She rises silently from the floor and, without so much as a glance at me, drifts out of the room and into the hall. Al remains where she is, sitting cross-legged on the rug. Her nostrils flare as Isaac looks down at her and raises an eyebrow as if to say, “Now you need to leave, too.”

“I’m not leaving Emma alone with you.”

“I’m not going to hurt her.” He looks at me. “I promise. I just want to talk to her. I want to explain why I did what I just did, and how it will help her.”

“Emma?” Al looks at me. “What do you want to do?”

The sound of raised voices drifts through the open door of Isaac’s study. Daisy and Leanne are arguing in the dining room. There’s no way I’m going to walk straight into that. The second I leave this room, Daisy will fly at me, and I can’t deal with that, not now, not after everything that’s happened. If I stay here for a few more minutes and give her a bit of time, she’ll calm down. Then I’ll try to explain what just happened – not that I really know myself.

There’s something so uncomfortable, so unbearable, about the way Isaac pressures you to answer his questions that the only way to make it stop is to say what he wants to hear. I understand now why Leanne told him about being raped as a teenager, not because she was desperate to share it with him but because she needed to say something, anything, to stop his constant questioning. There’s no way I’d ever harm Daisy, but I am angry with her. I haven’t felt like this since I was a teenager. The rage I can deal with, but the hurt is unbearable. I’ve always known Daisy could be cruel, but to have that cruelty turned on me feels like the ultimate betrayal. It’s as though the last seven years of our friendship have meant nothing.

“Emma?” Al says again.

“I’m going to stay. I want to hear Isaac out.”

“Okay.” She says the word uncertainly as she twists onto her knees and stands up. “All right. I’ll be in the dorm if you need me.”

She stands in the doorway for several seconds, shoulders back, chin raised as she locks eyes with Isaac.

“If you touch her again, you’ll have me to answer to. Right?”

Isaac’s lips twitch as though he’s trying to suppress a smile. “Got it, Al.”

“Good.” She steps into the hallway, closing the door behind her.