‘It was hardly doing up the house. A friend of mine just helped choose paint colours.’ She doesn’t need to give any details to Lillian.

‘That all costs money, though. Really Abby, you need to be more careful.’ She shakes her head, and Abby feels the swell of anger she’s been trying to suppress. She has that same overwhelming feeling she had when she met Greg in the park, when she realised what he’d done.

Lillian continues. ‘I told Rob…’ She stops and stares at Abby, shakes her head again.

‘Told him what?’ What she wants to do is shout, but somehow, she manages to keep her voice level.

‘Nothing.’

This is all it takes for Abby to snap. ‘You’ve never liked me, have you, Lillian?’

Her mother-in-law looks away, unable to meet Abby’s eyes. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Abby has always thought that if she ever confronted Lillian, then the woman would fight back, stand her ground. Now she knows different. ‘I’ve never been good enough for your son, isn’t that right?’ She doesn’t wait for an answer. ‘You’re one of those mothers, aren’t you? The ones who can’t let go of their sons, even when they’re grown men? It kills you to see him happy with someone, doesn’t it?’ Confronting Lillian like this feels like her soul is being cleansed. The fact that she isn’t fighting back convinces Abby that it’s only ever been passive-aggressive behaviour she’s demonstrated – never healthy assertiveness.

And then everything changes.

Lillian throws back her head and laughs, a billowing banshee shriek that’s so at odds with her usual stoic manner that all Abby can do is stare open-mouthed.

‘Oh, you couldn’t be more wrong,’ Lillian hisses, once more in control of herself. ‘There’s nothing I want more than to see my son happy with someone. In fact, I did. But you put a stop to that, didn’t you?’

Without her elaborating, Abby knows exactly what she’s talking about. Or rather, who.

Tamara. Someone she hasn’t thought of for a long time now.

‘I did nothing wrong, Lillian. Rob…’

‘He was happy until you came along. And now look. He’d probably have started a family by now, but look at you, in no rush to even try. All you do is worry about your career.’

The bullets Lillian fires keep coming. Abby needs to deflect them. Stay calm. Hold it together. ‘That’s my business, Lillian.’

‘Rob’s my son. He’ll always be my business.’

‘And I’m his wife. So I guess that means you’re stuck with me, aren’t you?’