‘You look confused,’ he said, taking one step closer. ‘I’ll spell it out for you, lovely, stupid, selfish Rachel. I killed your friend. I slit her throat while she was looking directly into my eyes. I stood and watched her bleed for a while, flounder around on the ground like a fish. I was the one who left her to die, on the roadside. I didn’t expect her to last so long. That she did, that she suffered, just made it all the more rewarding.’

I was frozen to the spot by his words. Paralysed by what he was saying. My brain struggled to reconcile his admission of guilt with the Michael I knew. The Michael I’d fallen in love with.

‘No!’ I muttered, shaking my head.

The movement seemed to release a burst of adrenaline in me, a surge of fear. His expression was now changed, as if he’d taken off a mask. Grisly, horrid, gruesome. In that second, I knew he was showing me the real him for the first time and it terrified me.

The adrenaline coursing through my veins propelled me into action. I had to get away. The fight or flight response was screaming at me to flee. As fast as I could.

I turned towards my car, only to feel his hand grip my arm and try to spin me back towards him. I pulled as hard as I could, feeling his vice-like grip twist my skin, burn it. The strength of his hold made me fear he could simply snap my arm in two if he wanted.

All I had to do was get to my car. Hit the button on the phone. Signal to the police that I needed them. My location would be sent directly to them. I pulled as hard as I could, even though I could feel my muscles screaming at me to stop. I tried to scream for help, but even if I’d managed it, what good would it have done me?

We were here, miles from anywhere, in a car park barely used by anyone any more, along a quiet country lane.

‘Let me go!’ I managed, my feet losing their purchase on the dusty ground.

I could feel his body pressing against mine – not in passion this time. No desire. No need. No love.

I felt his arm snake around my chest, pull me backwards towards him. Away from my car. Away from the SOS call of the alarm. There was no tenderness. No love in the way I felt his breath, hot and heavy, at my ear.

‘You don’t get to reject me, Rachel!’ he spat, drops of spittle hitting my skin, making me recoil. ‘Not before I’ve done what I set out to do.’