Grainger had said it best.
Alice was better off without her.
And that had meant there was no reason to try anymore. No reason to answer Cathy f*****g Hale or justify herself in the face of the clipboards and the notes and the questions. She could be whoever she wanted to be. Before she reached the end of her line.
She was sick again. She spilled her guts into the toilet basin as soon as Cathy left, picturing her mother’s apoplectic face amid the swirls of water and hearing her accusatory voice in her ear as she heaved.
“What have you done? To yourself? To your family? You’ve let Alice down. You’ve let yourself down. You’ll never get her home now. You’ve thrown away your last chance. What are you good for, Madison? Absolutely f*****g nothing!”
“What have you done? To yourself? To your
