Me at the window of that turret room, waiting, waiting for my prince to come home. Michael, chasing me through the woods. And Annalise … no, don’t go there. Don’t even think about her right now.

Coming here is like a lid coming off a bubbling pan. That crazy person – the maniac who ran from this house with a baby in her arms. She’s waking up again. I want to stuff her down, but I’m not sure I can.

Tears fall.

‘MICHAEL,’ I scream. ‘PLEASE. Give me back my—’

My words fall away as I see Diane through the trees. She’s walking carefully, lips pulled tight. Her eyes are fixed on the ground, but I know she’s seen me.

My hands freeze on the cold metal.

Diane is dressed in punk rock leopard-print boots and black jeans, skinny as a broomstick, stuck in a time when Michael loved me best. Her brown hair is cut into neat ends and tucked behind her ears, just like mine used to be. Is she trying to look the way I used to? Or is she just doing what I did – moulding myself into something Michael likes?

As Diane reaches the gate, her head flicks up. ‘Hello, Lorna.’

‘I shouldn’t have done it, Diane.’ I know my eyes are wild and crazy. ‘I told myself a bunch of lies about Michael. I was such an idiot and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just want her back. Give my daughter back and I swear to God I’ll leave you both alone.’

‘She’s come to see her father. The man you stole from her life.’

‘Please. Don’t let him take her away from me. I love her.’

‘You’re not capable of loving anyone.’ Diane’s voice is cold. ‘All you do is tell lies and make a mess. Try to break up happy marriages. Hide an innocent child from her own father. Thank God Liberty had some sense about her and wanted to find out the truth for herself. I can’t imagine the courage it must have taken her to come here. After all the evil stories you must have poured into her.’

Liberty’s name feels like a bullet in my stomach.

I grit my teeth. ‘Michael’s the one who tells lies, Diane. Open your eyes.’

‘Don’t start that again.’ Diane’s voice rises to a shout. ‘Don’t you dare. After everything you’ve done to him, to try and blacken his name—’

‘I didn’t try to blacken his name. How can you not know what he is?’

‘Michael isn’t perfect. But he’s a kind, loving husband. I’ve known him since I was a child. He’s always done right by me—’

‘Even when he was sleeping with me?’

Diane’s face tightens. ‘You bitch. You cheap groupie bitch. Throwing yourself at married men.’