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were so proud of their handsome son they bought him a BMW on graduation, completing his transformation into the very model of a modern eligible bachelor. He dutifully played the role for close to a decade – skiing in winter, yachting in summer, the obligatory three-month Kontiki tour through Europe, the swag of girlfriends – until he found himself a pretty ex-model to marry. In truth her modelling career consisted largely of discount store brochures and shopping mall catwalks, plus a walk-on role on Home and Away , so she was more than happy to become known as ex-model Mrs Leisa Atkinson on the social pages for which they were frequently snapped. As a wedding gift, Gary and Trish had given them the deposit for their first apartment in Bondi, but once baby Jasper came along, Ben and Leisa decided to move across the bridge and raise their family in Mosman, a stone’s throw from the breathless grandparents. Leisa grew her hair into a blonde bob, completed the set with a baby daughter, Emily, and had recently acquired a black Mercedes four-wheel drive to ensure her family’s safety on the dangerous northern peninsula roads, particularly now with all the travelling involved getting Jasper to soccer on the weekends.
    And then there was Gemma.
    She was the black sheep her family had to have. There was no way she would ever reach the dizzy heights Ben had scaled. Not that she wasn’t smart enough; she was smart enough to know that she didn’t want to throw another log on the bonfire of their vanities. And she set about making it her life’s purpose to prove it. She was asked to leave a couple of the best ladies’ colleges, andfinally was forcibly removed from another. She experimented with alcohol, drugs and sex, had brushes with the law, moved out of home at the tender age of fifteen with the first in what would prove to be a long line of no-hoper boyfriends, only to return after a couple of months and start the hoopla all over again. All the while Gemma seemed to take strange delight in watching her parents squirm and blanch as they continued to make every excuse under the sun for her. They were always there to pick up the pieces, or more correctly pick up the tab, paying her debts and her fines while continuing to finance her increasingly hedonistic lifestyle. It became almost a sport for Gemma: she really wanted to see if she could break them. When would they say enough was enough? Apparently never. They were either idiots, or, worse, what Gemma secretly suspected and even quietly feared, throwing money at her was easier than trying to have a meaningful relationship with the person she really was.
    Of course she absolutely ruined things for poor Phoebe. The reins were wound in so tight around her younger sister she could barely sneeze without her parents knowing about it. But somehow Phee managed to survive pretty much intact while keeping everyone happy, which appeared to be Phoebe’s specialty. She was school captain and dux, while excelling equally in sport and music, later graduating from university with first-class honours in law. Gemma didn’t know how she did it all with such grace.
    â€˜You have to learn to work with them,’ Phoebe used to tell her, ‘not against them. They’re not trying to control your life; they just want you to be happy.’
    â€˜I am happy,’ Gemma always insisted. ‘Very happy.’
    â€˜But couldn’t you try being happy in a way that would make them happy too?’
    Gemma doubted it. She sometimes felt as though she’d landed from Mars into this strange family where she just didn’t fit. She knew she wasn’t what they hoped her to be. Despite all their protestations, her parents expected their children to fulfil their own hopes and dreams. And Gemma was not going to give them the satisfaction.
    The prospect of another grandchild would be too much for her mother to ignore. Her need to take over would consumeher;