She realised now, with the advent of maturity and the wisdom that parenthood had afforded her, that X had manipulated her from a young age. He had preyed upon her guilt and confusion, and twisted her fear around his strange declarations of love for herself, and for Bobby. And Laura had bought into this fantasy narrative, bought a map, gone on bus journeys, smashed a hammer into her own mouth and pulled a tooth for him, even written back. All grist for his sordid mill. Laura had been the object of X’s desire for all these years, not Bobby. Laura. Laura. And here he was again, still trying to
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