She went on, revelling in his panic. She didn’t know where any of this was coming from, but finally, years and years later, he was getting what he deserved. ‘And I’ll make it clear quite how rough you were with me. How you tried to hurt me. I’ll tell them that I didn’t want to. That you forced me.’

Max’s water glass slipped out of his hand. It hit the table and soaked the blue paper napkin. Various staff members came rushing over to pat the table down and sympathize with him. He ignored all of them. When the table was dry and they had retreated, he glared at her. He looked like he was going to vomit. Like he was going to cry.

‘What the hell is wrong with you? This is ancient history. Zadie is dead. What do you think you’re going to achieve by pulling shit like this? You want to put her family through all this, while they’re still mourning? And if I don’t help you then – what? – you’re going to ruin my life?’

‘That’s about the size of it,’ Chloe said. She watched him try to wriggle his way out of the situation, the same way he’d worked his way out of every other tight corner he had ever found himself in. ‘I’ll give you until tomorrow to decide.’

‘Why are you doing this?’

‘Because I know what you did to my best friend. And I am so fucking sick of you getting away with it. If it weren’t for what you did, she wouldn’t have had to leave university. She could have stayed. She wouldn’t be dead right now.’

‘What’s this really about? Revenge? “Closure?” Your sad little life doesn’t satisfy you any more, so now you’re trying to ruin mine over a crazy bitch who just saw you as a plaything?’

She leaned in and hissed, ‘Call it whatever the fuck you want. I’ve told you my terms. Either you confess to what you did, or I will use everything on my phone to make your life a living hell.’

She picked up her bag and walked away, praying he couldn’t see how much she was shaking.

23

Then