I literally had no idea that Allan Parrott, whoever he is, was following me around. Taking photographs. A shiver runs through my body. What if he’s been tracking me over the past week? What if he has photographs of me going into Frances’s tea shop, taking her phone? It’s too late for guilt now. It’s Sunday tomorrow and I only have to make it to Tuesday to present my case to social services.

If I lay low at Katy’s I might be able to avoid all this fucking mess being linked to my pissed-up promiscuity and Jack’s perfect ten. The last place anyone would look for me is Jack’s babymother’s house.

We go upstairs. Katy helps me to pull the slashed mattress outside and into the skip. We gather up the remnants of my wedding dress and the twisted tiaras and push them into a bin bag. The last rites of my wedding day finally laid to rest. Eventually, the bedroom is tidy again and all that remains is the chipped wood of the doors and the bare bed base and the scrawling on the wall.

We go downstairs and get ready to leave. I look around, unsure when I will be back here. I promise myself that if it goes well on Tuesday and I am allowed to see Charlie and Laura, I will spend every last penny sorting this place out.

We leave and Katy drives away. I’m just about to open my car door when my neighbour appears. She’s got her arm raised in a fist salute and she high-fives me.

‘All girls together, yeah?’

I nod at her.

‘So you saw it, then?’

‘I bloody saw it all right. Your hubby. A right one, isn’t he? I can hardly believe it. But then again, he was in and out of there with those women. Taking photos, though—’

‘Yes. Yes. Look, I have to—’

‘Right, but I came out to tell you that the papers have been round here, asking all sorts of questions. Course, we didn’t spill, but just to let you know that if they offer us money we might have to tell them about him.’

‘Him?’

‘Your ex. And all his women. You know. Thing is, the mortgage, and all that …’

I hug her. I’m suddenly doing a lot of hugging.

‘Do it. Tell them. It’s the truth. I’ll be away for a bit. Tell them that as well. That I had to leave my own home because of all of this.’

She’s chewing her acrylic nails now.

‘And shall I mention the kiddies? I saw him, you know. Taking them. I saw him and they were crying.’

I brighten up a little. She’s the obvious witness. She’s had a ringside seat.