Ben shook his head. ‘You did this the last time they came round. They’ll know you’re not really sick.’

My mind raced. Oh yes, that was the time he invited them round for a takeaway without consulting me. ‘I think you’ll find I spent the evening in hospital because I thought I was losing our baby!’ I yelled, raging with genuine indignation. It didn’t matter that I had actually spent the evening having sex with Marcus. The point was that Ben believed that I had spent the evening in hospital, yet he had the cheek to accuse me of faking it.

Ben’s eyes widened with panic. ‘Shhhh, Bella! Stop yelling.’ His eyes kept darting towards the front door and I suspected he had heard them coming through the gate. ‘OK, OK, I’ll tell them it’s not convenient.’

I smiled to myself as the doorbell rang, pleased with my little victory. I walked to the bedroom window and looked out from behind the curtain. Matt and Freya were having a furtive conversation and Matt seemed nervous as he shuffled from foot to foot, a large bag of supplies in his hand. Freya had a look on her face that I didn’t like one bit. She looked determined. Well, I was determined too. So we’d soon wipe that look off her face.

I moved into the hallway, out of sight of Matt and Freya but just a couple of feet away from Ben. I shot him a warning look as he opened the door.

‘Hey, mate!’ I heard Matt say in an overly jolly voice. ‘Good to see you. I’ve brought the usual supplies!’

‘Uh, yeah. Look I’m sorry, guys, it’s not a great time …’

Jesus, Ben was such a hopeless actor. He needed to be a lot more convincing than that.

‘Oh! Sorry, mate, I must have got the date wrong,’ Matt replied. ‘I thought we’d arranged today.’

‘We did,’ Freya cut in. ‘What’s the problem, Ben?’

I didn’t like her tone at all. Ben glanced over his shoulder at me nervously, before closing the door a fraction more. ‘Bella’s not feeling too good.’

‘What’s the matter with her?’

God, she was rude! For all she knew, I could be really unwell. ‘Um,’ Ben stuttered. ‘She’s … er, she’s just …’

‘She’s refusing to see us, isn’t she?’ Although I was annoyed, a small part of me was glad that she’d got the message that I didn’t like them.

‘Freya!’ Matt admonished her but she was having none of it.

‘I’m right, aren’t I, Ben?’ she demanded.

Ben sighed and ran his hand through his hair the way he always did when he was flustered. ‘No, Freya, you’re not right … She’s just not very well.’

‘How very convenient! Ever since you met her, Ben, she’s been trying to cut you off from us. And your family …’

‘She’s fine with my family, actually,’ Ben interrupted, making me smile with satisfaction. Finally, he was standing up for me.

‘Is she?’ Freya stormed. ‘Because that’s not what you told me when we had lunch …’