Fran steps towards me, raises her left hand and slaps me sharply across the face. ‘Don’t you dare,’ she shouts, her cheeks a dark, angry red. ‘You lied to me – you made your way into our house, knowing what you did. We – I – trusted you, and all the time you were lying.’ She bunches her hands into fists and I think she’s going to hit me again, but instead she resumes pacing.

‘You lied about who you were – you let me leave Laurel in your care, knowing what happened before. I can’t believe you’ve got away with this . . .’ she pauses for a moment as if remembering, ‘but I got references for you! How? I got references from your old employers, the Emericks . . . so what? Did you get someone else involved in lying to me about who you were?’

‘No,’ I raise my hand to my face, the skin burning where Fran slapped me, ‘I gave you the real Anna’s old employers’ name. I’m sorry, Fran, I’m so sorry. I swear I never did anything wrong – it wasn’t my fault. Please, will you let me explain . . .’ I can’t help myself, I start to cry.

‘All I ever wanted was to be a good mother to Laurel,’ Fran says, ignoring my pleas as she still paces, her arms hugging her tiny frame, ‘that’s all I ever wanted was the best for her. And now I find that the one person I thought I could trust with her is just another liar – not only that, but a child killer as well. God, I feel ill.’ A look of disgust crosses her face and she clutches dramatically at her belly.

‘Then maybe you should have been there! If you were so desperate to be a good mother, maybe it should have been you looking after her, instead of being so busy all the time!’ I shout, her spiteful, bitter words breaking through my thin veneer of control. I watch as her face crumples. ‘I never killed a child, Fran. It was an accident, a horrible, heartbreaking accident, and it’s something that I’ll never get over. I loved – love – Laurel, and I would never do anything to hurt her.’

‘And I’m simply supposed to believe you?’ Fran gives a snort of laughter, hideously out of place after my outburst, as tears track their way slowly down her cheeks, ‘because you’re just so honest. You’ve betrayed me, Anna, Charlie, whatever you want to call yourself. I trusted you with the most precious possession I had, and you lied your way into the position. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for that.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper for the hundredth time, but she doesn’t reply.