She’d almost forgotten about her little nest egg, the inheritance from her Auntie Wyn, carefully tucked away and growing nicely last time she’d looked. She opened her mouth to remind Matt about their safety net. Then closed it again.

He thinks it’s still in the deposit account.

She remembered the conversation when they’d first discussed what to do with the money. It had been the perfect opportunity to tell him about her ambitions and her idea to enrol on a course she’d fancied. It would make her degree more relevant to today’s business world, and as soon as Ezra was at primary school, she’d thought she’d have some time to invest in herself.

They’d been out for a rare meal, Hailey on babysitting duty. Matt had reached across the table and poured the last of the wine into their glasses. ‘Look, I’m all for continual improvement,’ he’d said. ‘Honestly I am. But those tuition fees for an MBA are ridiculous, don’t you think? And I’m really not sure what you’d get from it.’ He’d scrunched up his nose. ‘Seems like a bit of a rip-off to me.’

‘I see it as an investment, though.’ She wondered if the tinge of resentment in her voice would register with him. His speech was a little slurred, she’d noticed, but then he’d drunk most of the first bottle of wine and half of the second one.

‘Yes, but we need that money as a contingency fund, don’t we?’ He wiped his mouth with his napkin. ‘In today’s financial climate, who knows what’s going to happen? Best to leave it in the deposit account, where it’s safe.’

And that was that. As usual, she’d let him talk her out of her plans because he made a lot of sense and at the end of the day, the security of her family was the most important thing of all. Her dreams could wait another few years, couldn’t they?

What Matt didn’t know was that ten months ago, she’d transferred the money to a high-interest fund. She’d done her research, and the promised returns were substantial. Every time she’d opened her quarterly statement – and she’d had three now – she’d been delighted. One day the interest would give her the extra money she needed to improve her qualifications and secure the career of her dreams.

Now, her mind was screaming at her to go and open the letter she’d received the other day. Another statement, she’d assumed, and had put it away to look at later, then forgotten about it.

She stood, wanting to go and check. Can I take the money out? Are there penalty clauses, time delays? She couldn’t remember the details, but needed to find out.