Page 56 of The Girlfriend’s Secret

‘No,’ I say, shaking my head because I can’t accept that I have been so wrong about something that I was so sure of.

‘I wish it wasn’t true,’ Scott says, burying his head in his hands. ‘But I just know it is.’

As Scott battles his inner demons, I try to process everything he has just told me. Everything he said about going to his grandmother’s house and finding her dead by the stairs. How he tried to save her whilst Liane stood by helplessly. And how he watched as his mother did the one thing she does whenever she is lying.

‘But I don’t understand,’ I say. ‘Even if this is true and Liane killed her. Why would she do it?’

‘The same reason you thought I killed her,’ Scott says. ‘Money.’

‘But Liane doesn’t need money.’

‘Everybody needs money. We all just have different reasons for needing it.’

This is all too much to handle, so I turn to the window to see if I can open it to get some fresh air in here. But it’s one of those windows like in many hotels where it can’t be opened and, suddenly, I feel even more trapped and claustrophobic than I did when I thought Scott was here to hurt me.

‘I didn’t want it to be true,’ Scott goes on as I pace around by the locked window. ‘I tried to think of reasons why it wouldn’t be. Mum couldn’t have killed her own mother. It just seemed impossible. My mum wasn’t a murderer. But then I thought about all the things I’ve heard her say over the years. How much she hated working. How she resented the fact that she would be an old woman before she got to do all the things she wanted to do. How she kept saying she wished she’d win the lottery so life would be easier.’

‘Everybody wishes they could win the lottery,’ I say. ‘It doesn’t mean they kill people.’

‘But not everybody has a dark side,’ Scott says solemnly. ‘But my mother does, and now I have seen the true extent of it, I can’t do it anymore. I can’t live with it, certainly not if other people are confusing her evil for mine.’

Looking at the state of the man sitting before me on the bed, it’s clear to see now that he isn’t some strong, confident mechanic who was desperate to keep his secrets safe. He’s a troubled boy who has grown up under a repressive mother who is the real person in the family capable of bad things.

Scott’s biggest problem hasn’t been me falsely accusing him of murder.

It’s been having a mother like Liane.

Or at least that’s what he’s leading me to believe. But how do I know this isn’t just a ploy on his part to lower my defences? I guess the only way to find out if this is really true is to call his bluff.

‘If you are right and your mum killed Valerie, then we need to go to the police and tell them,’ I say. ‘We need to get them to arrest and question her.’

‘You don’t understand,’ Scott says, looking up at me with fear in his eyes. ‘There’s no evidence. My mum will just deny it, but then she’ll know that it was me who tipped the police off and she’ll hurt me next.’

‘She wouldn’t hurt her own son,’ I say, but Scott shakes his head.

‘She killed her mother. There’s nobody she won’t hurt.’

That chilling sentiment causes me to think about Joel. Could he be in danger too?

‘Mum has always been prone to dark moods,’ Scott tells me. ‘My brother and I got used to it growing up. Dad would warn us when we were younger and we would know to try and avoid her until she was feeling better. But it wasn’t always possible and, sometimes, she would take her moods out on us.’

‘She hurt you?’

‘Not physically. But she would shout at us. Tell Joel and me that her life would be easier if she hadn’t had us. How expensive we are. How her and Dad would be working their whole lives to pay for us. When I was young, I didn’t really get it, but as I got older, I realised how twisted it was for her to say those things to us.’

‘But I don’t understand. If she’s been such a bad mother, why are you and Joel so close to her?’ I ask.

‘Are we close?’ Scott scoffs. ‘I moved out of home the first chance I got, taking a job in a mechanic’s garage rather than pursuing something else that might have taken more time. I just wanted to earn money so I could get out of that house. As for Joel, he went to Australia, so that’s how far he was willing to go to get away from home.’

‘But I’ve sat at the dinner table with you all and there was no sign of any issues,’ I say. ‘You and Joel always seemed fine around your mother.’

‘We do it for Dad,’ Scott tells me. ‘He’s told us that Mum has been seeking help. Professional help. He tells us that she is not a bad person and that she loves us deep down. He tells us that he doesn’t want to lose us all. So my brother and I try. But it’s all just an act. The truth is, we’re both scared of Mum, about the person she is beneath the surface. But I never thought it could get this bad. I never thought she was a killer. Until I saw her that day in Grandma’s house.’

I don’t know what to say to all of that. If it is true, it is awful. A terrible family history laid bare. It certainly makes my own troubled upbringing seem less of an anomaly now. I always presumed the standard ‘two parents, two kids’ thing looked perfect from the outside, but it’s clear nothing is as it seems behind closed doors. How many other picture-perfect families are like this? How many mothers hate their children? How many children are scared of the people they should trust the most? And how many domestic crimes have been covered up simply because they looked like they were an accident?

‘Dad always did his best to ensure family harmony,’ Scott says sadly. ‘So that’s why I tried to keep the family intact. It’s why I didn’t tell anyone about my suspicions of Mum and it’s why I tried to warn you away. I wanted to keep the family together, if only for the sake of me, Dad and Joel. But I also warned you away because I wanted to keep you safe.’

‘I understand,’ I say, realising how trapped and conflicted Scott has been feeling. ‘But this cannot carry on any longer. It has to end. Liane has to pay for what she has done.’