It took a couple of hours for me to bring myself to look at my sister after Max had gone. She apologised again for telling him, and I decided I didn’t have the energy to be angry about it. It had happened and neither of us could take it back, so I accepted it and tried to move on.

When I told Anna about Mike being attacked I could see conflicting emotions fighting on her face.

It’s okay, I told her, you don’t have to be upset about it.

Good. I don’t really care what happens to that bastard.

I shook my head. I wouldn’t want him to die. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, however awful they’d been to me. But there were times before I threw him out that I fantasised about him being in an accident or something while he was out, about a police officer turning up at the door and telling me Mike was dead, then I could be free of him without actually having to break up with him. Does that make me a terrible person?

I’d been thinking about this the whole way home, worrying about my own reaction to finding out Mike had been attacked.

Of course it doesn’t. It just means you knew you had to get out, but were too scared to confront him in case he went ballistic. Anna shrugged off my feelings as if they were completely normal, when I had expected her to be shocked by them, and that made me feel better.

This last week has been a nightmare, I told her. Trying to deal with Mike, and now fighting with Max. This is why relationships aren’t worth the hassle. I tried for a wry grin, but it probably ended up looking a bit strangled.

I understand why you wanted him to have changed, Anna said. You want to believe people are inherently decent, and that they care about what happens to the people around them. Unfortunately, not everyone does. Men like Mike are blind to other people’s feelings. It’s all about them.

I nodded. I think he only apologised to make himself feel good, I told her. If he hadn’t seen me again, he never would have considered it. When we were together he only ever did something if he thought he could get something out of it, and this apology was no different.

I’m really sorry about telling Max, she said, apologising for probably the seventh time. I shouldn’t have done it. I thought it was important for you to talk about it, but I shouldn’t have interfered.