I drop to the ground. ‘I’m stronger in every way these days, Diane,’ I say. ‘Now I don’t keep myself as thin as a twig for Michael.’

Most women fill out a little in middle age, but Diane hasn’t. She has skinny limbs like a teenager. Too thin. Brown hair. White skin. Michael definitely has a type: pale, frail and vulnerable. I often think, if the cancer hadn’t made me so thin and weak-looking, Michael wouldn’t have been interested.

‘Have you no shame?’ Diane puts hands on boy’s hips in tight jeans. ‘Do you know what today is? Our wedding anniversary.’

‘Send Liberty out and I’ll leave.’

‘As if I’d take your word for anything.’ Diane sounds tired. ‘We both know it’s meaningless. How can I trust a liar? Look, just leave, okay? Haven’t you hurt us enough already?’

‘Give me my daughter.’

‘She’s here to see her father,’ says Diane. ‘They’re catching up on the years you stole from them. Can’t you give him that, at least? Can’t you have the decency to let them get to know each other?’

‘Get to know each other? He’s brainwashing her, the way he’s brainwashing you. Haven’t you figured it out by now, Diane? Nothing he says is true. None of it is real.’

‘It’s you who tells lies.’ Diane’s lips pull tight. ‘I’m sorry Michael wasn’t kind to you. But Jesus, had you no common sense, woman? If you will sniff around after a married man, what do you expect?’

‘I was an idiot. I’m not saying I wasn’t. But Michael picked me up, not the other way around.’

‘What man’s head wouldn’t turn when a semi-naked teenager hangs around a stage door like a prostitute?’

‘I wasn’t semi-naked.’

‘Look, Michael did wrong,’ Diane continues. ‘Fame went to his head. He thought he could sleep with who he wanted on tour and no one would get attached. What happens on tour stays on tour. Musicians aren’t saints. Everyone knows that. But he isn’t the reason you had a mental breakdown. We hope you find peace and the help you need.’

‘Please. Please, Diane. I’m begging you. Give my daughter back. Don’t take her from me – you know what Michael’s doing. He’s turning her against me to get revenge for those press articles.’

‘She’s with her father right now,’ says Diane curtly. ‘And I dare say he’s telling her all the things you’ve left out of the story. The truth. Something you wouldn’t understand if it came up and bit you on the behind. Just go home. Okay? Liberty will come back to you when she’s good and ready. If she’s good and ready, after all the lies you’ve told her. She can stay here just as long as she needs.’