Page 62 of The Girlfriend’s Secret

‘I don’t know,’ Scott says, surprising me.

‘What do you mean?’ I ask him as Frederik shovels more food into his mouth and Joel pokes his fork at a piece of his meal.

‘Don’t they say that things happen in threes?’ Scott says. ‘Good or bad, things tend to occur in patterns of three. So we’ve had Grandma’s death and Joel and Haven splitting up, which makes two. But what’s the third going to be?’

I let out a laugh then as I swirl the wine in my glass.

‘I don’t think you need to worry about nonsense like that,’ I say. ‘Superstition or myth, or whatever that rule of three thing is. I’m confident that we’ve got all our bad luck out of the way and things are going to get better from here on out.’

‘Bad luck,’ Joel says, dropping his knife on his plate. ‘Is that what you think all this was?’

‘Your grandmother fell down the stairs,’ I sadly remind him. ‘If that isn’t bad luck, I don’t know what is.’

‘What about Haven?’ he asks me then. ‘Was she bad luck too?’

‘That’s not what your mother is saying,’ Frederik answers for me, but I don’t appreciate that and I make sure to let him know it.

‘Maybe I am,’ I say, correcting my husband. ‘Maybe it was bad luck that you met her. Maybe you could have met some other woman in Australia and things would be very different now. But it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that we are here, together, to enjoy this meal as a family. Because that’s all that truly counts, isn’t it? Family. And family sticks together at all times.’

I look at each of my family members then, from Joel, to Scott, to Frederik. Then I raise my glass to them all before drinking, realising that I am right about so many things.

This food is as delicious as I expected it to be.

Killing my mother was the best idea I ever had.

And Haven being out of our lives is a very, very good thing.

As I stick my fork into a bao bun, I think about how maybe Scott was right after all.

Things really do happen in threes, don’t they?

FORTY-FOUR

HAVEN

‘I’m sorry this happened to you,’ I say, speaking clearly and calmly. ‘You didn’t deserve it and nothing I can ever do will make it right. But I promise you that I am going to do my best. I promise that I am going to make your daughter pay for what she did.’

I look around the room I’m standing in as if expecting a response to come from a random direction. But it doesn’t. Of course not.

I’m the only person in this room.

I’m the only person in this house.

Still, it was worth saying. I had to say it. I had to let Valerie’s spirit know that I am still on her side and always will be. I don’t expect her to hear me or understand me or have any kind of reaction to it, but I’ve said it anyway, if only for my benefit. It’s because it has helped me get clear in my mind about what is happening.

More than that, it is to stop me chickening out now it’s the pivotal moment.

I take a seat on one of the sofas in this living room, feeling the fabric sag slightly as I sit and thinking about how it would have been perfectly contoured to fit the shape of Valerie. She would have sat here so many times, watching television, having a cup of tea with a friend, and more than anything, talking to her family whenever they visited. I imagine she would have welcomed any of them into her home with open arms whenever they called around. Why wouldn’t she? She loved her family. I’m sure she made that clear in life, just like she has made it clear in death.

She left each of her family members a small fortune, ensuring they all inherited money that she worked so hard to make and save over her lifetime. That is something that most people would be extremely grateful for. But it’s not enough for everyone. Some people always want more and they want it faster.

They want it all.

Some people like Liane.

Now she thinks she has it all.

But she has no idea how close she is to losing it.