Her smile is mean and my heart sinks as I realise the reason she’s come. For some kind of twisted revenge, even though I already helped her out once before. My mind races and I try to think of a way out of this. ‘Look, I’m sorry I couldn’t give you all the money, but I needed it.’

On our twenty-first birthdays we each received a lump sum from our mum’s trust. It wasn’t a huge amount, but I’ve since put my share towards buying a house with Toby. It made me feel good that I could chip in fifty per cent of the deposit.

Dina burned through her inheritance within a few months of receiving it, and then called to ask if I could lend her some of mine, as she had an opportunity to invest in a beach bar. I’d told her I was saving my share, but she kept on and on, saying I was standing in the way of her future.

Eventually she seemed to accept my decision, but I should have realised that was wishful thinking on my part. She asked me if Toby knew about my drug habit. I said that trying a spliff one time didn’t exactly count as a drug habit. And anyway, I’d been pressured into it by friends – or one particular friend actually. But while I bluffed to Dina that Toby wouldn’t care, I knew very well that he wouldn’t have been happy with the news. He likes the fact I’m a goody-two-shoes.

Dina went on to say that, the way she remembered it, back when we were teenagers, is that I was an addict and a dealer. I laughed aloud at that, until I realised she was deadly serious. The penny dropped. She was actually attempting to blackmail me. Given Toby’s ambition to run for town council, having a fiancée who had dealt drugs wouldn’t have gone down too well with him or his family – even though it was a complete fabrication. I worried he might even have gone so far as to break off our engagement. So I ended up giving Dina some of the money. But I lied and said I’d spent the rest. That seemed to satisfy her at the time. But now here she is, back again. This time on my wedding day, wanting to speak to Toby!

‘Dina, you swore you wouldn’t say anything about all that. Why would you lie about me? What good will it do? If you need some more cash, I’m sure I can scrape some together…’