Page 49 of The Happy Family

Sadie’s parents seem just as clueless as their daughter is around me, but long may it continue. I suspect they have held any debates or discussions about their daughter’s alleged behaviour that night in private, and whatever they think, they are keeping it in the family, which is the way it should be.

‘Like Reid said, we just want her to get better. That’s the best thing for everybody, especially Arthur and Ruby. They need their mother, and like I’ve always said, I am not trying to replace her.’ I smile.

That last part couldn’t be a bigger lie, but Sadie’s mum is still looking at me as if I’m the one doing her the favour. But what about Sadie’s father? I look to the person who has so far been quiet and see him leaning against one of his fancy new kitchen worktops. Luna’s father is much harder to read than his wife is.

‘I also understand that whatever happens, you will always have your daughter’s back and that I will always be the woman who has taken her away from her children,’ I say, a way of getting that message across to that man.

‘Sadie and Reid were finished before you came along,’ Sadie’s father says, and it’s good of him to acknowledge that fact, even if he has no idea I was actually far more present and pulling strings in their life than anybody realises.

‘Even so, I accept that we probably won’t ever be close because it’s simply too awkward,’ I say. ‘But I just want you both to know that Reid and I are committed to helping Sadie in her recovery in any way we can, and we hope that one day, we can all coexist and make things hospitable, not just for the children but because it’s good for us adults too.’

Sadie’s father nods his head, seemingly understanding and respecting my position on things. As for his wife, she looks even happier than that.

‘Thank you so much for not making this any worse for our daughter,’ she says. ‘We have been so afraid that she was going to go to prison, but if you are showing forgiveness, the police are less likely to punish her severely once she has recovered and they fully investigate what happened at the house that night of her accident. I know her memory is not what it was, but she has been apologetic, so it’s obvious she was going through a very difficult time back then and was not behaving in a way that was true to her character.’

‘That’s okay,’ I say, feeling like the bastion of forgiveness. ‘I understand that the police have a lot to sort through surrounding that night, but it’s good that they are giving Sadie some time and space to hopefully make a full recovery. And as for any restraining orders or anything like that, Reid and I don’t feel that would be necessary. We are satisfied that Sadie was struggling with her mental health back then, but hopefully now she has turned the corner and can rebuild her life, with all of our support.’

Sadie’s mum surprises me then by rushing towards me and giving me a hug, clearly extremely grateful that I am not pressuring the police into punishing Sadie with the full force of the law after she ‘broke in’ to our home that fateful night.

Sadie’s father holds off on any hugging himself, but that’s fine by me because this visit has already gone far better than I thought it would when I was in the car on the way over here. I was fearing the worst, that Sadie would see me and instantly remember everything that she once knew. But not only has that not happened, but she and her parents are treating me like some kind of saint.

As we leave the kitchen and return to the luxurious living room where Sadie, Reid, and the three children sit, I am feeling comfortable enough now to not only enjoy my cup of tea but also savour a chocolate biscuit with it too.

Could this really be happening?

Can I be sitting in the house I set fire to, being made to feel like a welcome guest?

Can the people who should hate me more than anything else in the world actually be looking at me with admiration rather than anger?

I think so.

That’s why I decide to reach for a second chocolate biscuit.

After all I have worried about lately, it seems my time for stress is over. So who cares about a few extra calories? I have my freedom and my family and all because I have offered Sadie forgiveness for something she didn’t actually do.

What more could I ask for?

THIRTY-FOUR

SADIE

Look at her sitting there on my mum and dad’s new sofa, sipping tea and scoffing chocolate biscuits. Chatting away. Making herself at home. Acting as if she didn’t almost kill my parents and children when she set fire to this house before trying to kill me too.

I want to get off my sofa and strangle her. Wrap my hands around her neck and make her choke on that third biscuit she has just helped herself to. I want to keep wringing her neck until her face goes blue, her eyes bulge out of her head, and she lets out her final gasp of air before her body goes limp and my revenge is complete.

But I won’t do that, at least not yet.

That’s because this is working so far.

I have her exactly where I want her.

For possibly the first time since she came into my family’s life, she is in the weaker position. I have always been the vulnerable one, susceptible to whatever Luna was plotting behind my back and unable to stop whatever plan she had put into motion until it was far too late. But not anymore. Now I am the one plotting and she is the one who will be too late to stop it. She has no idea, but she is the vulnerable one now, and it will stay that way for as long as she thinks that this is over and the past is dead and buried.

I see her lean forward and check on Jude in his pram, the little boy having been sleeping soundly and silently ever since they got here. He must still be asleep now because Luna sits back after checking on him, satisfied that he is still comfortable, and it makes me wonder if being a new mother has dulled some of her strengths and skills. Would she be able to see through my ruse if she was still the same desperate woman who used to deliver parcels to my door? I suspect she might. Back then, she had to be on the top of her game if she was to stand a chance of getting what she wanted. But now, possibly worn down by pregnancy, sleep deprivation, time, or simply sheer complacency, she seems to be unaware that the hunter has now become the hunted.

Whatever the case, I cannot ease off now. I smell weakness in Luna, but best of all, the only weakness she sees in the room is sitting on the sofa opposite her. She pities me, I can see it written all over her face. Why else would she come out with that pathetic story about how she just wants me to get better? She genuinely thinks I am some poor loser who has not only lost her family but also the one piece of her memory that could have enabled her to get them back.

What’s this? She’s reaching for a fourth chocolate biscuit? The slim, slender and sexy Luna, who took everything from me, is now so content with her life that she is allowing her diet to slip and is unafraid that Reid might not find her quite as attractive.