‘Maddy,’ he says. ‘Maddy, please—’

‘I won’t let you,’ she snaps, cutting him off. She doesn’t want his pity. ‘I’ll find a lawyer and …’

Trent shakes his head and picks up the papers in front of him. ‘It won’t work. You signed these. We both did. I didn’t think—’

‘No, you didn’t think.’ She cries out now, an agonising, seething wail that seems to come from the pit of her stomach.

‘Being hysterical won’t help,’ Trent says. His shoulders slump and he mutters, ‘I knew you’d be like this.’

Even though she hates him in this moment, he’s right – being hysterical won’t help – but, even so, she feels better for screaming. She watches him, his head bowed like a little boy.

She forces herself to change tack. ‘OK, then explain.’

‘Explain?’

‘Yes, all of it. Explain it to me. Explain why we’re in this mess.’ She sits down opposite him at the counter. ‘Don’t leave anything out,’ she warns him. ‘Anything at all. I want the truth for once, Trent. All of it.’

She listens, shaking in stunned silence as he begins to tell her the debacle of the business deal that went wrong and, as much as she tries not to, Maddy can’t help being staggered at the series of thoughtless blunders that have led to this moment. She wants to know why Trent hasn’t told her, but, as he describes trying to shore things up in the background and to stop her finding out the truth, she suddenly understands what a toll having her Instagram ambitions tied up with the house must have taken on Trent. No wonder he couldn’t say anything, when she was spending all day bragging online about her perfect home. As his voice wobbles, she realises what a terribly big secret he’s been carrying around with him. As angry as she is, can she really blame him for it causing such a rift? They used to talk about everything, but, looking back, she realises that those conversations stopped long ago. Why hadn’t she noticed that he wasn’t sharing anything with her? Why hadn’t she questioned him more?

Because she’d been looking at her phone. That’s why. Because she hadn’t wanted to know that everything might not be perfect. She’d let herself believe that everything would be all right. That she was safe in the fortress of her home.

But that’s clearly all bullshit and now her mind is scrambling ahead, trying to find a solution, a way out, but when she studies her signature on the legal papers and the various letters from the lawyers, she can see that Trent is right. They have to repay their colossal loan. The only way to do it is to sell. And, as much as she knows she’s a little bit culpable in the whole disaster, it still feels like she’s been stabbed in the guts.

‘Jesus, Trent. I can’t … I just can’t believe it.’

‘Yeah, well, it’s not my fault. There’s been a pandemic and—’ She stares at him, aghast. How can he blame outside forces when this is absolutely his fault?