‘What? He wants me to pay him, when he hasn’t paid me a single cent for Daisy’s upkeep ever since we separated!’ Grace felt rage throbbing through her. She took a long breath and tried hard to calm down.

‘I suspect he’s after money and you’re the easiest target,’ Mr Judd said. ‘Worst case scenario is that if he were given custody of Daisy, and you were earning money while he was not, you might be required to pay some child support.’

‘Does he have any chance of getting full custody?’ said Grace, suddenly close to tears. ‘I can’t believe he’d try this! I very much doubt he even wants custody of Daisy. I just don’t understand.’

‘As we’ve discussed, it’s unlikely he’d get sole custody. But if you can’t agree at mediation, which seems likely now, the next step is to proceed to court. Even if you were to win in court – and I think you’d have a strong case – it would be emotionally draining as well as expensive.’ He paused, then continued. ‘I know this is a lot to take in, Grace, but unfortunately there’s something else as well. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to check your messages today, but your solicitor Mr Jamison has emailed you, and he copied me in as the matter also concerns Lawrence.’

‘Oh no – what?’ said Grace, dreading his reply.

‘Lawrence has relisted the Paddington apartment for sale.’

‘Of course he has,’ said Grace in a flat tone. What more could possibly happen? she wondered. She felt like she was hanging on by a thread, which was probably exactly what Lawrence wanted. She steeled herself. No. She would not let him get to her. ‘Okay, Mr Judd,’ she said as calmly as she could, ‘what should we do about all this?’

‘All right, let’s just take things step by step,’ said Mr Judd. ‘From what I can gather from his lawyer, Lawrence seems anxious to move on with this new woman of his, Alicia Feng. As I’ve explained before, if he can show he’s in a stable relationship with her, it may help his case. I know she’s a businesswoman and is part of an influential Chinese family from Singapore, who are keen to establish permanent Australian connections. There could be a trade-off. You must consider your bargaining chips,’ he said carefully. ‘Think through all you have learned about him: what information he would not want made public, for example. Do your research about the Feng family. That’s all the advice I can offer, and it’s all unofficial. But I’m here for you when you are ready to make a legal move, and of course, we should speak again next week to discuss the mediation.’

Grace thanked Mr Judd and ended the call, but she stood still for a few more moments, stunned, sifting through the lawyer’s conversation and reading between the lines of his advice. Things had come to a head, she realised. What he was telling her was that the ball was in her court for match point. If she didn’t hit it back, hard, as a winning shot, she might lose more than just the game.