But whatever it was that was holding her together at this point was precariously fragile; all it would take would be for one part to be stripped back and the whole thing might collapse. Pulling away at one of the panel of lies could be the thing that ended up dismantling everything.

She might have considered leaving Tom, but his outburst had stalled her. Tom loved her, and more importantly he loved their children with a ferocity that she could never manage. Perhaps, too, the thought of him with Harriet had stung her so deeply that she knew she could not let anyone else have him.

But she loved Ivan, that was also a fact. He was the antidote to everything she resented about her life with Tom, and so, as unlikely as it might seem to some, she reasoned that moving between these two worlds was the perfect solution. As long as no one found out, and maybe they didn’t have to. She was hardly the first person in history to have maintained two families simultaneously. Admittedly she couldn’t think of another woman who had done so, but maybe women were just better at not getting caught.

So far, the evidence would suggest she could keep this double life going. How long had she convincingly kept up her pretence to Tom; how long had she been lying to him without him ever suspecting a thing? And Ivan had no reason to doubt her. It was risky, it would be hard work, but what wasn’t that was worth having in life?

Pulling herself together, she smiled at Madeleine.

‘You know what, I really don’t want to talk about it. Tell me about you. What’s been happening at work?’

Much as she knew Madeleine would have been willing to go there with her, had she chosen to have an intense heart-to-heart, Gabriela could almost feel her friend’s relief as she steered the conversation back to safer ground. Madeleine relished nothing more than talking about whatever investigation she had been working on.

‘Well, I’m off to Hanoi again next week to interview some undercover workers we’ve placed as part of our plan to track the various stages in the chain. It’s all very well targeting the smugglers in Vietnam and the UK, at the front end of the operation, but the next step is to weed out the facilitators. There is a whole chain that we’re piecing together. You know how it is, these things take time, but we’re getting there. And then there’s another angle we’re looking at too – women and girls being trafficked in from parts of Eastern Europe to work in the porn industry. I tell you, the fun never stops …’