‘Sorry, I won’t hold you up. I’m going out shortly, so just pop it through the door when you’re ready.’ She mimes scribbling on a piece of paper. Hopefully she thinks Maddy is Ukrainian or something and doesn’t speak English. Maddy gives her the thumbs up and lets herself in.

Poppy is there to greet her, as usual, and she gives him a cuddle and a biscuit from her pocket. In the kitchen, there is no sign of a water bowl, only an old ice-cream tub with the tiniest drop of water. The bowl is outside, dirty and empty. Maddy has an urge to kick it up in the air. She takes it in, scrubs and rinses it and fills it with clean cold water.

In the living room, there are toys strewn all over the floor and sofa, magazines piled on the coffee table. Does this little slut never clean up? She pulls out their holiday photo albums and unscrews a lid of superglue. Max swimming in the sea, eating out in the evening by candlelight, Jamie waving from a Helter Skelter. All those weeks away when she thought he was working hard, building his business. She squirts glue on each page and squeezes the album shut. She chucks it on the floor and stands on it, stamping her feet.

Upstairs she opens Max’s wardrobe and snips several inches off the bottom of each pair of trousers, collecting the cut-off ends in a plastic bag to take away. In Alison’s drawer she runs the scissors along each pair of tights. She takes out several of her jumpers and sprinkles itching powder in each. She’s tempted to shred the last of Alison’s clothes, but doesn’t want to be too obvious.

On the dressing table, she notices the jewellery box unlocked. Inside are pieces of gaudy costume jewellery: large hoop earrings and chunky necklaces, fashion watches with glittery faces. On the lowest tier is the asymmetrical heart necklace she saw her wearing, identical to hers. Too refined for this cheap slut. She holds it up to herself in the mirror. Her mother looks back at her, slowly nodding. What would have been the occasion for this? She imagines him buying both at the same time, wrapping them up, writing two cards, thinking he was being so clever deceiving them, all the time with his false heart.