Drops of water fell from a seven-year-old's eyes, down her reddened cheeks, until they took their final fall and absorbed into the pants of the mother stroking her daughter's hair soothingly. After so long of silence, during which Mia thought her child was falling into a slumber, she was surprised to hear a small voice speak up. "Why doesn't he like me, mum?"

The question made every inch of Mia hurt instantly, as if someone had just struck her with an unexpected and rather painful hex. Even though that wasn't the case, the woman wished it was.

"He loves you."