Vanessa wracked her brain. She had already done the wash, and she knew for certain that there had been no black pants in there. ‘They weren’t in the wash, Mark,’ she said cautiously, aware that he was on the verge of rage. Over a pair of pants, of all things. The slightest thing set him off these days and Vanessa was amazed that his words and his fists still managed to hurt her.

‘What do you mean?’ His eyes narrowed to slits, and she took half a step backward.

‘You were wearing gray tracksuit pants when you came home last night. Not your work pants.’ She had thought it odd but didn’t say anything. ‘I have no clue where your pants are.’ She tried keeping her voice neutral, but his fist shot out anyway, punching her, breaking her nose. Not for the first time. She was gushing blood, trying to catch it in her hands for some reason, as if she could stuff it back in and it all would be OK. She felt the familiar flare of pain followed by the dull throbbing. She must have cried out because she heard little footsteps running down the hallway behind her. Wren! She tried to turn, to scream at him to stop, to run away. But Mark attacked her again, slapping her about the head, connecting with her nose more than once. The pain was excruciating; she cried out again. She couldn’t help it. She saw Wren out of the corner of her eye just as Mark pushed her back onto the table, leaning over her, slipping his hand around her neck. She clawed at his hand, trying to break the hold he had on her. She saw spots in front of her vision but willed herself not to pass out – who knows what he’d do to Wren. She let go of Mark’s hand and flailed her hands behind her back, trying to shoo Wren away to safety.

Suddenly Mark gave a yell of pain, and his hand dropped from her throat. ‘You little fuckhead! Wait till I catch you!’ She looked down. The remains of a wooden statue given to her by her parents as a wedding present lay broken at Mark’s feet, the head snapped off. He was rubbing his temple, a black bruise beginning to appear under the skin.