death; you know she would.”

“Yes. She would.” Alex looked out of the window again, the grey November day matching his mood.

“I don’t like to think of you here, Alex, slowly dying like this,” Ted said.

Alex shrugged. “I want to die, Ted. I can’t stand this for another second. I can’t be Tyler’s whore and whipping boy anymore. The sooner I die, the better.”

“Solange wouldn’t have wanted that.”

“Solange wanted me to escape, and this is the only possible way out for me now.” Alex stared dreamily out of the window.

He thought he could see her out there, drawn in the patterns made by the scudding rain clouds as they hurried across the sky.

She was wearing a black dress and smiling at him, beckoning him to join her.

“Alex.”

He came to. Ted was crouching in front of him, patting his face. “Look, Alex, I’m not smart like you, and I’m not strong like you, either.”

“Strong?” Alex repeated blankly. “When was I ever strong?”

“All the time,” Ted said gently. “I’ve never seen anyone as strong as you. I was there, remember? I saw every single thing Tyler did to you. I don’t know anyone else who could have endured that without cracking up, or giving up, or both.”

“Well, I’m giving up now,” Alex told him distantly.

“I hope you don’t. Here.” Ted pushed a piece of paper into his hand.

Alex blinked away tears as he saw that it was a still photograph of Solange – the one Ted had taken on the suite nanopad many months ago without her knowing.

“It’s my favourite shot of her,” Ted said.

“I don’t know if Tyler will allow you to keep it, but I wanted to give it to you anyway. Don’t forget her, Alex.”

Alex folded up the picture and put it in his dressing gown pocket. “I won’t,” he promised. “I couldn’t. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll be going where she went soon.”

Ted leaned forward, and Alex was surprised when he pressed his lips against the side of his head and spoke into his ear in a low, fierce whisper.

“You have to keep going for her, Alex. You have to get justice for Solange. You’ll figure out a way, one day.

I’m not smart enough or strong enough to do it, but you are.

” Then he drew back and spoke in his normal voice.

“Goodbye, Alex. I’m not sure if I’ll ever see you again. ”

“Goodbye, Ted,” Alex said softly.

After Ted had left, the guard returned and resumed his position at the door. Alex sat there for a long time, gazing out at the thunderous grey skies outside. He couldn’t see Solange out there anymore; the clouds were just clouds.

He took the photo out of his pocket and smoothed it out.

It was a beautiful image of her – he could see why Ted liked it so much.

She looked so sweet and vulnerable, unaware of the camera, lost in thought.

He remembered the day he’d first seen it, and her words from that conversation came back to him, as clear as if she were in the room.

“You have to find something to keep you going, or you’ll fall apart.”

Maybe it was a delusion, but he could swear she was here, standing somewhere just behind his right shoulder, speaking directly to him.