However, this evening, in spite of needing to catch up on some sleep, she’d happily set everything aside for a few hours so that she, her mother, and Jasmine could go to a party at Leanne’s. They’d been thrilled to receive the invitation, especially when they’d discovered that it was to celebrate Tom and Leanne’s engagement.

“We must get a card and take a gift,” she’d informed her mother as soon as they’d agreed they would go.

“But we hardly know them, what on earth would we get?” Marcy cried.

“That’s easy,” Jasmine piped up. “We can wrap a selection of Mum’s special scented bags. You know, the ones that go in drawers and cupboards. Everyone always likes them.”

With that agreed they only had to decide what to wear, which was something Claudia didn’t give much thought to until she got out of the shower on the evening of the party and stood, wrapped in a towel, staring into her closet.

“Well, you can’t go like that,” Jasmine informed her as she passed the open door. “Are you in need of some help?”

Claudia was, and more than Jasmine realized, because wrenching her mind from the anxiety she used to feel before nights out with Marcus was making it hard to move.

Do your best to look glamorous. I know it’s hard, but don’t let me down.

Seeming to sense what was happening, Jasmine rapidly sprang into action, and less than twenty minutes later Claudia was standing in front of her cheval mirror amazed by the transformation her daughter had achieved. She was now wearing a knee-length black lace dress with long gauzy sleeves and discreet V back, suede pumps with three-inch heels, and the diamond earrings Joel had given her as a wedding present. She’d been in jeans and baggy tops for so many months now that it was like looking at a stranger, especially with the way Jasmine had styled her hair. She’d caught it up in an artful French roll at the back, held in place by a million grips and a single crystal-studded chopstick, while at the front several loose strands fell to each side of her face, creating an effect that was both casual and classy.

“You look sensational,” Jasmine declared, admiring her own handiwork in the mirror. “You know your neck is one of your best features, and with your hair like this it shows off how lovely and slender it is.”

Claudia smiled. “Dad always liked my neck,” she said, thinking of the way Joel would run his fingers over it and kiss it and tell her how beautiful she was.

Jasmine smiled, but then saw her mother’s expression suddenly change. “What is it?” she asked.

Claudia was trapped in another awful moment and couldn’t seem to escape it. Marcus’s thick hands circling her neck and squeezing . . .