‘I cannot lie to them,’ Osaki said sternly. ‘That would only bring more shame. If they find out that my wife put another man in our bed … I might as well be dead already. They will never want to see me again. My father thought I was weak for coming to Scotland. He said I should have insisted that we remained in Tokyo. I hate that he was right.’

‘Your father wanted to keep you close, to help you. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for a parent to accept that their child is ready to live independently. There are plenty of ways to skin a cat, though,’ Maclure said.

Osaki looked horrified. ‘Skin a cat?’

‘It’s a saying. I didn’t mean literally. Think about it. You could tell your parents that you discovered your wife couldn’t have children and that it caused a divide between you. Or that there weren’t enough jobs available in Edinburgh and you opted to return to Tokyo, and that your wife felt unable to leave her family. Or even just that you missed them so much, you were willing to sacrifice the marriage to go back to your home country.

‘They might wonder about the details, but that would be enough to justify returning home. You could get work, start a new relationship. The divorce here would be relatively simple as she’s committed adultery. No death involved.’

‘It is still a deception.’

‘Reality is whatever we make it,’ Maclure said. ‘Don’t lose your life to pride or principle.’

‘It is not pride,’ Osaki countered. ‘It is humiliation. My wife calls me names. She says my …’ He looked up at Maclure, the cracks beneath the surface starting to show. ‘My penis is too small. If I argue, she threatens to email my parents and tell them I prefer men and will not have sex with her. I would rather die than have to explain what is really happening to my mother and father. They are very traditional. They will not understand.’

‘It sounds to me as if you’re trapped in a very abusive relationship. Too many people think that only women are victims of abuse. Psychological violence is still violence. It leaves wounds not visible to the eye but no less real. It’s hard for men to talk about it, because society portrays males as needing to be tough guys. It’s all bullshit. I look at it this way: if you saw your sister in an abusive relationship, you’d do everything in your power to get her out of it, right? You wouldn’t tell her she was weak or foolish, or that she should have been able to handle it herself.’

Osaki stood. ‘Thank you. You have helped very much.’

Maclure followed suit.