It wasn’t easy to hear him talk about her mother in that way, yet Sarah still felt she should try and convince him, make him see the truth, accept her as his own. It was clear he was her father, his eyes were so distinct, and exactly the same as hers. ‘Please, Ron. I don’t want anything more than your acknowledgement and maybe to find out a bit more about you. I’m your daughter … surely you want to know about me and my life?’

‘To be honest, Sarah, I couldn’t give two hoots about your mother, you or your life. I didn’t know you existed until ten minutes ago, and that’s the way I’d prefer to keep things.’

‘But you can’t deny it, you do know now. You know I exist!’ Sarah said, almost pleading with the man for his acceptance.

‘You can go on as much as you like, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re a fantasist and your mother was a whore, so that’s an end to all this nonsense.’

Sarah’s tears were falling harder now, and she drew in a juddery breath. After several more snivels, she looked up at Ron, who had sat down opposite her again. She stared into his eyes, hoping to find some glimmer of recognition, even a sign of empathy towards her. But they were cold, devoid of any emotion, and she doubted she’d be able to change his mind.

‘Ron, I’m not expecting you to welcome me into your family or anything like that. In fact, I’m not even expecting to meet them or for them to know anything about me,’ she said, hoping the promise of staying away from his family would soften him.

‘Why would you mention my family? What do you know about me and mine?’ Ron asked suspiciously.

‘I … erm … I just know you have a family of your own, and I wouldn’t want to cause you any embarrassment with them.’

‘Yes, well, as it happens, I’m happily married with six kids and if you start blurting out stuff about me being your father, I could lose them all. My wife, my career, everything.’

‘Is that what you’re worried about, your wife finding out?’ Sarah asked disappointedly.

‘Yes, of course it is! But you already knew that, didn’t you?’

Sarah didn’t know what he meant and shook her head. She’d guessed he’d want to keep her a secret, but he seemed to be implying something else.

‘Ah, that’s it! I should have known. I know your game, missy … you think you can come in here with your wild stories and I’ll pay you money to shut you up so that my wife doesn’t find out. I’m right, aren’t I? You want to blackmail me.’

‘No,’ Sarah answered emphatically, ‘that’s not true!’