The Family

Chapter Fifty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy-Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Three: The Aftermath

Chapter Seventy-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventy-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighty (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Four: Eighteen Months Later

Chapter Eighty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

The following letter contains spoilers (#litres_trial_promo)

Book Club Questions (#litres_trial_promo)

Excerpt (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Prologue (#ulink_be416259-b702-50c5-bf90-a922fd80656e)

NOW

LAURA

It all unfolds with cinematic clarity; the gunshot, the scream. Every detail sharp and clear. Time slows as her eyes plead with me to help her. In my mind I bundle her behind me, shielding her body with mine, but she is too far away and I know I cannot reach her in time.

But still I try.

My legs are weighted with dread as I run towards her; the fist around my heart tightening.

A second shot.

Her knees buckle. She crumples like a paper doll.

The ground falls away beneath my feet and I crawl towards her like the animal I have become. My palms are sticky in the arc of blood that is staining the floor red. Blood is thicker than water they say, but hers is thin and beacon-bright. Adrenaline pulses through me leaving numbness in its wake, as I press against her wrist, desperately seeking a pulse. With my other hand I link my fingers through hers the way we used to, before I brought us to this place that has been our ruin. A lifetime of memories strobe through my mind; cradling her close in the maternity wing; Easter eggs spilling out of the wicker basket looped over her pudgy arm; her first day of school, ribboned pigtails swinging as she ran across the playground.

She can’t be gone.