‘Thanks – I appreciate you going for them, and I’m sorry I forgot to tell you before. You look tired. Come and sit down.’ Bree smiled as she stood holding Mia in her arms.

Taking up the offer, Franny sat down on the bed, lying back and sinking deep into the pillows, but the minute she did, Bree, still holding Mia, charged for the door, slamming it closed behind her before quickly turning the key and locking Franny in.

Bree breathed deeply, closing her eyes partly in relief and partly in fear. She spoke through the door, her voice shaking slightly. ‘I’m sorry, Franny, I never wanted to do this to you, but I just can’t go on like this.’

Furiously, Franny, having jumped up from the bed, hammered on the door. ‘You’re making a big mistake, Bree – just open the fucking door, and then we can forget all about this.’

‘But we won’t forget it, will we? If I let you out now, you’ll only lock me in again, and who knows for how long this time?’

With a hiss, Franny snapped, ‘I’ve already told you: Alfie is going away. He’ll be gone soon so all you needed to do was have a bit of patience. It’s me who’s had the hard time – you’ve had it easy.’

Walking across the room and placing Mia on her changing mat, Bree was shaking. She shouted back at Franny, ‘But that’s the thing, Franny. I’ve had patience, don’t you see? And when I didn’t, when I just wanted to get out for a bit, what did you do? You locked me in the bedroom. Don’t you see how wrong that is?’

Hitting the door with her fist, Franny seethed, ‘I took you for a drive, didn’t I? Even after you went against me. I still took you out.’

‘Listen to what you’re saying, Franny – it’s crazy.’

‘Crazy? This was all for your own good, all of it. None of this was about me. The only thing I didn’t want to happen was for Alfie to find out, because then something would happen to me. Why is that so hard for you to understand?’

Bree’s eyes filled with tears, guilt running through her. ‘It’s not, but like I said before, this isn’t normal. It’s wrong, Franny.’

‘Well it’s a good job I didn’t say it was wrong when you wanted me to help you get away from Alfie, isn’t it? I’ve spent thousands on you and for what? Thanks for nothing, Bree.’