She couldn’t believe that she was in this position, and she blamed her husband and Jonny Parker. Thinking of her sister in that enormous house, with Jonny dancing to her every whim, made her almost apoplectic with rage. Everyone was acting as if it was her fault – he had walked away from it without any real damage. It was so unfair. She had wanted him like she had wanted no one else in her life and she had him for a time as well. But he had been a flake, just like the rest. Now where was she? He had paid her off, but it was a pittance considering what she was used to. She would have to get rid of this place and start again. Even Cynthia knew she couldn’t stay around here after what had happened. But then maybe getting a fresh start was what she needed. She could buy a nice flat somewhere while she was still young enough and still good-looking enough to attract attention from men.

As for that daughter of hers, she would need her one day and, when she did, Cynthia would take great pleasure in shutting the door in her face, just like it had been shut in hers. Her mother and father were dead to her – they had acted as though she was the main culprit. But then Jonny was still keeping them, so they would have to take his part in it all. Like Celeste, they would do whatever he told them to do. Well, he would rue the day he dumped her as well. Just who the hell did he think he was? She still loved him, though. He was the only man to ever make her feel alive, and she would miss that more than anything.

She could feel the tears coursing down her cheeks, and she brushed them away angrily. For the first time in her life she knew what it was to lose someone she cared about, and she didn’t like the feeling one bit.

Cynthia glanced around the room, remembering when they first came here, seeing the kids when they were still small enough to do as they were told, before they turned into a pair of scheming bastards like their father.

James had killed himself to spite her, she was convinced of that. Deep down she thought he had done it to teach her a lesson. She grimaced through her tears. Well, he had wasted his time, because she felt no guilt where he was concerned. None whatsoever.

She wiped her eyes carefully, then she went up her beautiful staircase and ran herself a bath. She had never been one for regrets. Instead, she would do what she had always done – look after number one.