‘Matt, please let me explain. I was drugged. Unconscious. I can show you, but the video has disappeared off my phone. You must have a copy, though.’

She clung to his arm, eyes pleading with him, hoping that she’d put some doubt in his mind, made his case against her crack just a little bit.

He peeled her fingers off. ‘I can’t believe a word you say. You’re as bad as your mother, aren’t you?’ He sneered at her. ‘I deleted that filth.’

She ignored his jibe, concentrated on practicalities, not wanting to believe he’d destroyed the evidence. ‘You can’t have deleted it from my phone.’

‘I did.’

‘But how?’

He gave a derisive snort. ‘You wouldn’t understand if I told you.’

She closed her eyes, tried to calm herself down. She knew she had to stay rational, not fight back; that was the best way with Matt. Taking a deep breath she looked him in the eye, her voice low and urgent. ‘I’m so sorry I haven’t been completely honest with you, but I got myself in a situation I couldn’t get out of. Please let me explain.’

He glared at her, the stony expression back on his face, but at least he was still there. This was her chance.

She began to speak, and at last she was able to tell him everything. Matt’s face didn’t change, his eyes ice cold.

‘Finished?’ he asked when she finally stopped talking.

She nodded.

He pointed at her. ‘You need to learn to listen. That’s your problem. Always thinking you know best.’ He gave an angry snort. ‘You think you can distract me with this story about stealing money for me, don’t you? Think I’ll somehow overlook the fact that you went away for a weekend with your lover and ended up having some sort of kinky sex with these other guys, and one of them filmed it.’

She gasped, couldn’t believe he could think like that. ‘No, Matt. No. That’s not what—’

He stepped back a pace, his hand on the door handle, hatred in his eyes. ‘I’m not listening to any more of your lies. Goodbye, Sara.’

‘But what about—’ He went inside before she could finish, slamming the door behind him. She heard the lock turn, the bolt ram home.

The strength drained out of her legs, along with any hope that she could persuade Matt of her innocence. She leant against the wall, sliding slowly to the ground, too shocked to cry or scream, her mind an empty vessel with the final goodbye echoing inside it.

That’s it, we’re over. Eighteen years they’d been together, and look how quickly they’d been torn apart, her family ripped from her before she could understand what risks she was taking, what danger she was in.

By trying to make good on a bad decision, she’d ruined everything.