I feel the blood drain from my cheeks. Whatever I thought he was going to say, I never would have guessed it would be this. The official line regarding my birth parents has always been the same: that my mother was a friend of an acquaintance, a girl who got herself into trouble when she was too young to cope, while my father was simply some random that she hooked up with – perhaps even one of many – who was never in the picture and never wanted to be. David and Anna stepped in to help because they so longed for a baby. There has never been any suggestion she was a person they knew – or even met. I know her name must be on my original birth certificate, but I have never seen it, nor have I ever wanted to. The only one I care about is the reissued version, which has David and Anna down as my parents. For a moment, all I can do is mouth uselessly, my emotions veering violently from shock to anger to downright alarm.

David has turned pale at the look on my face – an expression that warns him to stop talking. I cross my arms and jut out my chin, my posture radiating anger. Before I can muster an appropriate reply, however, he takes another deep breath and adds, ‘I know who she is and I know where she is, too. I have always known.’

‘You WHAT?’

I can’t believe that I am hearing this.

‘You always said you had no idea where she went after I was born,’ I storm.

‘I know,’ he agrees, looking sheepish. ‘Anna and I told you that we didn’t know any details, but we did. I’m so sorry, darling – but we thought we were doing the right thing, by her and you, by not revealing the extent of it all. But now that everything’s changed, I think it’s time you knew more. At least let me tell you her name?’

‘What if I don’t want to know?’ I retort. ‘What if I don’t want to know anything about that … that woman? It’s not as if she can replace Anna, is it? Nothing and nobody can do that, and you shouldn’t bloody well think they could!’

David sighs. He is not a big man, but my reaction has made him seem even smaller somehow. Despite my indignation, I feel something inside me give as I glare across the table at him. He has been so hurt already by my actions, yet here I go again, piling on more pain.

‘Why?’ I ask, and I have to clench my jaw to mask the tremble in my voice. ‘Why now?’

David looks at me for a moment. I can guess what he is about to say, and brace myself.