‘I never wanted to leave you.’ Louisa reached for herhand. ‘Richard was all-consuming and I was in love. Back then, he was good to me and yet I didn’t see how manipulating he was. He isolated me from my family, from you, from making new friends here, before I even realised. He said he loved it just the two of us, but that he couldn’t wait to start a family.
‘But when Daisy was born, and I had trouble adjusting, he didn’t like that. It was as if I’d lost my shine. As if I wasn’t enough for him and over time I did lose myself.Hemade me into who I am today, and if you’re not careful, he’ll do the same to you. He’s evil, Sarah. Let’s all leave and go back to Derby. You, me and Daisy. We could get somewhere to live and?—’
‘You think I’d help you to get away?’ Sarah turned to walk away again.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You left me to deal with Nigel!’
Louisa had the decency to look shamefaced.
‘You knew what he was like and you left me there, to be molested by that – that bastard. Mum didn’t believe me when I told her I didn’t want him in the house. And unlike you, I had nowhere to go. So I had to tolerate it. For four months, Louisa! Every Friday night he would come into my room, drunk, while Mum was passed out legless downstairs. I tried to push him off, but he was too strong. He’d hit out at me and it was easier to give in. But I never forgot a second of it. That was all your fault.’
‘I’m sorry! I didn’t really know.’
‘You didn’t care.’
Louisa paused. ‘That’s why you came here, isn’t it? So you can get your own back on me?’
‘Got it in one.’ Sarah nodded.
‘You shouldn’t have come if you weren’t going to help me. I trusted you to be there for me.’
‘You left me to him!’
‘You stole my childhood!’
Sarah and Louisa glared at each other for a moment before Louisa continued.
‘I’d had to watch you since you were born. I was the only one looking after you. Mum was hardly ever around, and when she was, she wasn’t capable. It wasmewho fed and bathed you.Mewho got you ready for bed.Mewho soothed you when you were ill.Mewho took you to school and worked a Saturday job to pay for treats.’
Sarah went to speak but Louisa held up her hand and went on.
‘It was me who sat with you when you were being bullied. Then when you got your own back, it was me who went to see your headmaster.’ Louisa prodded herself in her chest. ‘I did all that because I loved you. But I wasn’t your mum. Icouldn’tbe your mum, and yet I had to be because without me you would have been taken into care.’
‘So you’re saying I should be grateful to you?’ Sarah laughed in disbelief.
‘Of course not! I loved you. You were my sister and I thought we had a special bond.’
‘Well, you proved that wasn’t true when you moved here with Richard.’
Louisa shook her head in disbelief. ‘I wanted a good life for myself. Was that too much to ask? I wanted less responsibility, to be wined and dined, treated nicely. Given treats, actually. I had all that with Richard.’
‘To my detriment. You left me to rot in that house with Mum and I had to get out. It was your fault I met Jessie and he killed our daughter.’
‘But I’m as much a victim in this as you! I had nothing before I met Richard.’
‘And what do you have now?’ Sarah scoffed. ‘A half-life because he drugs you to stop you from moaning all the time.’
She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room with the slam of a door. Daisy was standing in her bedroom doorway, tears pouring down her cheeks, her little body shaking. But even the sight of her niece didn’t make Sarah stop as she ran past her and down the stairs. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Louisa as possible.
Because even though there had been some nasty accusations thrown around, there had been some truth in among the lies. It seemed she might have been wrong about her sister abandoning her all those years ago.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Louisa was exhausted. The argument she’d had with Sarah was playing on her mind. She wasn’t sure they would recover from it, and she desperately needed her sister as her alibi.
She looked in on Daisy who was napping on her bed. She was such a good girl, always knowing when she should stay in her room, entertaining herself whenever necessary. But it worried her how much time she slept, most likely because she was bored on her own. It couldn’t go on. They needed more out of life than this poor existence. She had to be strong, for both of them.
