I’m so close to the edge now, a gentle breeze and I know I’ll fall. I told her I would do it tonight—’

Prosecutor: ‘That’s quite enough, thank you.’

Chapter Twenty-Eight

TWENTY-EIGHT

WHEN I GET home, I rush towards the house. Cormac could be waiting in the bushes, or behind Gabe’s car but I get inside and lock the door after me. Upstairs, I notice the light is still on in Evan’s room. I check my phone. It’s almost 2 am. He must have turned it on and fallen asleep.

I push his door open and peer into the room. He’s not asleep, I realise. He’s at his desk, on his computer, his face in his hands.

‘Evan, honey, it’s late. You should be in bed.’ He turns to me. He’s crying again. ‘Oh, Evan, what’s wrong? You don’t still blame yourself for the fire?’

‘Get out,’ he says, all teeth and wide eyes.

‘What’s wrong?’ I say, stepping closer.

‘Why?’ he says. ‘Why did you do it?’

‘Do what, Evan? Is this about July’s phone?’

He turns back to the computer and clicks something on the screen. It fills up with an image. I freeze, my eyes growing wide.

It’s a still of me and Cormac, or Nathan as I now know him to be, my mouth pressed to his. Except you can’t see Cormac’s face, only mine, because my hand is in the air, as if delicately reaching for his cheek, obscuring his face.

‘That’s not what it looks like,’ I say, anger in my voice.

‘What? Are you going to tell me it’s photoshopped?’

‘No. It’s … it’s different, Evan. Where did it come from?’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ he spits. He is raising his voice now, too. The last thing I need is for the rest of the family to wake up. I don’t know what would be worse, Gabe seeing this or July. Cormac is trying to do to me what he thinks I did to his family. He’s trying to tear us apart.

‘Was it Raze?’ I say.

‘So what if it was?’

‘Evan, you—’

‘Just don’t!’ he cuts me off, so loud I wince. ‘Don’t try to analyse it, Mum. He posted it all over the forums, so all of my friends have seen. I’ve been staring at it for hours. I know what’s happening. I know what you did to Dad. Raze said it’s been happening for weeks.’

‘Do you know who that is in that image? Do you know who Raze is?’

‘I don’t want to know. I don’t care. You’re cheating on Dad.’

‘No, I’m not,’ I say. ‘That is Hudson, that’s July’s boyfriend. I think he is Raze. He’s trying to tear us apart.’