She had to get out of here before that happened. She stood up, pacing the small room, trying to think. Pushing down the panic, the fear that no one would ever find her and she’d remain trapped here, dying of dehydration or a heart attack or starvation. Her stomach hurt from where he’d held her too tight. She didn’t want to think about the damage he might have caused, but her mind kept picturing the baby – dead inside her.

‘Stop!’

The sound of her own voice was enough to bring her back. She looked around the room, searching for a way out. There was a tiny window that she’d already tried to open but it was sealed shut. Even if it wasn’t, it was too small to wriggle through. And she was on the top floor of a three-storey house with nothing but a sheer drop the other side. Which meant she needed to find something to break down the door. But the only things in here were replacement parts for the shower they’d installed recently, a pile of dust-covered books and a broken printer.

She’d thought about breaking the glass in the window – using the printer or her elbow or the shiny new shower head – and shouting for help. But who would hear her? This room was at the back of the house, overlooking the garden with thick trees bordering the perimeter, creating a private, secluded space. She could shout forever and no one would hear her.

She jumped up and banged on the door again.

‘Adam,’ she shouted. ‘We need to talk.’

Silence.

She pictured him sitting on the other side of the door, listening. Waiting to kill her. Or downstairs, in the kitchen, sharpening a knife.

No. She couldn’t think like that.

‘I’m pregnant,’ she screamed.

She held her breath, waiting, but nothing happened.

‘Did you hear me, Adam? I’m having a baby. Your baby. You’re going to be a father.’

More silence. Then, when she was about to give up, the stairs creaked as someone walked up them.

‘I’ve made an appointment with the doctor. I was going to tell you about the baby after that. I didn’t want to jinx it by telling you too early. I’ve been sitting here thinking about what you said and I can see now that you’re right. No one needs to know about Vivienne and Nick. It would risk our child’s future and I can’t do that. Your career, all your success, that’s what will allow us to give this child the life they deserve. The one you never had when you were growing up.’

She stopped talking. She thought she’d said too much, but then she heard more footsteps, getting closer now.

‘Is it true?’

His voice made her jump. He was too close. Right there, on the other side of the door. The thought terrified her.