‘Mum! We’re home! Open the door!’
Happiness bubbles up through my whole body. I run through the hall and pull the front door wide. Two small bodies throw themselves at me. But they seem taller, stronger, more grown-up.
‘Oh my goodness, I’ve missed you two monsters!’
‘We missed you too, Mum,’ Eva cries.
I kiss them and hug them, basking in the exquisite pain of holding my girls once more. Breathing in their scent and feeling like I never want to let them go. This is the longest we’ve ever been parted. And my thoughts can’t help but turn to the reason why…Diane.This is all her doing. She planned this. She arranged for Robert to spirit my babies away. How dare she!
‘Why didn’t you come with us, Mummy?’ Katie asks crossly. ‘You should’ve come.’
‘Dad said you were working,’ Eva accuses.
I stare over their heads to the driveway, where my husband stands, the keys in his hand, a sheepish expression on his face. As though he’s waiting for my permission to be allowed back in. I banish all my negative thoughts towards him. We were both the victims. We were both played. And Diane is not going to have the satisfaction of seeing our marriage disintegrate. I love Robert. I love my family. And no one is going to take them away from me again.
The girls are asleep in bed. After supper and baths, Robert and I let them stay up late to watch a movie, but they were both so exhausted from travelling that they were asleep within half an hour of the film starting.
While the girls were awake, I didn’t say anything to Robert about Sadie or Diane, or any of the stuff that’s sitting on my brain like a giant bug. It’s not a conversation we can have in whispers over our children’s heads. I realise I’m terrified about telling him his mother’s part in all of this. How do I say all that without hurting him? I can’t. He’s going to be devastated. But I can’t put it off either. He needs to know.
We sit in the lounge with a glass of wine. Now that the girls are no longer with us to act as a buffer, the atmosphere between us is awkward and strained.
‘It’s good to be home,’ Robert says. ‘Back with you. I missed you so much, Gemma. I’m sorry I took the girls, but I was desperate. I thought… when you threw me out of the house, I was worried you wouldn’t let me see them. Mum said I had to keep them with me in case you denied me access. I was scared—’
‘Robert—’
‘What made you change your mind? You said you spoke to Sadie – did she explain that it was all a stupid misunderstanding?’
‘Robert,’ I repeat his name more forcefully. ‘There’s something you need to know. And it’s not an easy thing to tell you. It will all sound far-fetched and unbelievable, so will you just listen to me while I explain the whole thing? And know that I have the evidence to back up what I’m saying.’
Robert frowns. ‘You’re scaring me now, Gemma. This isn’t about us, is it? You don’t want us to split up? Because I swear nothing happened—’
‘I don’t want us to split up either. Just listen, okay?’
He gives me a nod and I go on to tell him about meeting up with Sadie, about her not really being a nanny, about her being hired to break up our marriage.
‘You’re joking, right?’ he says, interrupting me.
‘I wish I was.’
‘But that sounds… like something out of a movie. We’re just regular people, Gemma. Sadie was just a nanny, that’s all. Are you sure she’s not messing with you? Or maybe she’s having some kind of breakdown. You know, perhaps she might need psychological help.’
I fetch my laptop so I can present him with the evidence, explain about her website and what she does for a living, showing him screenshots of her site. We google the dark web and it becomes apparent that Sadie’s business is only the tip of a toxic iceberg. In the murky depths of the cyber-underworld lies a solid mass of darkness and terror. All the while, Robert’s face is becoming paler and paler as it’s starting to sink in that what Sadie has done is very real. Finally he is white with anger, his body rigid, his eyes blazing as he is finally convinced.
‘What an absolute bitch!’ He stands and paces around the sitting room, his eyes glazed, his breathing heavy.
‘I know, Robert. The whole thing was a set-up.’
‘If this really is true, it makes no sense. I mean, who would want to split us up? Andwhy?’ He snaps his head around to face me. ‘Do you know who’s behind it?’
I nod my head slowly, unwilling to say.
‘Tell me, Gemma.’
‘Sit down first.’
‘I don’t want to sit down. Just tell me.’
‘Okay, but it’s going to shock you. You won’t like it.’
