I drink some water, then say quietly, ‘Nick loved both of us very much. We were his family. More than you’ve ever been.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Her voice is full of bile.

‘Maybe we should leave it here,’ Tim says. ‘Before someone says something they regret. We’ll give you a chance to get your head round what we’ve said. It’s a lot to take in.’

‘You take over my home, with no regard to my feelings, and stake your claim at the first possible moment. For God’s sake, there’s no real proof your son is dead. You are unbelievable.’

‘Nick is dead,’ Cora says, folding her arms. ‘That will be proved sooner or later. I’ve accepted it and you need to accept it as well, for your own sake and your daughter’s.’

‘You can’t do this.’

‘Yes, we can. And yes, we will. I’ve never liked you, Grace.’

‘You could have fooled me.’

She tuts. ‘Nick was such a happy little boy and he would have been a happy man if he hadn’t met you.’

‘He was happy,’ I say through gritted teeth. ‘We loved each other.’

‘So why, when Douglas Parr clicks his fingers, do you come running? Nick hated that man.’

The word hate jolts me. Nick wasn’t Douglas’s biggest fan, but he respected what he meant to Lottie. ‘They were fine. Don’t exaggerate.’

‘I’m only repeating what he said to me.’

‘I don’t believe you.’

‘Be that as it may. The fact remains that you are now here on sufferance. You’d better start looking for something more modest. I hear there are some perfectly decent ex-council properties in the same catchment as Lottie’s school, so at least she can keep up her friendships.’

I say, very slowly, ‘This is my home, my house. The things in it, Nick and I chose together, bought together.’

She shrugs. ‘That won’t make any difference, I’m afraid. If he had loved you that much, he would have married you.’

‘We were engaged. We were committed to each other.’

She laughs. ‘You’re not wearing an engagement ring.’

‘That’s because he had only just asked me.’

She raises her eyebrows slowly. ‘Grace. He didn’t. You’re clutching at straws, and it’s pathetic. Now, I don’t know where you came from, but quite frankly, you’re not one of us. You’re still young, and you’re an attractive woman; I’m sure you’ll find another wealthy man to leech off.’

‘How dare you? I have never leeched off anyone in my life. And I don’t have to go anywhere.’

Cora smirks. ‘Neither do we. We’re putting our house on the market and moving in here permanently. Now, I have things to do, so if you wouldn’t mind …’