‘I really thought you’d got him,’ Johnny murmured, pressing pause. The screen froze on Kit’s face, the last look he gave her before he walked off.

They were all in his bedroom, Clover lying on her stomach on his bed. ‘I know, so did I,’ she whispered, scrunching up her face as she ran again through the conversation. She had thought she’d done it; she’d thought she was there. She’d broken past the act, got him to admit to feelings of regret, vulnerability, loss . . . And then he’d thrown it all back at her.

‘It’s almost like he wants to take the blame,’ Johnny muttered. ‘He won’t play the victim, refuses any sympathy. He’s a heartless bastard, guilty as charged, thanks? Everything we think about him is true?’

‘Because it is. I guess this is what we wanted, right?’ Clover sighed. ‘Him admitting to that? He told us himself – he’s no underdog.’

‘Except we can’t use that footage without including your admissions too. There’s no way to edit it out and have the rest make sense.’

‘No. I know,’ Clover winced. It was attraction tactics all over again – come and get me! Check mate.

There was a silence.

‘I just can’t believe you went through all that – with your dad, I mean,’ Matty said quietly. She was sitting cross-legged on the desk chair beside Johnny. ‘You never said.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Don’t you be sorry! I’m the one who feels bad. I assumed your trust fund was because you were this rich bitch. You hung out with that crowd at uni . . .’

Clover shrugged. ‘They liked to party. I wanted to escape.’

‘So your flat . . .?’ Johnny asked tentatively.

‘Was bought with my inheritance . . .’ She took a deep breath. ‘And quite possibly lost by my stupidity.’

‘Huh?’

Clover bit her lip, knowing this was the moment she had to come clean. The film’s viability was hanging by a thread. Without some sort of confession from Kit, all they had was what looked like a vendetta against him – further proof that he was the villain of Pipe Dreams in every way. His life had been left in ruins, yes, but he showed no remorse. What were viewers supposed to take away from that? She had promised Mia an answer, but she still needed to deliver a commercial message and so far she had neither.

She looked between her two friends. ‘Liam didn’t back the film. He wanted Angelina. He thinks this will undermine Pipe Dreams.’

Matty’s and Johnny’s mouths parted.

‘So then . . . who’s producing this?’ Johnny frowned.

‘I am. I remortgaged the flat.’

‘But the budget—’

‘I know.’ She looked apologetically at Matty. ‘Hence our Saas-Fee shithole.’

Matty’s hands flew to her mouth. ‘Oh god! I feel like such a cow!’