When Tom came around to pick up Annie, his phone rang. His happy tone of voice as he spoke piqued my interest. I worked out it was either Abi or her husband, Andy, on the phone. When the call finished, he was like an excited little schoolboy. Abi and Andy had invited him and Annie over for Sunday lunch tomorrow.

My heart sank.

Ever since he and I split up, Abi and Andy have been spending more and more time with him, with and without Annie. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but they both know a lot of what he put me through and how he assaulted Josh, and yet they continue to treat him like their best friend. It makes me feel as though they don’t believe me. If it were the other way around – if a man had abused one of my sisters the way Tom did me – I would have nothing more to do with him, nothing. Instead, they actually see more of him than they do me.

I suppose what hurts more is that since we split up, Abi and Andy haven’t once asked me over to theirs, and they would never invite me over for dinner, not in a million years. In fact, they barely have anything to do with me unless they want something.

I guess there’s no such thing as family loyalty.