I have to ask him myself.

I try calling his mobile, but it goes to voicemail. I look up the number for the carpentry workshop, but when I call, they tell me Dan’s taken the day off.

I shouldn’t go back to the penthouse, not after how he responded when I told him about the embryo transfer on Monday night. But I want to understand what’s been going on, if only so I never make the same mistake again.

The rain’s pummelling down now, so I bundle Bear out of the flat and into the car. The windscreen wipers can’t keep up, so the city’s blurred as I drive towards the floating harbour. I should turn back, but the rage and the hurt won’t let me.

Despite my umbrella, Bear and I are soaked through, seconds after leaving the car. I push the buzzer for the penthouse, but nobody answers. I step back to squint up at the top floor, but all the windows are closed.

Where is he?

I think I catch a glimpse of movement at the window, the slightest change in the light.

I press again. This time I don’t let go, and the button vibrates under my finger. If he’s in there, I hope the sound is unbearably loud.

What difference is confronting him going to make? If Dan is a con man, he’ll only come out with more lies –

‘Hello?’ A woman’s voice: tense, abrupt. Familiar. ‘I can’t work the video on this bloody thing, but if that’s you, Dan, the lift access is turned off and it’s staying that way. You’ve got no more right to be here than I have.’

Angelica. But why won’t she let him in? Coming here was a mistake. The last thing I need is to get embroiled in their arguments.

But now a green light appears above the camera.

‘Gemma?’

‘Sorry, I shouldn’t be here.’

‘But you can’t keep away, right? Dan Lennon, catnip to rich women everywhere.’

‘He’s not Dan Lennon.’ I say it before thinking about the consequences.

‘What are you on about? If this is a joke, I’m not in the mood.’

‘It’s not a joke. Someone just told me Dan changed his name when he was a teenager. It might not mean anything, or even be true, but that’s why I came, because I want to understand what’s going on.’

The silence from her end means she must have cut the call. Except the green light still blinks.

‘You should come up.’

I hesitate. ‘I’ve got my dog with me. And he’s very wet.’

She laughs bitterly. ‘Oh, I couldn’t give a toss any more. Let him pee all over the bed, it’ll serve them both right.’

Both?

And before I can work out if Angelica has lost it, the door buzzes, I push it open and Bear’s pulling me inside, out of the rain.

Angelica looks different when the lift doors open. Before, she was glacially pretty, almost untouchable.

Now her hair’s a mess and her eyes are wild. When I’m in a bad way, I’m a total sight. But Angelica is more gorgeous than ever.