Matt huffed. ‘Well she charmed you well enough. Look how she took over the girls. Always offering to take them on trips with Chelsea, feeding them all sorts of ideas. Separating them from us. Did you see that?’

His words made Sara pause and think for a moment. Her anger flickered. He’s right. Her head had been turned by Fiona. She had been flattered by her desire to be friends. Am I to blame for this too? A shiver of doubt ran through her and her hands found each other, twisting together.

‘You’ve ruined everything.’ His voice was getting louder, and she glanced towards the lounge, hoping he wouldn’t wake Ezra. ‘We were doing great until you brought her into our lives.’

‘Me?’ Sara’s voice was incredulous. ‘I ruined everything? How is this my fault?’

‘Shh,’ Matt said, motioning with his eyes towards the lounge. ‘Keep your voice down.’ He took a step towards her and put a hand on her arm, tried to draw her to him. ‘I’m sorry, love. I’m just really stressed about everything.’

She shook his hand away and stepped back, determined not to let him break her resolve. ‘You need to give yourself up. Tell the police everything you know and let’s get the whole thing stopped. That’s the only way forward.’

He pursed his lips and shook his head. ‘Nope. I can’t do that.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because… I’m not going to prison.’ He shuddered. ‘I couldn’t…’ He bit his lip, looked away.

‘I’ve had to face up to my mistakes. I know it’s not going to be great for a while, but we’ll get through the bad patch and then rebuild.’

He glanced at her, his voice hopeful. ‘You mean we’d still be together?’

She heard a knock at the door and looked her husband straight in the eye.

‘No, Matt.’ Her voice was hard, her meaning clear. ‘After what you’ve done, we can never be together.’

She ran to the door and let the two uniformed officers into the house, handing them the phone from her pocket that had recorded the conversation. Then she watched as they cuffed Matt and led him away, his head bowed.

This is the end, she told herself. But in truth, it wasn’t quite.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The police were very polite and listened to Sara’s story, but then they listened to Fiona too. Her account put a very different spin on everything, turning Sara and Hailey’s version upside down.