I Pay Strangers to Be My Dad

Ever since her mother lost the baby, Rebecca's father has spent his days keeping his late classmate's wife, Winona Sutton, company. Rebecca cuts him out of every family photo, tells her classmates her dad is dead, and even pays the school guard to pose as her father on sports day. Her mother, once a world-renowned photographer, quietly lets her rent a stand-in whenever an event demands one.

Two months on, Callum finally returns home, furious to hear himself declared dead. He offers his wife an outdated camera and promises that things with Winona are nearly finished, then rushes off again at the first tearful call from Winona's daughter. Going through the camera's gallery, Rebecca and her mother find photos of him with Winona on the very day of the miscarriage and the night of her self-harm.

Her mother smashes the camera and accepts a photography job at Glenside, planning to leave in a week. But with five days left, Callum begins packing Rebecca's trophies and dolls into a box for Winona's child.