Methodically, she goes around the house, opening every drawer and cupboard, searching for paperwork to give her some answers. She cannot rest until she knows how he got into this situation, if he spent the money she gave him on buying this house. It wouldn’t have been that difficult for him to get a mortgage as her house was automatically paid for when her father died. She’s glad now that she hasn’t bothered putting Max’s name on the deeds. Maybe that’s the only sensible thing she’s done.

Next to the bathroom she finds a cupboard with shelves full of bedding and towels haphazardly piled up. On the floor is a short filing cabinet with the key left in. She opens the top drawer and flicks through the files. Mobile phone statements, gas bills, store card statements, water rates. The mortgage statements seem to be the only ones missing. She opens the bottom drawer. Inside is a pile of unopened envelopes hidden behind a few SkyWatch magazines. She rips them open and checks each date. The muscle below her eye starts to twitch. The oldest is dated December 2017. The house cost £179,000 with a tidy deposit of £20,000, of her money. The mortgage is in both their names. She clenches her jaw and stuffs the papers back in.

In the boxroom a crib has been set up with blankets and a Disney character mobile clipped to the side. Packs of disposable nappies are stacked under the dressing table, a baby bath propped up in the corner. Maddy thinks of all the things she has ready for her baby: Moses basket, new linen cloths and packets of baby wipes she’s collected when they’ve been on offer. She smacks the mobile making it jangle awkwardly. She should chuck the whole lot of this stuff out of the window. How dare this girl think she can have a baby with her husband?

She yanks open a drawer on his side of the bed and finds half a tube of cough sweets, a Spotter’s Guide to The Night Sky, a handful of screws, coins and a used-up tube of KY Jelly. She smirks, imagining him trying to get it in, her like a dried-up flower. She laughs out loud. Her voice sounds strange in the empty house. The dog shifts positions downstairs. She guesses he’s leaning against the under-stair’s cupboard because the door rattles. A few moments later, the house is quiet again.