‘There are some encouraging signs. Arrests for coercive control are up, with roughly one in six resulting in charges. It’s going in the right direction, but for now it’s quicker and cleaner for us to get you out. Less to go wrong.’

‘Fine. Do it then. But don’t make me wait.’

‘Listen to me, Holly, because you need to keep your head clear. You need to think and act calmly. And we need to get everything right for you. There are documents to arrange, housing, a job, doctors for you and the baby. We want you in a sustainable life, a life that’s close enough to your own for you not to break down and give yourself away. You enjoy hospital work, yes?’

‘Yes.’

‘Anything else?’

Writing, I thought. Or I did until Zac stole my journal. But I didn’t want to share that with her. So I shared a different but also very true thing. ‘Children.’

‘Good. That shouldn’t be hard to arrange. Have you given any other thought to your escape plans? We try to let people choose the location themselves, as long as they choose wisely, but we can choose for you if you prefer.’

‘I found a good care home in Bath for my grandmother. I’ll be telling Zac that she died.’

‘We can move her for you.’

I let a crumpled supermarket receipt fall onto the bench between us, as if accidentally. On it, I’d scribbled some essential details.

‘We can help to pay for it,’ she said. ‘We’d be happy to do that for you.’

This offer made me even more frightened. Because it showed how bad she thought things had got, and that whatever she’d involved me in was more serious than I’d ever imagined. But I didn’t want her to have the kind of claim on me that money would buy. ‘No. Thank you. I’ve been preparing for this, for her care, since before I ever met you.’ Then I said the thing I most needed to say, the hardest thing. ‘He’s installed a camera in our bedroom. Do you know about that?’

She didn’t answer.

‘I’m taking your silence as a yes.’ My voice faltered. ‘Are you monitoring what he stores on the cloud?’ Her continued silence made me say, ‘I’m taking that as a yes too. It’s bad enough that that footage exists, that he has done this to me. I’d lose my mind if it ended up going viral – there’s probably some fetish group who are into pregnant women, with Zac as their president.’