The burns had distorted the skin on the right side of her body. The flesh on her arm looked like melted plastic that had been left to cool and warp. Her right breast didn’t have a nipple or areola like the left, just scar tissue that followed down her ribs and across her hip.

When she took in the sight of her burns, she remembered opening the door of her childhood bedroom and feeling the heat of flames burst into the room. She remembered raising her arm to shield her face and falling to the floor. She had smelt her singed hair, and screamed as her flaming pyjamas melted to her skin on the right side of her body. As she had ripped off the fabric, half of her skin came with it. She had wanted one last look at her parents, and had paid the ultimate price.

She took a final glance at her reflection and got dressed, used to the pull of her burns as she moved. She smoothed down her hair and headed back into the bedroom and sat before the dressing table.

Richard came into the bedroom and placed a kiss on the crown of her head. Amber looked at him in the mirror with a smile as she fixed diamond studs in her ears and returned her gaze to her reflection. The scratches on her hands from the thorns were deep. Swipes of red littered her skin, but her clothes hid most of them. She fitted the earrings quickly and slipped into a pair of black silk gloves that were tight to her skin and ended at her wrists.

‘You’re awfully dressed up for a takeaway,’ he said.

‘Some men simply tell their wives that they look beautiful.’

‘You look beautiful,’ he said as he sat on the edge of the bed. ‘But seriously, why all the fuss? You’re only going next door.’

‘I’m celebrating.’

‘Celebrating what?’

‘That’s for me to know,’ she replied as she applied bright red lipstick and spoke through rounded lips. ‘Check the bed.’

She watched him in the mirror as he spotted his phone resting on top of his pillow. He snatched it up and checked the screen.

‘Where did you find it?’

‘Down the side of the sofa.’

‘I checked there.’

‘There is a universal difference between a man and a woman looking for something. You should know that by now.’