‘Oh, we’re going to get into reincarnation now, too?’ He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ‘All right, you can be as old as you like. But that doesn’t change the fact that no one can see the future. Believe me, it’s impossible. No matter how much you want to, no one can predict what’s going to happen.’

‘But some people can, and Greta happens to be one of them.’ Matilda crossed her arms. ‘But you don’t even think she exists, so why would you believe she has gifts?’

‘So you’re telling me, in all seriousness, that everything in life is predetermined?’

‘Not everything, but the important things. The big moments that really mean something are almost always written in stone.’

‘Like a member of your family dying in the near future?’

Matilda nodded.

‘So all our choices and actions are in fact meaningless?’

‘They have meaning, but only on a small scale. We can shape our path, choose whether to go left or right or backwards, but the goal we eventually reach is never up to us. No matter what we do, that’s where we’ll end up.’ She took his hand in hers, and he was surprised to feel how warm she was. ‘You did your best. Who can do more than that?’ She got up on tiptoe, kissed him on the cheek and turned towards the stairs.

Fabian watched her walk away and felt powerless to silence the nagging notion that it wasn’t his daughter disappearing up the stairs.

‘Everything looks lovely.’

He opened his eyes and saw that Sonja had returned to the kitchen. ‘Nice to hear someone appreciates it,’ he said and rubbed the gritty remains of the tears from his eyes.

‘Hey…’ She walked up to him. ‘Don’t take it too much to heart.’

‘Sonja, she’s walking around believing in the supernatural and is convinced one of us is going to die just because she survived. How am I supposed to not take that to heart?’

‘I’m sure it’s just a phase.’

‘No, it’s her friend, that Esmaralda, who’s put ideas in her head.’

‘At the hospital, they told me it might be weeks before she’s her old self again. So just let her play pretend with the occult for a while. No, I think this thing with Theodor is a lot more serious.’

Fabian could only nod. ‘Then at least he told you. At least that’s something.’ He pulled out the bar stools from the kitchen island and got out two wineglasses. ‘We have to talk about what to do. He’s refusing to listen to me.’

‘What do you mean, do? We don’t even know if it’s true. The important thing is for him to start seeing a therapist so he can get some professional help. Maybe even medication.’