Nick, meanwhile, needed all the money he could get to buy his way out of jail. Unluckily for him, I’d finally had enough – had made enough sacrifices, had cleaned up enough shit. He’d always been a whizz with taxes, determined to ensure we paid the least possible amount. One of those ruses was keeping our home solely in my name. The revelation about Amber Greville’s real identity was the last straw and I point-blank refused to make myself homeless to save his skin. He had the nerve to blame me for ‘hiding’ Esther’s pregnancy, like he really would have been wise or noble enough to turn that awful mess into something we could have all survived. There are no winners here, only different levels of loss. I’m not a total monster – I include Esther in that sad equation.

The truth – her version of the truth – was her mother’s legal defence. Her daughter’s life had been ruined by our family, and she’d had no choice but to seek revenge. As it was Rachel who’d pulled it off, and ultimately left her with nothing, Amber got away with little more than a slap on the wrist. My daughter, meanwhile, is an international fugitive – I wonder if she finds something rather exciting in that? After all, convention never handcuffed her the way it did me.

I’d been right all along about Amber: she’d been trying to steal my child away from me from day one. And lest we forget, her clock started ticking on our family many years before we even knew she existed. When I finally knew the whole truth, it infuriated me that I hadn’t worked it all out for myself, but they were emotional tinkers, the pair of them – masters of deception. Despite the years they spent estranged, Amber moulded her daughter just as much as I did mine. At least my clever girl ultimately outwitted her.

Nick had no choice but to declare bankruptcy, holing up in Josh’s basement once I’d kicked him out, like he’d fast-forwarded twenty years into geriatric neediness. He’s still obsessively trying to trace the money, but I know in my bones that it’s fruitless. Rachel defeated us all. I can’t help but be proud of what she pulled off, even as my heart breaks in half at the loss of her.

She was always the one. She was my shining star.

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

AMBER