Page 5 of The Happy Family

‘I know everything about your family,’ comes the startling response. ‘I know that Reid got bored with you and was messaging a woman from his work. I know that you were feeling all broken-hearted and unable to forgive him. And I know that the pair of you were drifting aimlessly into either separation or a lifetime of bitterness and resentment. Luckily for you, I sped that process up.’

I glare at Luna and cannot believe the gall of her to stand here, in what was my home, and think she knows more about my life and my problems than I do. Okay, so some of what she just said might be true. Reid had been messaging a woman from his workplace. Her name was Gemma, and he was sending her inappropriate things for a married man to be sending. Finding out about that had broken my heart. But it was for us to figure out, not our crazy delivery driver.

‘You’re insane. You’re a stalker. You need to be locked up immediately. You’re a danger to society.’

‘No, I’m only a danger to you, just like you’re a danger to me now that you have figured all of this out. But that’s okay because you are not leaving here alive.’

Luna raises the hedge clippers again, and I realise she is going to use them in the next few seconds unless I move quickly. I realise, too, that what she said might be true. I might not be able to leave here alive. But I don’t want to leave here because this is where my family is. Even if I die, I could still warn them about the woman they have allowed to get close to them. That way, my death won’t be in vain. Hopefully, Reid can see sense and get himself and the children as far away from Luna as possible. If he can do that, at least he could raise our beautiful children in my absence without any danger hanging over them.

It terrifies me to think of leaving Arthur and Ruby behind in this scary world, without their mother’s love and support, but if that has to happen, I have to do one thing now.

I have to alert them to the danger in their home.

So I turn and I run.

I run through the internal door that takes me into the house and now I’m in the kitchen. I know every inch of this place. I spent so much time here. Luna might think she is on home turf but so am I.

We both have that advantage. Does that make it a disadvantage?

I don’t know.

As Luna chases me across the kitchen, there’s only one way to find out.

FOUR

LUNA

I have to stop Sadie before she can reach the door on the other side of the kitchen and pull it open. If she does that, she’ll be in the hallway and there’s no way her cries won’t be heard by those sleeping upstairs. If Reid hears that his ex is here and sounds scared for her life, that is going to be a disaster for me. So I have to silence Sadie before she can alert him.

‘Get back here!’ I hiss under my breath as I grab at Sadie, who is just out of reach of both my left hand and the blade of the hedge clippers in my right.

‘Get away from me!’ Sadie suddenly screams, the noise deafening at this hour when the house is otherwise silent. ‘Reid! Help me!’

She’s being so loud. He’s going to hear her and then he’s going to come downstairs and hear everything Sadie suspects me of. Once that happens, he’ll never look at me in the same way again. Even if he isn’t sure if he should believe his ex’s word over mine, there will still be doubts in his mind. Fears and paranoia that cloud his love for me and threaten to ruin everything we have together.

Our relationship. Our family. Our baby.

‘I’m pregnant,’ I say to Sadie, sensing a way that I might be able to get her to shut up and stop for a second.

It works.

Sadie is no longer running, although she is on the other side of the breakfast bar, which is providing a safe barrier between her and me, for the time being, at least.

‘What?’ she replies.

‘It’s true,’ I reply, out of breath from the brief chase but keeping my voice low as I pray that Reid has not been disturbed. ‘I’m carrying a child. Reid’s child. That means Arthur and Ruby are going to have a little brother or sister, but all this stress is not good for the baby, so we need to stop. If not for my sake, do it for my unborn child or your own children and their future sibling.’

Sadie stares at me as if trying to figure out if this is the truth or just another of my many tactics, but unlike so much else, I don’t have to lie about this.

‘I mean it. I’m pregnant. So whatever you think of me, you know that the life growing inside of me is innocent. So think about that before you make your next move. Think about how you won’t just be ruining my future if you tell everyone what I did, but you’ll be ruining my child’s future too.’

‘I don’t believe this,’ Sadie says, shaking her head.

‘Every child needs their mother,’ I go on, not backing down. ‘You know that, and now that I’m going to be a mother myself, I know it as well. So please, have some heart.’

‘You have got to be joking,’ Sadie spits back. ‘Where was your heart when you stole everything from me and set the police after me to stop me from driving? Where was your heart when you framed Gemma? Where was your heart when you set fire to the house with my parents and children inside?’

‘I’ve made mistakes, I accept that,’ I say, which is surely the least I can do. ‘But let’s slow down and talk about this before things get any further out of control. This is a dangerous situation, but nobody needs to get hurt.’