‘I’ve been a wage slave for bloody years so that you could be at home with the kids, enjoy being a mum while I took all the pressure. Years of my life on the treadmill. All yes, sir, no, sir, three bags full, sir. Dealing with bloody idiots. Years of my life, Sara. And now I’ve got the chance to actually do what I want, you’re blocking me.’ He glared at her, but his chin was trembling and she could swear that his eyes were brimming with tears. Her heart pounded and she looked at her hands, fiddled with a paper clip as she searched for an easy way to tell him.

‘You know what I think, Sara? I think you don’t actually believe in us any more. That’s what I think.’

Her mouth fell open, her eyes meeting his angry glare, appalled at the turn the conversation had taken. ‘No, you’ve got that wrong! Of course I believe in you.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘But do you believe in us? That’s the question here.’ His voice cracked and he ran his hands over his face, looking at the ceiling for a moment while he gathered his emotions. This was the second time she’d seen him in tears in a matter of days, and his hurt hung in the air, in the sound of his ragged breathing. ‘I thought we were a team, you and me.’ His voice was thick and unrecognisable. ‘But now that I’m asking for your full backing, you’re wavering, and that makes me think…’ He dropped his head, red-rimmed eyes searching her face. ‘It makes me wonder about the state of our relationship.’

Sara gasped, her chest so tight she could hardly breathe. The idea of her relationship – her family being destroyed by her stupidity – was more than she could bear.

‘Oh Matt, don’t be like that. I just needed a little bit of time to get my head round it all. Of course you can have the money,’ she said before she could stop herself. ‘Of course you can.’

His body wilted with relief as hers became rigid with panic, her mind shrieking that she was a weak, stupid woman, telling her to just be honest with him. But it’ll break us if I do that. I can’t tell him, I can’t.

Her eyes stung and she couldn’t speak, couldn’t even say goodbye when Matt got up to leave. She just gave him a watery smile and watched him shut the door as he went in search of Ezra. Her fingers had been clasped so tightly in her lap that they ached, and as she stretched them out, she knocked against the mouse on the desk. The computer screen came to life, and with a lurch of her heart, she realised that the answer to her problem was staring right back at her.